Ballet Nights 2023, Lanterns Studio Theatre

A riff on the gala format, Ballet Nights brings together outstanding talent from across a range of dance disciplines from ballet to contemporary movement in three distinct programmes, to be performed on six dates across three months.

Unlike your traditional galas, which are normally grand affairs in large venues, Ballet Nights aims to create an immersive experience, making full use of the Lanterns Studio Theatre's bijou dimensions which afford the public thrilling proximity to the performers.

Lanterns Studio Theatre auditorium. Photo courtesy of Lanterns Studio Theatre
Adding to the intimate character of the evening, each show will be compered by Jamiel Devernay-Laurence, the former dancer and producer of stage events, who created Ballet Nights in 2021.

All programmes include big names of the UK's dance scene alongside up-and-coming performers. Ballet luminaries such as Royal Ballet principal Ryoichi Hirano and first soloist Melissa Hamilton will perform in programme 1 (Friday 29 & Saturday 30 September) alongside former Rambert dancer and Olivier Award nominee Luke Ahmet and Northern Ballet's enthralling young dancer George Liang, to mention but a few.

Royal Ballet principal Steven McRae will perform in all six shows, while former principal dancer Constance Devernay-Laurence, last seen in London in her award-winning role of Coppèlia in Scottish Ballet's new production of the eponymous ballet, will perform in Programmes 1 and 2.

Yorke Dance Project is among the performers in Programme 2 (Friday 27 & Saturday 28 October) alongside rising talent Yasser D'Okoendo, who will also feature in Programme 3 (Friday 24 & Saturday 25 November) alongside English National Ballet's Katja Khaniukova, Aitor Arrieta and Ivana Bueno.

The choreographers represented range from the creators of 19th-century Russian classics Michel Fokine and Marius Petipa to the man who brought contemporary dance from the US to the UK in the mid-20th century, Robert Cohan, and include giants of UK dance-making such as Kenneth MacMillan and David Dawson, as well as brand-new commissions.

The theatre's own orchestra will provide live music.