Ivan Putrov, Against the Stream Ballet Gala, Coliseum

Ivan Putrov was once a Principal Dancer with Britain’s Royal Ballet. Now, although he still dances, he’s become a promoter and has been organising ballet galas for a few years.

The strength of the forthcoming gala, entitled Against the Stream, is that it has a well-defined theme that will anchor and unify the performances we’ll see on stage. Galas can be bitty and unsatisfactory events, with a series of stars performing unrelated short turns on bare stages, often to recorded music.

Not so Against the Stream. Putrov’s aim is to celebrate some of the remarkable choreographers who over the years took ballet to new heights by innovating and going against the stream – hence the gala’s title.

So, we will see works by France’s Serge Lifar (Suite en Blanc) and Angelin Preljocaj (Le Parc); Russia’s Vaganova (Diana and Actaeon Pas de Deux), New York’s Balanchine (Diamonds) and Jerome Robbins (G Major Pas) and Britain’s Ashton and MacMillan.

Importantly, there will be live music: it’s hard to overstate the difference an orchestra makes to a ballet performance.

And the cast list is seriously impressive. From the Royal Ballet comes the exceptional Principal Matthew Ball, last seen in London as The Swan/Stranger in the sell-out run of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. Ball is a beautiful dancer, with an elegant line and capable of profoundly intelligent interpretations. Watching him dance always feels like a privilege.

Paris Opera Ballet étoiles Mathieu Ganio – tall, elegant, the epitome of a danceur noble – and the very technical Eleonora Abbagnato, will bring some Gallic flair to the evening; from across the Atlantic comes the willowy Maria Kowroski, a stalwart of New York City Ballet.

The Bolshoi-trained Dmitry Zagrebin, currently with the Royal Swedish Ballet, is another of the star performers in this gala, as is Marcelo Gomes, lately of American Ballet Theatre.

Also confirmed is the exciting English National Ballet Soloist, Katja Khaniukova, who, like Ivan Putrov, hails from Ukraine.

Ivan Putrov’s Against the Stream offers a unique opportunity to see a remarkable collection of ballet stars in one event, as well as providing an valuable insight into the history of ballet, and some of the pioneer dance makers who helped it become the art form we know and love today.