Giant Steps

In the 2026/27 season, we reprise the success of presenting three distinct works in a single evening. Opening with Justin Peck’s vibrant In Creases. Set to Philip Glass’s hypnotic score – performed live on stage by two pianists – the ballet explores symmetry and geometry in motion. Peck has described the work as an inquiry into how dancers exist both as individual bodies and as part of a larger architectural whole.

The evening then turns to Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven, a deeply moving ballet by the American choreographer Ulysses Dove, who died in 1996. Subtitled “Odes to Love and Loss,” the work pays tribute to the many friends and colleagues he lost to AIDS. It speaks of the enduring bonds we forge in our fleeting time on earth – connections that outlast us as we gather, in metaphor, before heaven’s gate.

The programme concludes with Pam Tanowitz, one of the most compelling voices in contemporary dance today. In the playful Or Forevermore, she weaves together classical and modern vocabularies, bending ballet’s conventions with wit and precision. Is she gently teasing the art form – or reminding us that ballet, too, can delight in its own lightness?

Or Forevermore photo credit: Royal Ballet and Opera Arena

Recommended from 8 years old