Artistic Director: Olga Balakleets
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the annual Ballet Icons Gala brings together a special anthology programme for a one-night-only performance at the London Coliseum, a chance to see a wide variety of work, including two world and one UK premieres. The event boasts a host of current and recently retired ballet stars performing 14 pieces arranged to music drawn from four centuries across three hours of pas de deux and solos. While the preference for classical ballet and some of the choreographic tricks may become a little repetitive, the stylistic variety sustains momentum.
Arguably, the biggest treat of the night is the stage return of Edward Watson, former Principal with the Royal Ballet, who retired in 2021 and here performs Asylum, a UK premiere choreographed by Antonia Franceschi to music by Ezio Bosso, exploring planetary rituals and transcendence. Watson dances with his typically psychological expression, as much a theatre as a dance performance, blending contemporary and classical ballet extensions. No one dances like Watson, and among an enormously talented ensemble, he still has no equal in the consuming bodily expression of emotion-led movement.
Two world premieres also give the night an extra cache: Sarah Chun dancing Uhuru by Mthuthuzeli November, filled with staccato rhythms about freedom and the channelling of the compulsion to dance, while James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight perform Postscript, a same-sex duet created especially for this gala. Filled with slow, melancholy movements and quiet ache, the dancer-choreographers add intensity with a live opera performance from Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Lynch, underscoring the depth of this affecting piece about loss and isolation.
The wider programme is filled with classic pas de deux, much of which follows a standard format – duet, male solo, female solo, duet, or similar – that showcases the performers but might be the place for some revision and variation in the 2027 programme. There are some brilliant pieces, though, not least Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko’s stunning Nutcracker Duet, choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot, that brings a touch of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse Hollywood glamour to this happy and breezy dance. Matching them, Eleonora Abbagnato and Paul Marque find a sexy and sensual intensity in Angelin Preljocaj’s Le Parc, and it’s no coincidence that both pieces result in a passionate kiss between the characters.
Not everything in Ballet Icons quite hits the mark. Madeline Woo and Francesco Gabriele Frola’s Diana and Actaeon is a little blank, Frola wonderful in solo but barely registering Woo in their uncertain segments together, and once again, the minimally designed backdrops feel a little cartoony and insubstantial against the vibrant costumes and complex range of performances on offer.
Nonetheless, there is something extra special in seeing newlyweds Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov celebrate their four-day marriage with a very smiley performance of Black Swan to end Act 1, and a charming excerpt from Don Quixote danced by the charismatic Marianela Núñez and Patricio Revé concludes the night. In their 20th anniversary year, the Ballet Icons still put on quite a show.
Reviewed on 15 February 2026
