|
Friday 21 March
9:00pm
British Airways Flight 178 arrives at London Heathrow Airport, Terminal 4. Welcome by RODNEY WEST, London Arts Discovery Tour Director. Transfer by private coach to The Savoy, Strand, London, WC2R 0EU. Telephone: (0)20 7836 4343, Fax: (0)20 7240 6040. Check in.
Saturday 22 March
Breakfast will be served in the River Restaurant from 7am to 10.30am Monday to Saturday and from 8am to 10.30am on Sunday or in your room for a £3 surcharge.
10:00am
Briefing on all aspects of the tour from extra performances and major exhibitions to recommended restaurants. Please bring this itinerary and your information pack with you. In the Gondoliers room at the Savoy Hotel.
1:30pm
Meet in the foyer to walk to the The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
2:00pm
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. Natalia Makarova's new production after Petipa's original choreography of 1890 and to designs by Luisa Spinatelli. One of the greatest of all ballets, set to a richly varied score, the familiar romance of its main story is enhanced by a deeper poetic symbolism as the lyrical exposition of beauty animated by love defeats the darker elements of ugliness and fate. Danced by ABT Principal Dancer Ethan Stiefel, and the new sensation from Brazil, Royal Ballet Guest Artiste Roberta Marquez.
5:00pm
Return to the hotel on foot.
7:15pm
Coach departs for the Stafford Hotel, St James's Place.
7:30pm
Welcome Dinner at The Stafford Hotel, an exclusive private hotel in the heart of St. James's. We enjoy a private candlelit party in the central chamber of the hotel's 350 year-old wine cellars, with ETHAN STIEFEL and ALEXANDER GRANT as our special Artistic Guests.
10:00pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
Sunday 23 March
11:00am
Coach departs for Cliveden, Taplow, Berkshire.
12:00pm
We arrive for a private tour of one of England's most beautiful houses. Cliveden, set in 376 acres of one of the National Trust's finest gardens, is the former home of a Prince of Wales, three Dukes, and most famously the Astor family.
1:30pm
Lunch in the French Dining Room. Royal Ballet Principal LEANNE BENJAMIN (currently on maternity leave) and her husband TOBIAS ROUND, who has just been appointed General Manager of the Donmar Warehouse, are our special Artistic Guests.
3:30pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
EVENING FREE
Monday 24 March
8:30am
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Royal Ballet School, 46 Floral Street, Covent Garden.
9:00am
We visit the Royal Ballet School's Upper School in its brand new London premises adjacent to the Royal Opera House. Her Majesty The Queen will officially open the school on 27 March. The four-storey building provides five state-of-the-art studios, a gym/body fitness room, physiotherapy suite and a dedicated practice room plus high-tech academic education facilities. The studios provide the students with the finest classical ballet facilities in the world and will enable the school to continue working alongside the Ballet Company. We will sit in on two classes at 9am and 11am with a tour and a coffee break in-between.
12:30pm
Return to the hotel on foot.
AFTERNOON FREE
5:45pm
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Royal Opera House.
6:00pm
Pre-performance Dinner in the Amphitheatre Restaurant, situated on the top floor of the House. An elegant and contemporary restaurant with a tranquil atmosphere.
7:30pm
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. Another chance to see this enchanting production, this evening with Alina Cojocaru and Ethan Stiefel.
10:30pm
Return to the hotel on foot.
Tuesday 25 March
9:45am
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Royal Ballet School.
11:00am
Dancers' Forum 1. A chance to compare your views with LYNN SEYMOUR, the Canadian ballerina most associated with Sir Kenneth MacMillan's tragic heroines, who danced with Nureyev and Barishnikov, in conversation with London Arts Discovery's Executive Chairman HOWARD LICHTERMAN. In one of the Royal Ballet Schools meeting rooms.
12:00pm
Coach picks us up from Covent Garden and departs for The Duke of York's Headquaters, King’s Road, Chelsea.
1:00pm
We visit to the prestigious British Antique Dealers Association Fair, England's premier, national art and antiques fair offering an enormous variety of exhibits for sale including furniture, paintings, silver, jewellery, ceramics, clocks and textiles. Each item is vetted by a committee of experts and each exhibitor adhers to a rigorously enforced code of practice meaning that you can be assured that everything for sale is what it says it is. We begin with Lunch in the Cellini Restaurant, followed by a Private tour of the Fair with the Chairman of the Fair, STEPHEN JARRETT.
3:30pm
We travel to HRW Antiques, LADY HENRIETTA SPENCER-CHURCHILL's Antiques Warehouse, where we have tea.
5:00pm
Coach returns to the hotel.
EVENING FREE
Wednesday 26 March
9:00am
Coach departs for White Lodge, Richmond Park, Richmond, Surrey
10:00am
We make a private visit to White Lodge located in the heart of Richmond Park. The former Royal residence is now home of the Junior Section of the Royal Ballet School. The Lower School gives students between the ages of 11-16 dance and academic training. In addition to classical ballet training the students also study Character, Contemporary, Gymnastics, Dalcrose Eurhythmics, Irish, Tap and Scottish dancing, and in the senior levels, Repertoire, Solos and Pas de deux. Students of the Lower School perform with The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet.
12:00pm
Coach departs for hotel.
2:30pm
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Royal Opera House.
2:45pm
We watch a rehearsal of Sleeping Beauty with ROBERTA MARQUEZ and ETHAN STIEFEL led by Ballet Master CHRISTOPHER SAUNDERS. In the Clore Studio.
4:30pm
Coach departs from ROH for Eleven Cadogan Gardens, Sloane Square, Knightsbridge.
5:00pm
Cocktail Party, hosted at the charming Eleven Cadogan Gardens hotel by ABT Trustee PATRICIA HAGAN.
6:00pm
Buffet dinner with guests from the ABT Studio Company and Royal Ballet School Students.
8:00pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
Thursday 27 March
MORNING AND AFTERNOON FREE
6:45pm
Coach depars for Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1.
7:30pm
COMPANIA NACIONAL DE DANZA. Under the direction of choreographer Nacho Duato, Spain's most celebrated modern dance company presents a potent dance cocktail of Spanish culture, folklore, landscapes and poetry.
9:35pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
Friday 28 March
9:30am
Coach departs for the British Museum.
10:00am
Visit to The British Museum, including a Private Tour of the Jade Gallery with the curator CAROL MICHAELSON. This new exhibition illustrates the history of jade in China from c.5000 BC to the present day. Endowed with symbolic as well as material significance, jade has been the material of the highest value to the Chinese since ancient times. There will also be free time to explore the Museum on your own.
12:00pm
Coach departs for the hotel.
1:45pm
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Royal Opera House.
2:00pm
We visit the Linbury Stuido Theatre at The Royal Opera House to watch a Rehearsal of ABT's own Studio Company.
A discussion with JOHN MEEHAN, Artistic Director of ABT's Studio Company.
4:00pm
Return to the hotel on foot.
7:00pm
Meet in the foyer to walk to the Royal Opera House.
7:30pm
A MIXED BILL FROM AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE'S STUDIO COMPANY. The programme will open with The Long and Winding Road a contemporary ballet in classical technique, by Australian choreographer Stanton Welch. Choreographer Robert Hill will present the world premiere of a new pas de deux, his first ballet to premiere in London. Brian Reeder's Lost Language of the Flight Attendant, a hit during ABT Studio Company's Spring New York performances, is a gently humorous look at the typical day of a flight attendant. Also featured will be Antony Tudor's nostalgic work for six dancers, Continuo. The performance is part of an exchange scheme with The Royal Ballet School. In the Linbury Studio.
Post-Performance Reception with Dancers and Artistic Staff from ABT's Studio Company in the Linbury Studio foyer and bar.
11:00pm
Return to the hotel on foot.
Saturday 29 March
7:00am
Latest time for luggage outside the rooms for group departure.
8:00am
Check bags on to the coach and depart for Heathrow Airport, Terminal 4.
11:00am
British Airways flight 175 departs for the US.
* Note for the hard of hearing: asterisked theatres provide headphones or operate a loop induction system. A small returnable deposit may be required..
|
