Ballet. In a stadium? Ah, but it's not just any ballet: Romeo and Juliet, with the bombastic score by Prokofiev, is a ballet that's big enough and dramatic enough to fill a stadium entirely.
Kenneth MacMillan's choreography is at times virtuoso and at times clinically restrained, which gives a powerful effect to the moments of seriously athletic performing. Seriously, if you haven't seen a ballet before and you think it's a bit soft, then this ballet will prove how very wrong you are. These dancers are elite athletes – especially Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta, who are the ones on all the posters advertising this first time pairing of the
Royal Ballet and
O2 arena, and who will be leading the cast on the Friday and Sunday performances. A softer and more subtle couple, Mara Galeazzi and Edward Watson will be your Juliet and Romeo on Saturday afternoon, and if you have tickets for Saturday night you'll see the delightfully delicate Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg.
These are your only four opportunities to see the Royal Ballet this way. And to help you get the most out of the performance, if you're not a seasoned ballet-go-er, they've filmed an introduction to each act that will be broadcast on the big arena screens - to make you feel more involved in the action. And you should expect plenty of action.
As well as the stadium venue being more welcoming to some audiences, there are also 2000 cheap £10 tickets available for each performance, and even the top price tickets are only £60, a significant reduction in the normal ROH price. There are still plenty of good seats available apparently, you can
book tickets though the O2.
