This November, The Dante Project returns to the Royal Opera House. Created by Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet Wayne McGregor, the work opened to critical acclaim in 2021 and now receives its much-anticipated first revival.
Imaginative, introspective and compelling, The Dante Project is inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. It follows the poet’s journey as he traverses through the shifting spheres of the afterlife – from the drama of Inferno, to the dazzling spheres of Paradiso with their endless configurations of light. The production is a major collaboration between trailblazing forces of the contemporary arts scene, and features a commissioned score by composer-conductor Thomas Adès, design by artist Tacita Dean, lighting design by Lucy Carter and Simon Bennison, and dramaturgy by Uzma Hameed.
Upon its premiere in 2021, The Dante Project received 5* reviews, and won both the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Dance, and the Outstanding Creative Contribution prize in the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards.
The first act of the work, Inferno: Pilgrim, premiered in July 2019 at the Music Center in Los Angeles as part of The Royal Ballet’s international tour. The full three-act ballet received its world premiere as part of the 700th anniversary celebrations of the poet’s death in 2021, and was McGregor’s first full-length ballet since Woolf Works (2015).
This Season Royal Ballet Principal dancers William Bracewell and Ryoichi Hirano will make their debuts in the role of Dante. This role was originally created on former Royal Ballet Principal Edward Watson. Watson was appointed Royal Ballet Répétiteur to the Principal Artists after his retirement in 2021 and has coached the dancers for this much-anticipated revival.
