The Royal Ballet’s Mayerling: violent, feral, tortured dance

Melissa Hamilton as Mary Vetsera and Matthew Ball as Crown Prince Rudolf in MacMillan's Mayerling

Luca Acri as Bratfisch with The Royal Ballet in MacMillan’s Mayerling

The Royal Ballet in Kenneth MacMillan's Mayerling

Mariko Sasaki as Mitzi Caspar with The Royal Ballet in MacMillan's Mayerling

Melissa Hamilton as Mary Vetsera and Matthew Ball as Crown Prince Rudolf in MacMillan's Mayerling

Matthew Ball as Crown Prince Rudolf in Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling

By Graham Watts, 31 March 2026

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“Mayerling is rightly regarded as a rite of passage for leading male dancers”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 30 March 2026

Mayerling (Sir Kenneth MacMillan)

The Royal Ballet

Martin Georgiev, Conductor

Nicholas Georgiadis, Set Designer, Costume Designer

John B. Read, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

National Ballet of Japan's revival of Manon was devastatingly good

Naomi Mori, 19th March

National Ballet of Japan in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon has been revived six years after its performances were cancelled because of the pandemic. Exceptionally good interpretations led the opening night performance.

****1

Ballet superstars in Frankfurt for a night to savour

Vikki Jane Vile, 30th November

For one night only, audiences in Frankfurt were treated to some world class ballet on the expansive stage of the Jahrhunderthalle.

****1

ENB’s The Sleeping Beauty: disappointing cuts skew the story

Jonathan Gray, 27th November

English National Ballet's revival of the Tchaikovsky classic The Sleeping Beauty, disappoints at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton.

***11

Ballet Nights makes an impressive and unforgettable Scottish debut

Kathy Elgin, 4th July

Ballet Nights is more than an evening of party pieces: it showcases emerging talent alongside older favourites and, in the case of this first Scottish outing, has an eye to local tradition.

****1

Ballet Nights – Spring Into Summer a fascinating hotchpotch of dance

Graham Watts, 5th June

Ballet Nights 008 – Spring into Summer proved to be a judicious choice of quality and diverse repertoire.

****1

The RB's Romeo and Juliet: electrifying on-stage chemistry

Deborah Weiss, 5th May

A compelling performance of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet from an excellent cast, proves to be a triumph for Patricio Revé, debuting with the Company and paired with Natalia Osipova.

*****

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Graham Watts

Graham Watts is a freelance dance writer and critic writing regularly for Dancing Times, Dance Europe, Danza Europa, and many more publications. He regularly writes features for Sadler’s Wells, London Coliseum and La Scala. Chairman of the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle in the United Kingdom and of the UK National Dance Awards he has interviewed many of the greatest names in dance including Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Boris Eifman, Alexei Ratmansky, Andris Liepa, Sir Peter Wright, David Bintley and Dame Gillian Lynne. When not involved in dance Graham is a keen fencer, and has captained the British Sabre team.