The Bolshoi Ballet has announced repertory and some casting for its London season, which runs from July 29 to August 17 at the Royal Opera House. The visit will include guest performances by former Bolshoi stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev (pictured), plus the first foreign performances of the company’s new Sleeping Beauty.

Jonathan Gray journeyed to Tbilisi in Georgia, to see the celebrations marking Nina Ananiashvili’s 30 years on stage. Here, he offers a personal tribute to a great ballerina

Not so very long ago, it was not unusual for a ballerina’s career to last well into her forties and beyond – just think of some of the great names from the past, like Anna Pavlova, Galina Ulanova, Margot Fonteyn, Maya Plisetskaya, Antoinette Sibley or Lynn Seymour.