Alina Cojocaru Gala for Hospices of Hope

Posted on May 3, 2013

Since 2008, ballerina Alina Cojocaru (pictured) has been raising funds for the Bucharest Hospice Appeal, holding galas for Hospices of Hope. She returns to Sadler’s Wells on Sunday, May 12, with a varied repertory and plenty of starry friends.

The lineup for the gala includes Sergei Polunin from Moscow’s Stanislavsky Ballet, Xander Parish from the Maryinsky Ballet, Daria Klimentová and Vadim Muntagirov of English National Ballet, Steven McRae, Johan Kobborg, Akane Takada, Francesca Hayward, Marcelino Sambé and James Hay from The Royal Ballet, Matthew Golding from Dutch National Ballet and Ana Sendas and Stefanos Bizas of Danish Dance Theatre. They will be joined by violin virtuoso Charlie Siem and the musicians of the Manning Camerata.

The programme includes highlights from the classical repertoire, new and rarely seen dances by choreographers including Marius Petipa, John Neumeier, Tim Rushton, Eric Gauthier, Johan Kobborg and others.

Cojocaru recently travelled to Bucharest, the town where she was born, to see the progress of the Hospice of Hope building site, and to meet some of its future residents. While there, she visited the National Ballet School of Romania, and invited students to perform an excerpt from Johan Kobborg’s Salute – the first time the work has been seen in the UK.

All proceeds from this event will go towards the Bucharest Hospice Appeal. Everybody involved has donated their time free of charge or at a greatly reduced cost.

Tickets are available online from Sadler’s Wells or by calling the box office on 0844 412 4300. To reflect the unique nature of the evening, there are also VIP packages available – contact vanessa@hospicesofhope.co.uk.

Picture: Alina Cojocaru in 24 Preludes with The Royal Ballet. Photograph: Frederika Davis.

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.