Quick links
Useful resources
Sign up to our newsletter
Be the first to hear about news, special offers and more...
Posted on February 6, 2013
Dancers Mara Galeazzi (pictured) and Jonathan Watkins will be leaving The Royal Ballet this season.
First artist Jonathan Watkins leaves the company on February 23 for a new freelance career as a choreographer and director. His interest in choreography began at The Royal Ballet School, and has continued during his time with the company, where his works included As One and, with William Tuckett and Liam Scarlett, Diana and Actaeon. He was the movement director for Alan Bennett’s play People at the National Theatre. His upcoming projects include new works in Russia and the United States, a full-length adaptation in the UK and theatre and film projects.
Principal dancer Mara Galeazzi will retire from The Royal Ballet in July 2013, at the end of the current season. Galeazzi, who had her first child last April, is moving to Oman to be with her husband. She plans to teach dance and continue her work for her charity Dancing for the Children, which raises funds for sick children in Africa. Galeazzi joined the company in 1992, and was promoted to principal in 2003. Her farewell performance at the Royal Opera House will be as Mary Vetsera in Mayerling on June 13. Her final performance with the company will be on tour in Monaco, where she will dance the title role in Manon on June 29.
Picture: Mara Galeazzi in Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries. Photograph: Bill Cooper, courtesy of the Royal Opera House