The Royal Ballet and Opera has announced a summer season shaped not by spectacle, but by legacy. In late July and early August 2026, two of the Company’s most celebrated figures – Marianela Nuñez and Carlos Acosta – will curate individual programmes at the Royal Opera House, each offering a personal lens on a career spent at the heart of international ballet.
Nuñez, a Royal Ballet Principal and one of the most quietly revered dancers of her generation, opens the season with Marianela – Timeless (29 July–2 August). The programme is a love letter to the Company that has defined her career: a carefully chosen selection of one-act ballets from The Royal Ballet’s repertory, alongside divertissements performed with fellow dancers. Rather than a greatest-hits parade, Timeless promises something more intimate – a reflection on the works, partnerships and traditions that have shaped her artistry.
If Nuñez’s programme is about continuity, Carlos Acosta’s is about contrast. Carlos Acosta: Myths and Modern Masters (5–9 August) sees the former Royal Ballet Principal return to the Covent Garden stage with a wide-ranging programme of classical and contemporary works. Joined by guest artists from Birmingham Royal Ballet and Acosta Danza, Acosta brings together rare pieces and familiar favourites, united by his unmistakable theatrical flair and restless creative energy.
Now in the later, reflective phase of an extraordinary career, Acosta’s presence remains magnetic – less about virtuoso display, more about influence, storytelling and the pleasure of sharing the stage with the next generation of talent.
Together, the two programmes form an exciting summer offering: a celebration not of novelty, but of artists who have helped define what ballet looks like today – and what it might yet become.
Further details will be announced in February, with public booking opening in March 2026 here.
