Ballet de Santiago makes its UK debut with Swan Lake at the London Coliseum

Ballet de Santiago is coming to Britain. The Chilean company, widely regarded as the leading classical troupe in South America, has announced its first UK engagement: Swan Lake at the London Coliseum from 21 to 25 September 2027. The news follows the opening of the company's run at the Bord Gáis Theatre in Dublin yesterday, and tickets go on general sale this Friday, 21 August.

Leading the company is César Morales, who will be a familiar name to British ballet audiences. Born in Rancagua and trained at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago's ballet school and at Houston Ballet, he joined English National Ballet in 2004 and spent sixteen years with Birmingham Royal Ballet from 2008, leaving in 2024 to return to Chile and take charge of the company where he first became a principal dancer.

The production London will see is the company's own: the staging Ivan Nagy and Marilyn Burr made for Ballet de Santiago, built on the classical choreography of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and set to Tchaikovsky's score. The familiar story is intact — Prince Siegfried falling for Odette, a princess condemned by sorcery to spend her days as a swan — and the company promises opulent sets and costumes to frame it. Every performance will be played by the English National Opera Orchestra.

César Morales, artistic director of Ballet de Santiago, said: “I feel great pride and excitement at seeing the Ballet de Santiago transcend borders to bring one of the most beloved works of the universal classical repertoire to another continent: Swan Lake, in the iconic version that Ivan Nagy and Marilyn Burr created especially for our company. This is another historic step for the Ballet de Santiago, and we are delighted to share the talent, passion, and excellence of our dancers with UK audiences.”

Founded in 1959, the company is resident at the Municipal de Santiago, Ópera Nacional de Chile, where it dances an annual season alongside touring dates across the country. Its repertoire runs from the classics through neoclassical and contemporary work, and it has appeared in the United States, Colombia, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina, Spain, Hungary, Germany, China and Mexico. Past directors include Ivan Nagy, the Hungarian former American Ballet Theatre star who opened the company up to international choreographers; Marcia Haydée; and Luis Ortigoza, who led it through the pandemic years.

Morales himself built his reputation in Birmingham on the princes — Sir Peter Wright's The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake — alongside work by Frederick Ashton and George Balanchine, and title roles in Sir David Bintley's Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. In 2021 he took the Dancing Times Award for Best Male Dancer at the National Dance Awards.

Ballet de Santiago's Swan Lake plays the London Coliseum from Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 September 2027, with evening performances at 7.30pm and matinees at 2.30pm on Thursday and Saturday. Press night is Tuesday 21 September at 7.30pm. Running time is 2 hours 30 minutes including an interval, and detailed casting will be announced later.