The reviews are in for A Centenary Celebration, the gala marking 100 years of The Royal Ballet School, which ran for three performances at the Royal Opera House on 8-10 October 2026. The programme put The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and the School’s students on one stage for twelve pieces, from Ninette de Valois’s Checkmate to new duets by Christopher Wheeldon and Cathy Marston, and ended with Valentino Zucchetti’s finale Centenary for around 300 dancers. Most critics enjoyed the evening, and several named Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov’s Act III Swan Lake pas de deux as a high point. The running time and the finale divided them: Bachtrack found the programme too long and fragmentary, and Seeing Dance thought Centenary crowded and confused.
The verdict: ten reviews in: one five-star notice, three at four stars and one at three, plus five outlets that give no rating or keep it behind a paywall. Among the five that score, the average is 4 out of 5. The point of widest agreement is the Act III Swan Lake pas de deux, with Vadim Muntagirov praised by almost everyone who mentions it; what splits them is the length of the evening and Valentino Zucchetti’s mass finale.
What are critics saying about A Centenary Celebration?
BroadwayWorld
"An experience to behold"
Reviewer: Matthew Paluch
Paluch admired a great deal of the dancing but found that the evening never quite added up to more than its parts. He singled out Reece Clarke in Checkmate, Patricio Revé in Birthday Offering and the Kaneko and Muntagirov duet, which he rated the finest dancing of the night.
"It includes some great dancing and brilliant choreography, but somehow my soul didn't soar."
He was cooler on the Winter Dreams excerpt and the Penguin Café zebra, and gave Zucchetti credit for organising a finale on that scale while judging it no threat to Balanchine.
London Unattached
"The Royal Ballet School’s 100th Birthday Bash"
Reviewer: Teresa Guerreiro
Guerreiro called the evening a glittering gala and the finale a breathtaking piece of stagecraft. She was struck by how modern Checkmate still looks and wanted Birthday Offering and Bintley’s Penguin Café seen more often.
"…the section ended on a high with a sparkling, technically perfect, rousing Black Swan pas de deux…"
The Winter Dreams pas de deux was the one item she thought fell flat out of context; the Wheeldon and Marston duets fared much better.
Lifted Leg
Reviewer: Bruce Marriott
Marriott, writing after the opening night, found the show well built and well paced, with the projected captions keeping twelve items moving. His highlights were Wheeldon’s Beautiful Shadow, the Bintley zebra and Muntagirov in the Black Swan duet.
"…a night full of goodwill and excellent dancing, with new and rarely-seen pieces providing much delight."
He had reservations too: odd gaps in the waltzing of Birthday Offering, a Winter Dreams that never took off, slips in the Manon bedroom duet, and a Zucchetti finale he enjoyed but found short on originality.
Bachtrack
"RB, BRB and RBS in a variable showcase"
Reviewer: Jonathan Gray
Gray, himself a former student of the School, praised the intentions behind the tribute but found the evening a disappointment after the School’s own centenary performance in July.
"…it was too long and fragmentary to make a strong impact. Sometimes less really is more."
He liked the students in Checkmate and the Manon duet, thought Nimbus and Unforgettable slight, and set Muntagirov’s classical dancing against what he saw as Kaneko’s more mechanical technique. The finale, in his view, at least gave the night a proper ending.
British Theatre Guide
Reviewer: Vera Liber
Liber treated the three-hour evening as a feast and was bowled over by the two heritage pieces that opened it, de Valois’s Checkmate and Ashton’s Birthday Offering.
"All stops are pulled out in a three-hour evening of splendour, talent, skill and generosity."
She thought Kaneko’s balances in the Black Swan duet might now rival those of Marianela Nuñez, and complimented Zucchetti on marshalling all three companies in a finale that sent the audience home happy.
Gramilano
Reviewer: Georgina Butler
Butler saw the gala as a fitting salute to de Valois and walked through all twelve pieces, praising the students’ precision in Checkmate and the chemistry of Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambé in Manon.
"Heritage ballets. World premieres. Short works. And a (ginormous) grand finale. Something for everyone – centenaries should come around more often!"
She noted some awkward spacing in Birthday Offering and a few fumbles in Manon, but found the confetti-strewn finale spectacular.
Seeing Dance
Reviewer: Nicola Claire
Claire rated the standard of dancing outstanding from the youngest students to the principals, with Marston’s Night Falling, McGregor’s Nimbus and the Black Swan duet among the best of it. Birthday Offering, for her, felt long and dated.
"Sadly, the final work, Valentino Zucchetti’s specially commissioned Centenary, failed to provide the triumphant conclusion the occasion deserved."
She found the finale too crowded and hard to follow, though everything before it showed what the School has given British ballet.
Production photographs by Tristram Kenton.
Also reviewed by: The Stage (Siobhan Murphy, five stars, "Enough to make you giddy"), The Times (Debra Craine, "A star-studded evening I’ll never forget") and the Financial Times ("The Royal Ballet School celebrates its centenary with a 12-course banquet"), whose reviews sit behind paywalls.
For more of what the critics made of this autumn’s openings, see our roundup of The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt, France, 1940 at the Arcola Theatre.
A Centenary Celebration played three performances at the Royal Opera House on 8-10 October 2026 and has now closed.
