This week Hermione, Kat and (we've brought her back) Clara discuss the 2025/26 season at the Royal Ballet and Opera. We go through what ballets are on, when, and what they are all about.
In order & links:
Like Water For Chocolate, October 2025
La Fille Mal Gardée, November 2025 & June 2026
Perspectives, Balanchine, Marston & Peck, November 2025
Nutcracker, November 2025: The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House, full ballet
Mayerling, March 2026: Documentary on the making of Mayerling, Mayerling full ballet 2024, Paris Opera
Wayne McGregor, Alchemies, April 2026
This week Kat, Hermione ... and a special guest (!) Clara talk about the origins of ballet from the 1400s in mercantile Italy to the English 1600s and the king that brought back partying (and ballet). It turns out, ballet in these early periods is much like a Mamma Mia immersive experience where everyone got involved, there was dance, there was singing, there were outrageous costumes, and much more. This episode tells us how we get closer to the art form that we know and love, from the rigid structure of baroque dance.
This week Hermione and Kat are covering the classic ballet Romeo and Juliet, choreographed by Kenneth Macmillan in 1965. It's one of the most technically gruelling, emotionally cathartic and visually beautiful ballets out there, and is absolutely perfect if you have never seen any ballet before.
What we're talking about in this episode:
- Background and plot of Romeo & Juliet, its origins, adaptions, positives and negatives
- How Macmillan's version came to be, and the drama about casting
- The story behind the iconic pairing of Margot Fonteyn with Rudolf Nureyev
Links:
Margot Fonteyn & Rudolf Nureyev in Romeo and Juliet, full performance
This week Kat and Hermione discuss the ballet 'Onegin', choreogrpahed by John Cranko which first premiered in 1965 based on the Pushkin Novel in Verse which was first published in 1825. 2025 is therefore the 200th anniversary of the book's publication and 50th anniversary of the ballet first performance- a big year for Eugene Onegin!
We're talking about everything in this episode:
- The story of Eugene Onegin and the ballet (they're a bit different)
- Pushkin's life and death (it's a wild story)
- The fantastic Tchaikovksy music of the ballet
- Brief thoughts on Cinderella
Our recommendations:
The Stuttgart Ballet's version
ROH interview with Natalia Osipova
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland opens the Royal Ballet and Opera's 2024-25 season with an amazing series of casts in this now classic Christopher Wheeldon ballet.
Alice opened at the Royal Opera House for the first time in February 2011 and is a magically faithful representation of the classic book 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. It brings a 160 year old story into the world of classical ballet to create a wonderful showpiece, and a Royal Ballet classic.
With music by Joby Talbot, designs by Bob Crowley and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, Alice was the Royal Ballet's very first full length commissioned ballet in more than 20 years and marked a new age of choreography in the company.
This week Hermione & Kat are starting a multipart overview of ballet history with a general history. From Italian courtly ballet, ghostly Romantics, the elusive Ballet Russes and riot causing performances, to ballet defections from the USSR, Sylvie Guillem's world changing hypermobility and the French terms, everything is covered.
Stay tuned for more to come in our history of the art of ballet.
Do you not see the point of ballet? In this podcast we want to change your mind.
In this trailer Kat and Hermione share a story of how ballet brought them together and why they are striving for others to see the point of the ballet world.
In this episode Kat and Hermione discuss Christopher Wheeldon's ballet The Winter's Tale, adapted from the Shakespeare play which premiered at the Royal Opera House in 2014.
We also discuss the new season at the Royal Opera House (now the Royal Ballet and Opera) which starts in September
Booking for the new season opens on the 9th July for YoungROH and the 10th July for general booking.
Links:
- YoungROH 16-25 account for £30 tickets
- Barclay's dance pass 16-30 for £10 tickets at Sadler's Wells
- The London City Ballet returns to the stage after nearly 30 years in September and tours this summer
Hermione and Kat return to IDSTP in this episode discussing the Royal Ballet's production of Swan Lake, as well as other versions, the Tchaikovsky score and dancers Fumi Kaneko and William Bracewell.
Where to see Swan Lake
Find tickets for the RB's production of Swan Lake here:
https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/swan-lake-by-liam-scarlett-details
16-25 discounted tickets for the Royal Opera House:
https://www.roh.org.uk/ticket-deals/young-roh
English National ballet adapted Swan lake for 3 and upwards:
https://www.ballet.org.uk/production/my-first-ballet-swan-lake/
English National ballet Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall:
https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2024/swan-lake/
See the Royal Ballet Swan Lake live in cinemas on the 24th and 28th April 2024:
https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/swan-lake-in-cinemas-details
Watch the Kirov Ballet's (now Mariinsky) swan lake on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rJoB7y6Ncs&t=11s&ab_channel=WarnerClassics
Hermione and Kat sit down with Alexander Campbell, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet to talk about 'The Limit', a new show which ran at the Royal Opera House in October.
Alexander talks about the process behind creating a new dance production, adapting dance from a play, and the challenges of working in new ways. Hermione and Kat also chat to Alexander about the realities of ballet, and why the dance form is, and should be, for everyone.
Many thanks to Alexander for being the very first guest on 'I don't see the Pointe', to Sean Flanagan for his help with making it all happen, and to the whole team behind The Limit for creating such a spectacular and moving show.
'The Limit' is adapted from Sam Steiner's play 'Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons', and is described as a modern classic.
Cast & Creatives
Alexander Campbell & Francesca Hayward
Director: Ed Madden
Choreographer: Kristen McNally
Original score by: Isobel Waller-Bridge
Based on the play by: Sam Steiner
Designer: Anisha Fields
Sound Designer: Max Pappenheim
Lighting Designer: Lee Curran
Original Dance Concept: Alexander Campbell productions
This episode contains references to injuries and drugs.
This week Hermione & Kat are talking about injuries in the ballet world, as well as their own unfortunate medical dilemmas, and the Royal Ballet's magnificent production of Don Quixote.
Links
- Young ROH account for ages 16-25 for £30 tickets
- Anemoi/The Cellist tickets @ The Royal Opera House (until 2nd November)
- Don Quixote tickets @ The Royal Opera House (until 17th November)
- Cinema Relays of Don Quixote on the 7th November and 12th
- The Dante Project tickets @ The Royal Opera House (until 2nd December)
- Nutcracker tickets @ The Royal Opera House (until 13th January 2024)
In this episode, Hermione and Kat delve into the world of ballet movies. Many people have their first ballet experiences and become interested in the art form through ballet in film and TV. Not all ballet movies however, are created equal.
Kat talks about the Barbie ballet movies (Barbie in the Nutcracker 2001, Barbie in Swan Lake 2003 & Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses 2006), and Centre Stage (2000), with Hermione discussing The Red Shoes (1948), Black Swan (2010) and White Nights (1985).
Going to the ballet is incredible but can be confusing. This is your strangely detailed guide to booking the best and cheapest tickets, where to sit, what to wear, and lots more. With a quite a few years of going to the ballet under their belts, Hermione and Kat have a lot of tips, detailed tips, for going to the ballet at the Royal Opera House. Consider this episode a reference guide for when you book any tickets and go to the ballet to make sure you have the best possible experience.
- Young ROH account for ages 16-25 for those £25 tickets: https://rb.gy/bop4hg
Follow us on Instagram @seethepointe1 and TikTok @seethepointe for more ballet info and content.
In this episode, Hermione and Kat react to the 2023/24 ballet season at the Royal Opera House. With some brief thoughts on each ballet, we recommend which ones to see for new ballet audiences and what people might enjoy about them.
Follow us on instagram @seethepointe for more ballet info and content.
Next week we'll be sharing exactly how to see ballet at the ROH: how to book tickets, where to sit, what to wear etc.
This week Hermione and Kat discuss the new production of the Royal Ballet's Cinderella, choreographed by Frederick Ashton.
With brand new costumes and sets, this colourful and magical production is a classic of British ballet, and a perfect introduction to ballet for kids. It follows the classic Cinderella story, so revisiting the Disney film before seeing it would not be a bad idea.
Our dancer of the week is Mayara Magri, a Brazilian principal dancer with the Royal Ballet.
Choreography by Frederick Ashton
Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Sets by Tom Pye
Costumes by Alexandra Byrne
Staging by Wendy Ellis Somes & Gary Avis
Links:
All Cinderella music recordings are by the Royal Opera House Orchestra and date to 1948 to the original run of Cinderella.
In the recording of Romeo and Juliet from 1938, Sergei Prokofiev himself is conducting.
- Young ROH account for ages 16-25 for those £25 tickets: https://rb.gy/bop4hg
- Remaining dates for Cinderella, running until 3rd May: https://shorturl.at/fNSTV
- Tickets for Sleeping Beauty, we’d recommend seeing Yasmine & Matthew: https://shorturl.at/buyV1
- The Australian Ballet performs ‘Jewels’ in August: https://shorturl.at/uzBV8
- The Next Generation Festival will take place in the Linbury theatre. This is a fantastic opportunity to see emerging talent, and different companies from around the world. We’d especially recommend ‘BRB2: Carlos Accosta’s Classical Selection’: https://shorturl.at/fjCY2
Don't see the point of ballet? We want to change your mind.
This episode contains references to themes of mental health and suicide which some listeners may find distressing.
This week Hermione and Kat talk about the Royal Ballet's production of Woolf Works, choreographed by Wayne McGregor. They discuss how to watch the ballet, the plots and themes to look out for, and the mesmerising score by Max Richter.
The dancer of the episode discussed this week is Matthew Ball, a current principle dancer at the Royal Ballet.
Links
- Young ROH account for ages 16-25 for those £25 tickets: https://rb.gy/bop4hg
- Extracts from I now, I then (Mrs Dalloway), Dance with Septimus, Rezia and Evans:
Young Clarissa and young Sally:
Extract from Becomings (Orlando), Orlando pas de deux:
Finale:
- Max Richter’s score
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4fo551Vy3KXbbRxRlVTD9D?si=ujAkKuJsSmWK7SCBR5f7Aw
On YouTube: https://rb.gy/i4dq4m
Recomposition of Vivaldi: https://open.spotify.com/album/5yuG2LEkf7QA9ZGIXldCmy?si=yz4ZN1ouQf2NI-cVl26sdQ
- Men at the Barre, BBC Documentary
YouTube: https://rb.gy/wqzwd0
BBC Four: https://rb.gy/ckg77e
- Cinderella cinema relay: https://rb.gy/y8vvj8
Don't see the point of ballet? We want to change your mind.
Ballet fans Kat and Hermione are setting out on a journey to share the joy of ballet with people who might not see the point of it. In this episode they discuss:
- what drove them to start a podcast about ballet
- the Royal Ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty
- some favourite dancers
- cheap ways to see ballet in London
