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Sidney Nolan, 'Ned Kelly' (detail), 1946. Enamel paint on composition board. 90.8 x 121.5 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of Sunday Reed, 1977.
Sir Hugh Casson PRA, 'Elephant and Rhinoceros Pavilion, London Zoo'(detail), c.1971. © Royal Academy of Arts, London.
No photo credits available.
10am – 10pm
Multimedia Partner: 
To celebrate both Degas and the Ballet and Building the Revolution at the Royal Academy, enjoy a day of activities before or after seeing our exhibitions at this special event in the John Madejski Fine Rooms.
10am–1pm
Enjoy live music in the courtyard beneath the specially commissioned reconstruction of Tatlin's Tower in the Courtyard for the exhibition, Building the Revolution.
10am–2pm: No need to book
Join ballet dancers and experts for a unique insight into the world of ballet and to get up close to some of the costumes from their Christmas spectacular The Nutcracker.
PLUS: Pick up a free 'Art Detective' activity booklet to enjoy while visiting ‘Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement’ - a great way to engage children with the artworks.
Children who arrive in costume or in a tutu will receive a special chocolate treat!
11.30am-1pm
Arlene Phillips Enjoy storytelling and a book signing with Arlene Phillips, dance director, choreographer and BBC primetime star-judge. Arlene will be reading an excerpt from one of her new books in the Alana Dancing Star series. Full of magic, glamour, glitter and loveable characters, the stories follow Alana, a young girl passionate about dance, on her dancing adventures around the world.
Books for signing are available for purchase in advance from the RA Shop.
£3 per adult, children go free.
Seating is limited. To guarantee your place, please book in advance here.
1–2pm
Come along and learn more about chocolatier craft and the historical journey behind the three major stages in the production process, the culture of the bean and its transformation into chocolate.
1pm and 3pm
Complimentary with an exhibition ticket
Join an introductory talk with Owen Hopkins, of the RA's Architecture Programme, to discover more about the Russian avant-garde architecture featured in ‘Building the Revolution’.
2pm
Debbie Moore Enjoy a talk by Arlene Phillips and Debbie Moore, founder of Pineapple Dance Studios.
Both experts will be in conversation to discuss dance influences, the life of a dancer and the scenes captured by Degas himself.
Free entry
This event is now fully booked
4–5pm
Pele Cox, the Poet in Residence at the Royal Academy, will recreate the atmosphere of Mallarmé’s famous Parisian Salons, 'Mardis’. This will explore Degas’s close friendship to the great French poet Mallarmé. Pele will use National Theatre actors to read from Mallarmé’s poetry and Degas’s letters and a ballerina from the English National Ballet who will dance to the poems as if they were music.
This event is now fully booked
5–5.45pm
Talk with Lutz Becker and Kate Goodwin, Drue Heinz Curator of Architecture
Over the past few months, Lutz Becker has filmed the intriguing process of making the scaled re-creation of Tatlin’s Tower, which is on display in the courtyard at the Royal Academy of Arts. Along with a special showing of the film, Lutz Becker will discuss the re-creation process from his perspective, along with the cultural and architectural significance of Vladimir Tatlin’s unrealised monument.
Doors open at 4.45pm and seats will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
7.30pm
Yvette Chauvire Mon.Loudières Like the Birds (Comme Les Oiseaux)
1990, Directed by Dominique Delouche. 90 Minutes.
Dominique Delouche’s acclaimed ballet film is a portrait of Monique Loudières, one of the Paris Opéra Ballet’s greatest prima ballerinas of the 1990s. Like the Birds charts her collaborations with renowned dancer Patrick Dupond and choreographers Jerome Robbins, Violette Verdy and Yvette Chauviré. Adopting a point of view similar to Edgar Degas, Delouche gives the audience a glimpse into the demanding rehearsals for some of the most sublime opera ballets ever made, such as Don Quixote and Mirages. Through subtle camera work, Like the Birds paints an impressionist portrait of everyday life backstage at the Opéra Garnier.
This event is now fully booked
Starring M. Loudières, J. Robbins, P. Dupond, J. Kylian, C. Atanassoff, M. Legris, V. Verdy, Y. Chauviré and the Opéra of Paris.
In collaboration with
7pm–8.45pm
A special evening performance of 'The Music of Sidney Bechet' will be taking place in the Reynolds Room. Clarinettist/saxophonist Robert Veen will explore the legacy of this influential jazz icon, performing many of the pieces Bechet wrote after moving permanently to France in 1950, such as 'Les Oignons' and his international hit 'Petite Fleur'.
Tickets £3 each. Seating is limited. To guarantee your place, please book in advance here
