Display On now until Sunday, 1 May 2022

On Point: Royal Academy of Dance at 100

FreePlan a visit
+44 (0)20 7942 2000

  • On now until Sunday, 1 May 2022

  • Rooms 103 – 106, Theatre & Performance

  • Free

Members visit free – join now

Explore the 100-year history of the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance. Discover a host of costume, designs, film and unique material from the last century including shoes worn by Dame Darcey Bussell DBE at her 2007 farewell performance.

Display Highlights

Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev wearing black. She has her hand on her head
Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev during rehearsals for the 1963 RAD gala. © GBL Wilson
Two children squatting, and one jumping in the air between them
Pupils from RAD's Step Into Dance programme. © Foteini Christofilopoulou
Costume design for a male dancer in a lord outfit. Samples of blue-green, red, purple and yellow fabric pinned to the paper
Costume design for 'Jack in the Green', by Claud Lovat Fraser, about 1921, England. Museum no. S.4-2012. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Adeline Genée in 'A Dream of Roses and Butterflies', wearing a dress with butterfly wing detail along the arms
Adeline Genée in 'A Dream of Roses and Butterflies'. Photo by Hugh Cecil
Female ballet dancers in a studio, with a male dancer dressed in black in the middle
Faculty of Education, 2018. Photo by Tim Cross
Montage of black and white ballet photos, with a leaflet/book in the middle
Ballet exercises for athletes. © Ali Wright, Dance Gazette
Karsavina coaching Fonteyn in role of The Firebird
Tamara Karsavina coaching Margot Fonteyn in role of The Firebird. Photo by Douglas Elston, 1954
Karsavina in Russian dance costume, wearing a pearly beaded hat
Tamara Karsavina in Russian dance costume, 1929. Dress by Natalia Gontcharova. Photographer unknown
Harlequin Statue
Harlequin statue by Alfred Gilbert for Production Club (RAD), date unknown. Presented to the RAD in 1924 by Stanislas Idzikowski. © Ali Wright, Dance Gazette
Dame Darcey Bussell DBE, Carlos Acosta and Gary Avis in Song of the Earth.
Dame Darcey Bussell DBE, Carlos Acosta and Gary Avis in The Song of the Earth, ROH, 2007. Part of the Graham Brandon Collection, THM/110. Image by Graham Brandon. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
costume design
A Dream of Butterflies and Roses, costume design, by Wilhelm, 1915, London. Museum no. S.797-2017. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Plan a visit

Features

Background image: Harlequin statue by Alfred Gilbert for Production Club (RAD), date unknown. Presented to the RAD in 1924 by Stanislas Idzikowski. © Ali Wright, Dance Gazette