The Royal Ballet has unveiled the official programming for the Next Generation Festival 2026, scheduled to run from 12 June to 4 July at the Linbury Theatre. The annual event provides a prominent international stage for some of the world's most prestigious junior dance companies and elite training institutions, showcasing an array of emerging choreographic and performance talent.
The festival opens on 12 June with the Youth Company of the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera performing Strauss 2225: Dances for the Future. Choreographed by Robert Binet to mark Johann Strauss II’s 200th birthday, the futuristic work utilizes original compositions to explore the long-term evolution of movement. The Royal Ballet School follows by celebrating its centenary year with a specialized heritage programme featuring bespoke student pieces alongside newly commissioned works from influential 21st-century choreographers Christopher Wheeldon, Cathy Marston, David Bintley, and Jessica Lang.
In a joint trans-Atlantic showcase, the school’s 100th graduating cohort will partner with advanced students from the School of American Ballet. The collaborative bill honors founding visionary George Balanchine with stagings of his windswept Valse Fantaisie alongside a curated suite from Who Cares?. On 21 June, The Royal Ballet’s flagship outreach initiative, Chance to Dance, brings a mixed programme inspired by Giselle to the stage. Featuring performers from Bradford and North East Legacy companies, the evening spotlights the Chance to Dance: Connect Company, a dedicated training pipeline for talented dancers of Global Majority Heritage aged 11–18, with new choreography from alumni Jacob Wye and Monique Jonas.
Subsequent mixed bills bridge diverse performance styles across international institutions. Students from the Rambert School will debut three new works by Ben Duke, Holly Blakey, and Alesandra Seutin, performing alongside the Junior Company of the Polish National Ballet, who present an evocative contemporary selection. On 28 June, ZooNation Youth Company returns with an energetic hip-hop billing featuring 1776, an international street-dance collaboration with Memphis Jookin' pioneer Lil Buck, alongside their co-created ensemble piece Offline.
The final week of the festival bridges classical legacy with modern urban theater. On 30 June and 1 July, the English National Ballet School and Germany’s John Cranko School unite to celebrate the legacy of Sir Anton Dolin. The joint classical bill features historic stagings of Dolin’s Variations For Four and his acclaimed 1941 Romantic reconstruction Pas de Quatre.
Concluding the festival on 4 July, Just Us Dance Theatre presents A Night of Hip Hop Theatre. Performed by the Just Us Apprenticeship Company—the UK’s premier bursary-supported hip-hop development track for early-career Black and Global Majority artists—the evening delivers a powerful urban triple bill featuring works by Chandenie Gobardhan, Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy MBE, and artistic director Joseph Toonga. Ticket details and complete schedule listings are available via the official venue box office.
