Ann Maguire Gala, Sadler's Wells

The Ann Maguire Arts Education Fund was set up in memory of the teacher murdered by a teenage pupil in Leeds last year. Maguire’s daughter, Emma, is a dancer with the Royal Ballet; and her colleagues are giving their services to help raise funds for the charity, which will focus on youth arts projects.
Ex-ballerina and star Darcey Bussell will host the event, with Jonathan Cope. The programme looks set to count on some of the company’s biggest names, including choreography from Liam Scarlett, a world premiere from Alastair Marriott, and a tap dance from Steven McRae. Director of the National Romanian Ballet Johann Kobborg will also contribute work. The principals will be out in force: Sarah Lamb, Lauren Cuthbertson, Edward Watson, Federico Bonelli, Laura Morera and Nehemiah Kish are among those whose names have already been confirmed; many of the company’s soloists, including Alexander Campbell and Yuhi Choe, will also feature.
Emma Maguire herself will perform in Kobborg's Les Lutins alongside fellow dancers Marcelino Sambé and Valentino Zucchetti, and accompanied by Vasko Vassilev on the violin. Made a soloist in 2011, Maguire has danced many roles including that of Clara in the Nutcracker and Little Dot in Liam Scarlett’s Sweet Violets.
The gala will include Frederick Ashton's Monotones II and extracts from his Rhapsody, as well as Kenneth Macmillan's Concerto and Requiem, featuring soprano Madeleine Pierard.
One exciting detail of the programme is a world premiere of choreography by Jonathan Watkins. A former Royal Ballet dancer, Watkins began showing choreography alongside Liam Scarlett. But while Scarlett has gone on to produce several lauded works for the company, Watkins left the Royal for Barnsley. He created a dance theatre production of Kes, the story of a disaffected boy who steals and trains a kestrel chick (made famous by the 1969 Ken Loach film). Performed at the Crucible, it was hailed by the Observer a performance ‘of tremendous clarity and beautifully focused energy.’
The evening is sure to be a powerful tribute, as well as a display of the highest achievement in dance.

See these dancers in the Royal Ballet 2015 season.