The Sun King Dance Workshop and Solo

Wed 12 Feb
Workshops
Performances

Join Fernando Montaño, choreographer, guest principal artist and former soloist at the Royal Ballet, who will introduce you to ballroom dancing, Court of Louis XIV style. Our distinguished Master of Dance will show you the essential steps to shine in a menuet or gavotte.

Our listed library used to be a ballroom, and its beautiful parquet floor is made of Versailles panels. That makes it the perfect grand decor of our ballroom dancing. Bring any accessory you fancy (from a mouche to a perruque…), a pinch of elegance and a furious desire to have fun!

After the workshop and a short interval, Fernando Montaño will treat us with a solo from the legendary Ballet royal de la Nuit. In 1653, Louis XIV, aged 15 and ‘dressed as the Rising Sun’ in sparkling gold and jewels, appeared on stage for the first time to dance ‘his’ ballet in front of the Court and a large audience. Let’s relive this radiant choreography to the sound of baroque music. Amazement guaranteed!

 

 

Bookings

About our Master of Dance

Fernando Montaño is a Colombian, British artist, who studied ballet at the Instituto Colombiano de Ballet Clásico (Incolballet) and at the Cuban National Ballet School, and on scholarships in Milan and Turin. He joined the Cuban National Ballet in 2004, and The Royal Ballet in 2006. He represented the Company in the Erik Bruhn Prize in 2007 and was promoted to Soloist in 2014. In 2021, he left the Royal Ballet and became a principal guest artist. His repertory includes Romeo, Benvolio, Othello, Basilio (Don Quixote) Prince (Nutcracker), James Ruben (La Sylphide), Prince Désiré (Sleeping Beauty), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Jester (Cinderella), Bluebird (Sleeping Beauty), Rajah/Caterpillar (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Lover (Two Pigeons), and many others.

 

 

 

 

  • Ballet "La nuit". Louis XIV as Apollo, Anonymous, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). Credit: GrandPalaisRmn / Agence

Edinburgh