{"id":181834,"date":"2025-09-11T10:20:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834"},"modified":"2025-09-11T10:20:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T09:20:25","slug":"love-the-new-ballets-literally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834","title":{"rendered":"Love The New Ballets; Literally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-650c66c43f04d4dfc05e1f87f36af966 wp-block-paragraph\">Have you been to the ballet lately? Maybe you see it as too old-school, and you prefer modern art. Yet, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/why-do-we-keep-falling-in-love-with-ballet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ballet<\/a><\/strong> has been evolving, and like many other art forms, tradition has been making space for previously unseen and new versions of contemporary dance. Drawing on stories of marginalised voices in literature, or lesser-known scripts from film, innovative ballet adaptations are coming to the stage in London. Choreographers are redefining what the form has historically encapsulated, entering a new era of ballet: Maybe that has got your attention? Find out more in <em>Love The New Ballets; Literally <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6dd72b65b67d498d9c27a810fc3bed45 wp-block-paragraph\">Young people may associate ballet with productions that have been performed since the 19th century, old fairy tales, and classic stories, but the times have changed. Audiences are hungry for something new. A key reason why ballet is such a powerful art form is that it speaks to the empathetic part of our brain that connects to live performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5c05d25e08c581958435a542d8e7832e wp-block-paragraph\">The modern viewer in a big city like multicultural London comes from all sorts of backgrounds. Members of the LGBTQ+ community, those with different racial and religious backgrounds, want to see works they can relate to, and contemporary ballet productions provide this novelty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3cd13a60142851d94ac05b0a83122952 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jonathan Watkins, choreographer of <em>A Single Man<\/em> <em>Ballet<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-508e8c3086c4b62f710b34a6078986d1 wp-block-paragraph\">Choreographer Jonathan Watkins\u2019s ballet adaptation of Christopher Isherwood\u2019s 1964 novel <em>A Single Man<\/em> is a moving, unexpected production. Watkins breathes an air of modernity by dividing the protagonist George\u2019s mind and body into two separate entities on the stage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" height=\"348\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1.jpg?resize=580%2C348&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Love The New Ballets; Literally: A Single Man Ballet, LGBTQ+\" class=\"wp-image-182060\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1.jpg?resize=300%2C180&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1.jpg?resize=768%2C461&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d90b501607d6479c86cd343eefabb175 wp-block-paragraph\">Image Credits: Rick Guest<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3e825da4c9aa4dd0450e5d6e57b3e424 wp-block-paragraph\">Isherwood immerses the reader in George\u2019s joyless routine in the novel, creating the sense that you are living in his head. For Watkins, achieving a similar effect with the ballet adaptation was equally important. The movements are angular and clear-cut. The choreography shows the robotic nature with which George approaches daily tasks, which, to his dismay, did not die with his lover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-66882524158419e5318a0c13a3afca16 wp-block-paragraph\">The novel itself is full of George\u2019s introspection and observations. This initially may raise some eyebrows for those accustomed to traditional ballet. How could a man\u2019s mind be picked apart by ballet dancers? Uniquely, Watkins\u2019s adaptation features words, which come into play through John Grant\u2019s lyricism. Watkins recognised that whilst the story <em>could<\/em> be told without words, Grant\u2019s preexisting work already displayed a similar exploration of the themes in <em>A Single Man<\/em>. The result is a contemporary and tender exploration of the 1960s circumstances that forced George\u2019s grief to be silent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-60d49483034c1bbe569a0664ae06f619 wp-block-paragraph\">Grant sings and plays the piano inside a mini stage that resembles the outline of a human head. The musician is, quite literally, in George&#8217;s mind. The evocative score and lyricism pull the viewer in. Meanwhile, the veil of depression is another undeniably clever element of Chiara Stepehenson\u2019s set design. Stephenson and the Royal Opera House used the method of flocking, which creates an effect of covering everything on stage in grey dust.\u00a0His world is dim, and movement and the staging convey the heaviness of a queer man\u2019s grief at a time when homosexuality had to be concealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-fa7d0271d571da458bbdef20b5d09cca wp-block-paragraph\">Though Watkins avoided watching Tom Ford&#8217;s 2009 film adaptation of the novel to escape outside artistic influences, we can see how both directors set out to demonstrate George&#8217;s hopelessness. In Ford&#8217;s film, the mundane activities flow under the lens of an undersaturated filter, and the flocking of Watkins&#8217;s stage similarly presents George&#8217;s metaphorical absence in his life. This ballet talks to the audience about grief in body language cues, and brief exhales of lust are the ultimate nod at human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3596182c9459a817eafd9281ba2d1578 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Christopher Wheeldon&#8217;s choreography of <em>Like Water For Chocolate<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-64575261621cd93b8d4fbb3b461d80db wp-block-paragraph\">Watkins is not the sole undertaker of the mission of turning a literary piece into a ballet performance. Christopher Wheeldon\u2019s choreography of Laura Esquivel\u2019s 1989 novel <em>Like Water for Chocolate <\/em>is a beautiful exploration of a forbidden love that takes place on a Mexican ranch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c27f737119103b50a46cd371863590c5 wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike Watkins, Wheeldon does not draw on lyrics to elicit emotion. Instead, Joby Talbot\u2019s magical score associates individual instruments with specific characters \u2013 Pedro with the guitar, and Tita with the ethereal wind instrument ocarina. Music is famously a significant element of Mexican culture. The intensity of Tita and Pedro&#8217;s yearning and battle against societal expectations is brought alive in an expressive, culturally-inspired ballet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ed868ffc5b68246e8501d203aa46b782 wp-block-paragraph\">Their romance is full of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/seeing-red-the-visual-art-of-love-anger-and-passion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passion<\/a><\/strong>, fighting against the circumstances pushed on them by the firm hand of Tita&#8217;s mother, Elena. Mama Elena projects her own romantic repression onto Tita. In love, chemistry is a product of the mind and the body. Through ballet, Wheeldon puts those feelings into, at times, sexy, at times, painful performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-df76f22904ea14ce9030abd8f9034165 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Amplifying Marginalised Voices <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-fd51a4fe17a2de8dfc7cab6346ace36d wp-block-paragraph\">People want to be heard by artists. The need for ballet to evolve with the times is why the telling of contemporary tales is such a crucial cultural phenomenon. The demographic that is looking to attend classics such as \u2018The Nutcracker\u2019 is very particular, and the language of such productions may be deemed as a luxury. Therefore, in reimagining untold tales about marginalised groups, ballet takes a new, fresh form.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2c66e6ba5924763ce10ac8d595f96a82 wp-block-paragraph\">This was choreographer Iyun Ashani Harrison\u2019s motivation when selecting James Baldwin\u2019s 1956 novella <em>Giovanni\u2019s Room <\/em>as a subject to reimagine in his dance company Ballet Ashani. Baldwin\u2019s work, much like Isherwood\u2019s, was <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/from-rebellion-to-rhythm-dandyism-was-revolutionary-to-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revolutionary<\/a><\/strong> for its time. It dared to shine light on a queer love between two men, and the ugliness that comes with feelings of internalised homophobia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-75ff5657a3e226755599e5374cdfb5c0 wp-block-paragraph\">Ballet allowed Ashani to use theatrical tricks to explore metaphors that linger in Baldwin\u2019s raw storytelling. The world has come far from a time when sexual orientation discrimination was everywhere, and employing ballet to remind us to celebrate societal progress and inclusivity deepens our sense of community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c20c03a224a8dacee50fe99cb9948df1 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Stepping Into The Protagonists&#8217; Ballet Shoes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-038bbfd8c2211adc24fd47bafb6009de wp-block-paragraph\">We feel for the characters, want to cry with them, want to love like they love. All of the aforementioned works are similar in their emotional strength. George encapsulates the caging of the LGBTQ+ community at a time when the only way to romantic freedom was hiding. This longing to hold someone who has turned into a quiet memory haunts George as he completes meaningless tasks. The stark movements of the ballerinas show the audience how grief punctures every inch of the human body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b84b5120aa79c36bb82c675bfcc2417a wp-block-paragraph\">This too rings true for Tita, who conceals her love for Pedro to escape her mother&#8217;s wrath. Suppressing something only pours more fuel on the fire; there is a reason plays like Romeo and Juliette have enchanted viewers for centuries. To express something through silent dance is a unique challenge, where the viewer internally builds their own narrative and interpretation. Music and performance art is one of the greatest emotion-inducing mediums. When combined with contemporary<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/the-most-powerful-perfume-as-literature\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> <strong>literature<\/strong>,<\/a> it engages the audience intellectually and audio-visually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-87cb2d28e6dbd7b1f1943ee34a32db3e wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Empathy: Mirror Neurons And The Social Brain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-25129ac32e02da55b717e5cc196966dd wp-block-paragraph\">Ballet performances, as entertaining as they are, also play a vital role in boosting human empathy. There is a scientific reason why ballet evokes such a powerful emotional response. The mirror neurons in our brains are one of the key roots of empathy. Essentially, they make you mentally mimic visual stimuli. The mind then imagines sharing the feelings the ballet dancers&#8217; passionate manoeuvres convey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d62d7729bd9d6d9bad981f7ea89202c9 wp-block-paragraph\">This deepens our relationship to works that have only existed in written form, as movement brings about deeper emotional engagement. That is why, upon seeing Ed Watson&#8217;s mechanical flow as George, we will be unable to break free from feeling as if we are living in the protagonist&#8217;s sorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c31c12613ae8b227b6dd2a80b3604901 wp-block-paragraph\">Contemporary ballet isn&#8217;t just dance: it is an amalgamation of set design, music, choreography, costumes, and the list goes on. The multitude of those layers allows for incredible creativity and experimentation, which brings new audiences to the timeless form that is ballet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6336ef07a473e584159d6bdf92a37365 wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A Single Man<\/em> is at The Royal Ballet between 8-20 September 2o25, with tickets available <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbo.org.uk\/tickets-and-events\/a-single-man-jonathan-watkins-details\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a5c17f8cdc63faebc18ce22393ce96b6 wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Like Water For Chocolate<\/em> is at The Royal Ballet between 1-4 October 2025, with tickets available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbo.org.uk\/tickets-and-events\/like-water-for-chocolate-christopher-wheeldon-details\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2150374d451cfb2503cf129c65bb0420 wp-block-paragraph\">If you enjoyed reading <em>New Gen Ballet: Spectacular Literary Voices<\/em>, then why not read <em><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/what-is-minimalistic-music-a-formless-yet-powerful-sound\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What Is Minimalistic Music? A Formless Yet Powerful Sou<\/a>nd<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b239c95105949a18d55b521837aacba0 wp-block-paragraph\">.Cent Magazine, London; <em><strong>Luxury Mindset<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you been to the ballet lately? Maybe you see it as too old-school, and you prefer modern art. Yet,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":324,"featured_media":182073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16985,8],"tags":[1191,15,13849,10209],"features_issues":[16974],"featured_themes":[16953],"ppma_author":[16977],"class_list":["post-181834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ballet","category-literature","tag-ballet","tag-literature-2","tag-queer-love","tag-the-royal-ballet","features_issues-formless","featured_themes-formless"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Love The New Ballets; Literally | Cent Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Drawing on stories of marginalised voices in literature, LGBTQ+ innovative ballet adaptations are coming to the stage in London\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love The New Ballets; Literally | Cent Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drawing on stories of marginalised voices in literature, LGBTQ+ innovative ballet adaptations are coming to the stage in London\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cent Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-11T09:20:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-11T09:20:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Liza Glushak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e12994cf81b161dce4f4cd6e59376e05\"},\"headline\":\"Love The New Ballets; Literally\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-11T09:20:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-11T09:20:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834\"},\"wordCount\":1367,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"ballet\",\"Literature\",\"queer love\",\"The Royal Ballet\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ballet\",\"Literature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834\",\"name\":\"Love The New Ballets; Literally | Cent Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-11T09:20:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-11T09:20:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Drawing on stories of marginalised voices in literature, LGBTQ+ innovative ballet adaptations are coming to the stage in London\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"New Gen Ballet: Spectacular Literary Voices\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?p=181834#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Love The New Ballets; Literally\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cent Magazine\",\"description\":\"Be Inspired, Get Involved\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Cent Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/centmagazine.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/logo_cent-01.jpg?fit=501%2C503&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/centmagazine.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/logo_cent-01.jpg?fit=501%2C503&ssl=1\",\"width\":501,\"height\":503,\"caption\":\"Cent Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e12994cf81b161dce4f4cd6e59376e05\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/068157a29f858d56d1c3189db6ac12a067f7878ffcb46743b9740d3333214292?s=96&d=mm&r=gf48917b8e06e64fcd2e9b5aa5e24d59f\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/068157a29f858d56d1c3189db6ac12a067f7878ffcb46743b9740d3333214292?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/068157a29f858d56d1c3189db6ac12a067f7878ffcb46743b9740d3333214292?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.centmagazine.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\\\/?author=324\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Love The New Ballets; Literally | Cent Magazine","description":"Drawing on stories of marginalised voices in literature, LGBTQ+ innovative ballet adaptations are coming to the stage in London","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Love The New Ballets; Literally | Cent Magazine","og_description":"Drawing on stories of marginalised voices in literature, LGBTQ+ innovative ballet adaptations are coming to the stage in London","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834","og_site_name":"Cent Magazine","article_published_time":"2025-09-11T09:20:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-11T09:20:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Liza Glushak","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/e12994cf81b161dce4f4cd6e59376e05"},"headline":"Love The New Ballets; Literally","datePublished":"2025-09-11T09:20:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-11T09:20:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834"},"wordCount":1367,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","keywords":["ballet","Literature","queer love","The Royal Ballet"],"articleSection":["Ballet","Literature"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834","url":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834","name":"Love The New Ballets; Literally | Cent Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-09-11T09:20:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-11T09:20:25+00:00","description":"Drawing on stories of marginalised voices in literature, LGBTQ+ innovative ballet adaptations are coming to the stage in London","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"New Gen Ballet: Spectacular Literary Voices"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=181834#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Love The New Ballets; Literally"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/","name":"Cent Magazine","description":"Be Inspired, Get Involved","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#organization","name":"Cent Magazine","url":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/logo_cent-01.jpg?fit=501%2C503&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/logo_cent-01.jpg?fit=501%2C503&ssl=1","width":501,"height":503,"caption":"Cent Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/e12994cf81b161dce4f4cd6e59376e05","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/068157a29f858d56d1c3189db6ac12a067f7878ffcb46743b9740d3333214292?s=96&d=mm&r=gf48917b8e06e64fcd2e9b5aa5e24d59f","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/068157a29f858d56d1c3189db6ac12a067f7878ffcb46743b9740d3333214292?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/068157a29f858d56d1c3189db6ac12a067f7878ffcb46743b9740d3333214292?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.centmagazine.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?author=324"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":16977,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"liza-glushak","display_name":"Liza Glushak","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0-1-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/324"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=181834"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182203,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181834\/revisions\/182203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/182073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=181834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=181834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=181834"},{"taxonomy":"features_issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ffeatures_issues&post=181834"},{"taxonomy":"featured_themes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ffeatured_themes&post=181834"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fppma_author&post=181834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}