No longer booking
  • Venue Royal Opera House, London
  • Performance dates Booking to 12 March 2025
  • Running time 1 hour 30 minutes (interval)
  • Age guidelines 8+

Book tickets to Light of Passage at The Royal Ballet in London

Experience Crystal Pite’s Light of Passage returning to the Royal Opera House in London following its acclaimed premiere in 2022.

A ballet that cuts to the heart of the human condition, in her distinctive style, Crystal Pite’s poignant work grapples with themes of safe passage, displacement, community and mortality. Set to Gorecki’s affecting Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, this award-winning work is a reminder of the power of human connection in our turbulent times.

Light of Passage is booking from 20 February 2025 to 12 March 2025 at the Royal Opera House in London.

What to expect

Masses of dancers move as a mesmerising whole. Bodies, fluid and yearning, are bathed in shafts of light. A single voice emerges, a lament that distils the magnitude of human suffering. A journey begins…

Background

Powerful art

In Light of Passage, Crystal Pite reckons with the existential tensions of the human condition, masterfully demonstrating how art can move the soul and provoke thought. In the choreographer’s own words, ‘there is a profound optimism in putting something like this out into the world and connecting to each other through it. When people collaborate to create a work of art and an audience gathers to witness it, there is something very hopeful and powerful about the experience. I want to create conditions in the theatre where we can gather around what we cannot know and grapple with it, together.’

A record in classical music publishing history

Light of Passage is set to Polish composer Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No.3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). Created in 1976 for a large orchestra and solo soprano, it would become a defining composition of the 20th century. The symphony had its big break in 1989 with a performance by the London Sinfonietta, conductor David Zinman and soprano Dawn Upshaw, which was recorded by Elektra Nonesuch and picked up by Classic FM. Played on rotation on airwaves around the country, it reached no.6 on the UK album charts of 1993. The recording would become the most popular contemporary classical CD ever, selling over a million copies.

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Stars and Creatives

Who are the creative team of Light of Passage?

Flight Pattern

Choreography by Crystal Pite,
Music by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki,
Scenic design by Jay Gower Taylor, costume design by Nancy Bryant, and lighting design by Tom Visser.

Covenant

Choreography by Crystal Pite,
Music by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki,
Scenic design and reflective light concept by Jay Gower Taylor, reflective light backdrop design by Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser, costume design by Nancy Bryant, and lighting design by Tom Visser.

Passage

Choreography by Crystal Pite,
Music by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki,
Scenic design and reflective light concept by Jay Gower Taylor, reflective light backdrop design by Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser, costume design by Nancy Bryant, and lighting design by Tom Visser.

Venue Information

Royal Opera House , Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD

Nearest Tube or Train: Covent Garden (Piccadilly line), Leicester Square (Piccadilly line, Northern line)

Nearest Buses: 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 26, 68, 76, 77a, 91, 168, 171, 176, 188, 501(southbound only), 505, 521, X68 all go to the Aldwych.

Directions

Google Apple

Critics' reviews of Light of Passage

★★★★★ "an eloquent, profound ballet" - The Times

★★★★★ "Moving, articulate and beautifully choreographed" - The Stage

★★★★ "Mesmerising moves from Crystal Pite" - Guardian

★★★★ "Crystal Pite’s new work is haunting and powerful" - The Independent

★★★★ "Crystal Pite’s new work is deeply felt and long overdue" - Evening Standard

Also see: Light of Passage Reviews Round-up

Frequently Asked Questions

Light of Passage is playing at the Royal Opera House in London
The running time of Light of Passage is 1 hour 30 minutes (interval)
The age recommendations for Light of Passage are: 8+
Yes, Light of Passage has matinee performances on the following days:

Yes. There is one 25 minute interval. The total performance time is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, including interval.

  • Flight Pattern: 30 minutes, followed by an interval
  • Covenant: 10 minutes
  • Passage: 20 minutes
No, sorry, Light of Passage has now completed its run and is no longer on sale.

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