The Royal Ballet announces Rio Tinto as sponsor of China tour 2008

Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, announced today at a press conference in China that The Royal Ballet Tour to China 2008 is to be generously supported by Rio Tinto.

The Royal Ballet returns to China this summer for the first time in nearly ten years and embarks on a five week tour to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong performing some of their signature ballets including Kenneth MacMillan's Manon and Monica Mason and Christopher Newton's production of The Sleeping Beauty. Alongside these two full length ballets will be a programme of mixed work reflecting the broad range of choreographic styles the Company performs including Wayne McGregor's award-winning work Chroma, divertissements and the recreation of Ashton's Homage to the Queen which includes new choreography from David Bintley, Christopher Wheeldon and Michael Corder.

Tony Hall says: "I'm delighted that Rio Tinto has come on board to support The Royal Ballet Tour to China this year. It's a hugely important time for us to be consolidating our relationship with China and, in particular, the new National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing with whom we aim to have a meaningful and sustained relationship as one of the great cultural institutions in China. Rio Tinto is playing a vital part in making our ambition a reality and we've very excited to be able to share the extraordinary performances by The Royal Ballet with Chinese audiences live on such a prestigious new stage".

Paul Skinner, Chairman of Rio Tinto, adds "China's economy is expanding rapidly and it is an increasingly important consumer of the metals and minerals we produce. We hope to forge even closer ties with China by helping to make the tour possible and bringing this outstanding company to Chinese audiences. This is a particularly prestigious and important tour as it coincides with the Beijing Cultural Festival."

The Royal Ballet will perform at the new National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing, consolidating the relationship between the Royal Opera House and the NCPA. The relationship was originally sealed in the memorandum of understanding signed in Beijing on 28 March 2007 which sets out a framework of exchange and joint activities to be undertaken in partnership between the ROH and the NCPA.

These aim to create an ongoing programme of exchanges and training as a conduit for the exchange of skills and expertise between the ROH and the NCPA; provide a platform to support tours to China with a long term view to promote the ROH brand in China as well as the NCPA brand in the UK and Europe; where possible provide performing spaces for the exchange of high profile Chinese and UK performing arts events in the run up to and during the period between the Beijing Olympics 2008 and the London Olympics 2012; build a context for further cultural and creative skills development in association with the Cultural and Creative Skills Council, UK.

Visits by Directors of the Royal Opera House Operations, Technical and Education Departments have already begun and further exchanges between the two theatres will continue over the coming years with National Centre for the Performing Arts staff also travelling to the UK to see how theatres work here.

Performances by The Royal Ballet in Beijing will be accompanied by a series of workshops developed jointly by the Education Departments of the Royal Opera House and the National Centre for the Performing Arts and are generously supported by the British Council, China, Connections Through Culture Programme.

These workshops will use dance to inspire and empower young pupils in Beijing to learn and to develop their creativity through engagement with the ROH's work. The Company understands the importance of a cultural exchange when touring internationally and aims to strengthen links with the NCPA, the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the British Council, Hong Kong, alongside the wider education communities in the UK and China.

Notes to Editors:
The British Council runs Connections through Culture in partnership with the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, with support from the Scottish Government.

Royal Opera House FTP Instructions
You can download an assortment of Royal Opera House collateral through our FTP server which includes a variety of documents, images and videos. If you are an experienced FTP user, please proceed to login with the details below. If you are new to FTP downloading, please visit our FTP Help page available on our website where you will find comprehensive guidelines. www.roh.org.uk/pressftphelp

FTP Login Details
Host: ftp://ftp.rohmediacentre.com/
Username: press
Password: ewccxdtu
Upon successful login, navigate to Royal Ballet/Touring/China 2008
The Royal Opera House virus scans all materials before uploading and advises that you scan all downloaded material before opening. You may need to consult your I.T Manager to enable FTP on your machine and/or internet connection.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

For further information:

Christopher Millard
Director of Press and Communication
Royal Opera House
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7212 9458
Mobile: +44 (0) 7767 834 729
Christopher.millard@roh.org.uk

Elizabeth Bell
Head of Corporate Communications
Royal Opera House
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7212 9458
Mobile: +44 (0) 7900 388 512
Elizabeth.bell@roh.org.uk

Rio Tinto Media Relations, London
Nick Cobban
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1138
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 041 003

The Royal Ballet announces Rio Tinto as sponsor of China tour 2008 [PDF: 161 KB]