Checkmate

Ninette de Valois' choreography for Checkmate brings to life a dramatic and stylized war of lust, trickery and betrayal.

A gallant Red Knight, devoted to his king, is seduced and destroyed by the ruthless Black Queen in this allegorical story of a game of chess between love and death. Left defenseless, the Red King is no match for the merciless Queen as she brings the full force of her weapons and her femininity to bear.

Brimming over with classic 1930s style, truly inventive choreography, a powerful score from Sir Arthur Bliss, composer of the BBC Proms television theme, and iconic designs by E. McKnight Kauffer, Checkmate prophetically anticipated the merciless savagery of World War II. At nearly 75 years old, it is deservedly one of the earliest English ballets to still be in the repertory.


'Unforgettable images and plenty of theatrical vigour that doesn't seem to age'
The Times

'A grand and still relevant ballet'
The Financial Times

'Almost like an ultra-sylised film noir'
The Telegraph

'Visually striking throughout'
The Scotsman