The Royal Ballet

The Royal Ballet
General information
Name	The Royal Ballet
Previous names	Vic-Wells Ballet Sadler's Wells Ballet
Year founded	1931
Founder	Dame Ninette de Valois
Patron	HM The King
Principal venue	Royal Opera House, London, UK
Website	www.roh.org.uk
Senior staff
Director	Kevin O'Hare
President	Lady Sarah Chatto
Artistic staff
Music Director	Koen Kessels Barry Wordsworth (Principal Guest Conductor)
Resident Choreographers	Wayne McGregor Christopher Wheeldon
Other
Sister company	Birmingham Royal Ballet
Associated schools	Royal Ballet School

The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois.^[1] It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises.^[1] It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.

The Royal Ballet was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century, and continues to be one of the world's most famous ballet companies to this day, generally noted for its artistic and creative values. The company employs approximately 100 dancers. The official associate school of the company is the Royal Ballet School, and it also has a sister company, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, which operates independently. The Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet is the late Dame Margot Fonteyn.