
Francesca Hayward
Acting
Biography
Francesca Hayward is a Kenyan-born English ballet dancer and actress, the daughter of an English father and a Kenyan mother. She is a principal dancer in the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in London. At the age of two, she moved to the Goring-by-Sea suburb of Worthing in West Sussex to live with her grandparents. She started ballet at age 3, after her grandparents bought her a video of The Nutcracker. When she was young, she danced at Le Serve School of Ballet and Theatre Dance in Worthing until her teacher encouraged her to audition to White Lodge, the junior section of the Royal Ballet School. After being a Junior Associate from the age of nine, she entered the School at the age of 11 in 2003, and progressed to the Royal Ballet Upper School in 2008. According to Hayward, due to an injury, she did not officially graduate, but received a certificate of attendance.
Known For

Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!

A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
Cats

An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
Audrey

Tita, who lives on a ranch in Mexico, falls in love with a boy, Pedro, who lives nearby; but when they want to get married, Tita's family prevents it, because she must remain single to take care of her mother.
Like Water for Chocolate

Distraught by her mother's refusal to allow her to meet gardener Jack, Victorian teenager Alice retreats into a book gifted to her by Lewls Carroll.
Royal Ballet & Opera 2024/25: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Prince Siegfried is celebrating his coming of age. The Queen Mother informs him that, the following day, during the grand ball held to mark his birthday, he must choose a future wife. Displeased at not being able to choose her out of love, he goes into the forest during the night. It is then that he spots a flock of swans. He raises his crossbow, prepares to shoot, but stops immediately: before him stands a beautiful woman dressed in white swan feathers, followed by twelve other women dressed in the same way, four of whom are known as the ‘little swans’. ‘Swan Lake’ is a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, comprising 4 acts and 4 scenes, or 3 acts and 4 scenes. The staging is based on a libretto by Vladimir Begichev and Vasili Geltser. The story is an ancient German legend recounting the tale of the beautiful Princess Odette, transformed into a swan by the curse of the evil sorcerer Rothbart. Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 17 March 2015.
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker. But the mysterious magician Drosselmeyer is waiting to sweep her off on a magical adventure. After defeating the Mouse King, the Nutcracker and Clara travel through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy treats them to a wonderful display of dances. Back home, Clara thinks she must have been dreaming – but doesn’t she recognize Drosselmeyer’s nephew?
The Nutcracker

From The Royal Ballet’s classical origins in the works of Petipa, to the home-grown choreographers who put British ballet on the world stage, this mixed programme highlights the versatility of the Company. Petipa’s Raymonda Act III is Russian classical ballet summarized in one act, full of sparkle and precise technique, while Ashton’s Enigma Variations is quintessentially British in every way – from its score by Elgar and period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, to Ashton’s signature style, the essence of British ballet. Concerto, MacMillan’s fusion of classical technique with a contemporary mind, completes a programme that shows the breadth of the Company’s heritage.
Concerto / Enigma Variations / Raymonda Act III (Royal Ballet)

The Royal Ballet presents the world premiere of Cathy Marston's first work for the Company on the Main Stage alongside a revival of Jerome Robbins’s timeless classic of pure dance. The Cellist is a one-act ballet about British cellist Jacqueline du Pré, from her discovery of the cello through her celebrity as one of the most extraordinary players of the instrument to her frustration and struggle with multiple sclerosis. Jerome Robbins's Dances at a Gathering is a fluid exercise in pure dance for five couples, set to piano music by Fryderyk Chopin.
The Cellist / Dances at a Gathering (The Royal Ballet)

As members of the feuding Capulet and Montague families, Romeo and Juliet should be sworn enemies, but they fall deeply in love and marry in secret. That very day, disastrous circumstances lead Romeo to fight and kill Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, setting off a chain of events that culminate in tragedy.
Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words

Clara is given an enchanted Nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve. As midnight strikes, she creeps downstairs to find a magical adventure awaiting her and her Nutcracker.
The Nutcracker (The Royal Ballet)

The peasant girl Giselle discovers the true identity of her lover Albrecht – and that he is promised to another. Giselle kills herself. Her soul enters the ranks of the Wilis – shades of young women who died before their wedding day. All men that come across their path are compelled to dance themselves to death, and Albrecht falls into their trap. Giselle’s intercession saves Albrecht and releases her soul from the Wilis’ power.
Giselle

The first revival of Wayne McGregor’s critically acclaimed ballet triptych to music by Max Richter, inspired by the works of Virginia Woolf.
Woolf Works

1918 - A woman imagines her lover has returned from the horrors of war in France, remembering moments shared together. A tale of love and loss told through classical ballet.
The Sun Is God

Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) is one of the choreographer's most joyous and colourful creations. Inspired by his love for the Suffolk countryside, the ballet is set on a farm and tells a story of love between Lise, the daughter of Widow Simone, and Colas, a young farmer. It contains some of Ashton's most stunning choreography, most strikingly in the series of energetic pas de deux that express the youthful passion of the young lovers, performed here by Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae. The ballet is laced with exuberant good humour, and elements of national folk dance, from dancing chickens and a maypole dance to a Lancashire clog dance for Widow Simone, performed by Philip Mosley.
La Fille Mal Gardée (The Royal Ballet)

This Christmas, step into the magical world of The Nutcracker. For the first time in many years, the Royal Ballet has given full access behind the scenes for a landmark 90-minute documentary as they prepare for this season's yuletide production.
Dancing the Nutcracker: Inside the Royal Ballet
Live from Covent Garden will celebrate ballet and opera in programmes of dance and music, curated by artistic directors of the Royal Opera House: Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera, Oliver Mears, Director of Opera, and Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet.
Live from Covent Garden - Royal Opera House

The 2015 production of "The Nutcracker" by the Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker

Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour is based around seven couples separating and intermingling, to music by Vivaldi and Ezio Bosso and lit with the rich colours suggested by sunset. In Flight Pattern, Crystal Pite combines Górecki's haunting “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” with a large dance ensemble to create a poignant and passionate reflection on migration. Between them, Medusa is new work inspired by the Greek myth, created for The Royal Ballet by the acclaimed choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which juxtaposes Purcell arias with an electronic score by Olga Wojciechowska.
The Royal Ballet: Within the Golden Hour / Medusa / Flight Pattern

The stars of the Royal Ballet perform a very special selection of the best of ballet. From the ultra-contemporary Untouchable by Hofesh Schechter to the Hollywood glitz of Carousel, there is something for everyone in this glorious gala. The stellar partnership of Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov tackle one of the great classical pas de deux from Don Quixote, and the larger forces of the whole company are seen in Elite Syncopations. Natalia Osipova dances the famous Dying Swan, and choreographers including Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Cathy Marston rub shoulders with Frederick Ashton and Kenneth Macmillan. The orchestra of the Royal Opera House is conducted by Jonathan Lo. Presented by Anita Rani.