''Solitaire'' is a one-act ballet created by

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

in 1956 for the

Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company ...

(later the Royal Ballet), London. The music is by

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an England, English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music a ...

: his two sets of English Dances, with two new dances specially composed by Arnold, a sarabande and a polka. The polka was created for New Zealand dancer

Sara Neil Sara Louise Neil (born 2 September 1960) is a Canadian retired road bicycle racer, who won the bronze medal in the women's individual road race at the 1987 Pan American Games. A resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, she represented Canada ...

. The first performance was at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-se ...

, London on 7 June 1956. The principal character, called The Girl, was danced by Margaret Hill."Solitaire (1956)"
Royal Opera House Collections Online, retrieved 8 October 2014

Original cast

* Margaret Hill, The Girl *

Donald Britton Donald Gene Britton (17 August 1929 – 31 May 1983) was a principal dancer with the two Royal Ballet companies, the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet and the Sadler's Wells Ballet from 1945 to 1965. Donald Britton was born in London in 1929. He ori ...

* Michael Boulton *

Donald MacLeary Donald Whyte MacLeary (born 22 August 1937) is a retired British ballet dancer, a former principal dancer and a ballet master with the Royal Ballet, where he was a member of the company for 48 years. Born in Glasgow, Donald MacLeary studied wit ...

Notes

Ballets by Kenneth MacMillan 1956 ballet premieres {{ballet-stub