Royal Swedish Ballet

The Royal Swedish Ballet was founded in 1773 by King Gustav III, making it one of the oldest continuously performing ballet companies anywhere. It has danced at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm since the house opened in 1898. Its history runs through the Romantic era to the twentieth century, when Swedish choreographers such as Birgit Cullberg and Mats Ek gave the company a distinctly dramatic, psychologically searching voice that set it apart from the purely classical schools. Today the repertoire spans the great classics and contemporary commissions, and the company remains one of the Nordic region’s principal cultural institutions.