Verdensballetten will premiere three new ballets on its 2026 summer tour, including a pas de deux by Royal Ballet principal Steven McRae and an all-male work developed with actor Sir Ian McKellen.

The annual outdoor gala, co-directed by McRae and Danish opera singer Jens-Christian Wandt, opens July 7 and runs through August. It will stage 13 one-night-only performances at castles, manors and cultural-heritage sites across Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, with a different venue each night.

The 2026 lineup pairs the premieres with established works by William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon and other leading choreographers. Two casts rotate monthly — one for July, one for August — drawing dancers from The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin and Royal Danish Ballet.

McRae's new pas de deux, Journey, is set to the second movement of Bach's Piano Concerto No. 5. Royal Ballet principal Yasmine Naghdi and first soloist Nicol Edmonds will perform it. The ballet draws on Naghdi's recent transition into motherhood, though McRae has framed the work as a tribute to mothers worldwide. The tour also marks Naghdi's return to the stage after her maternity leave.

Danish choreographer Kim Brandstrup, fresh from winning the UK National Dance Award for Best Modern Choreography, has created a solo based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Ugly Duckling. Katrine Grarup Elbo composed a new score for the piece. English National Ballet principal Sangeun Lee performs it in July; Astrid Elbo — sister of composer Katrine Grarup Elbo and a principal at Royal Danish Ballet — takes over in August.

Elbo contributes a premiere of her own. AN ENVIOUS SLIVER – Hamlet Undone, an all-male pas de trois, takes its cue from Shakespeare's Hamlet but declines to retell the tragedy in dance. Instead, Elbo explores the play's emotional core: tension between opposing impulses and inner turmoil. Sir Ian McKellen collaborated throughout the work's development, and his insights helped shape its themes. German composer Sophia Jani wrote the score.

The touring roster includes English National Ballet principals Gareth Haw and Sangeun Lee; The Royal Ballet principals Reece Clarke, Steven McRae, Yasmine Naghdi and Anna Rose O'Sullivan, with first soloist Nicol Edmonds; Royal Danish Ballet principal Astrid Elbo and guest artist Alban Lendorf; Northern Ballet soloist Harris Beattie; and Staatsballett Berlin principal guest artists Iana Salenko and Marian Walter.

The July cast comprises McRae, O'Sullivan, Naghdi, Edmonds, Beattie, Lee and Haw. The August cast fields McRae, O'Sullivan, Salenko, Walter, Clarke, Elbo and Lendorf.

With Naghdi's stage comeback, McKellen's dramaturgical hand and Brandstrup's award-winning choreography converging on a single touring program, Verdensballetten's 2026 season positions the open-air gala as a platform for new work rather than a purely retrospective showcase.