The choreographer and former ballet dancer Derek Deane’s spectacular in-the-round production of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall with the English National Ballet Company finishes its short run tomorrow. He will be watching the lavish production on his birthday as acrobats, jugglers and 60 swans glide across the arena with 80 musicians playing Tchaikovsky’s classic score. This is the sixth year that the critically acclaimed event has been staged in London, and nearly 400,000 people have seen it since its premiere in 1997. The show will return to the London Coliseum next year. He was principal dancer for the English National Ballet Company for nine years until 1989 and artistic director for eight years until 2001. RGT
Birthdays today
James Bishop, writer and editor, 81; Michael Blakemore, freelance director, 82; Carl de Winter, secretary-general, Federation of British Artists, 1978-84, 76; Peter Donohoe, pianist, 57; Professor Ian Hargreaves, Editor, The Independent, 1994-96, and group director, corporate and public affairs, BAA, 2003-06, 59; Sir Paul McCartney, musician and composer, 68; Isabella Rossellini, actress, 58; Delia Smith, cookery writer and broadcaster, 69.