Behind the scenes at the Royal Ballet - in pictures

Mara Galeazzi has her makeup applied for The Firebird, Igor Stravinsky’s first ballet score Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

The Firebird was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes and had its premiere in 1910 at the Paris Opéra Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Mara Galeazzi prepares for the Firebird dress rehearsal. The Royal Ballet’s production uses the brilliant costumes and glittering sets of the avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova, which were created for the Ballets Russes’ production of 1926 Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Mara Galeazzi and Edward Watson (Ivan Tsarevich) on stage in The Firebird. Both Stravinsky’s score and Mikhail Fokine’s choreography were groundbreaking Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Fokine shifted from classical ballet towards a more realist and folk-derived style of movement, while Stravinsky incorporated elements of folk song into his music Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Mara Galeazzi in her role as The Firebird and Edward Watson as Ivan Tsarevich. The Firebird provides a ballerina with a dazzling role: she enters the stage in a flash of movement and the charged Dance of the Firebird is accompanied by bold choreography Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

The second work in the programme is Raymonda, created by Marius Petipa in 1898 for the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. Here members of the company rehearse the Pas de Trois at the Ashton Studio Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Raymonda contains some of Petipa's most spectacular choreography and a magnificent score by Alexander Glazunov, full of spirited rhythms and lilting waltzes – George Balanchine called it ‘some of the finest ballet music we have’ Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Zenaida Yanowsky (Raymonda) and Nehemiah Kish (Jean De Brienne) on stage in Raymonda. Rudolf Nureyev had an intimate knowledge of Raymonda: he performed in the ballet as a young dancer with the Kirov Theatre and staged a full-length version for The Royal Ballet in 1964, reviving many of the dances from memory Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Nureyev presented an adapted version of Act III at Covent Garden in 1969. Against an opulent setting created by Barry Kay, a Hungarian folkdance opens the wedding celebrations for a ballerina and her cavalier Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Act III of Raymonda was also performed as part of a tribute to Nureyev at the Royal Opera House in 2003 Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Rehearsals of In the Night, Jerome Robbins’s bold depiction of the varying shades of romantic love, created for New York City Ballet in 1970 Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Three pas de deux, each choreographed to a different nocturne by Frédéric Chopin, depict three very different kinds of relationship Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

The first couple take to the stage in violet costumes and perform a flowing duet of tender expressiveness Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

They are followed by a couple wearing gold and rust colours, who dance a pas de deux of restraint and elegance Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

The elegant costumes were designed by Anthony Dowell, who danced in The Royal Ballet’s production in 1973 Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

The final duet provides a tumultous counterpoint: the ballerina, dressed in a dark dress, swings between explosive anger and desperate entreaty, as she and her partner are caught in a pattern of dispute and reconciliation Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Sarah Lamb and Federico Bonelli in In the Night. The Triple Bill continues at the Royal Opera House until 11 January Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian