Elsa Schiaparelli is seen as the undisputed queen of fashion of the Roaring Twenties. Her artistic collaborations with many of the surrealist artists of the day, such as Dalí, Cocteau and Giacometti, were groundbreaking. Hats like lamb cutlets or high heeled shoes, pockets like drawers, buttons like lips and eyes, gloves with red python nails and the legendary dresses, including the iconic lobster dress as worn by Wallis Simpson for Vogue. Schiaparelli wanted to shock, and she did!

One of the most extraordinary Spanish artists from Valencia, Joaquin Sorolla has become better known more recently. He lived from 1863 to 1923 and created a world full of light and colour which delights the senses. Sometimes a social painter, he was more concerned with capturing light falling on bodies and sea-scapes. His final ‘Visions of Spain’, now in New York, will also be shown.

Christmas spectacles, slapstick, and beanstalks have been drawing crowds to Covent Garden since 1737. John Rich, the first manager of what is now the Royal Opera House, was a fine dancer, mime, and special effects man and he, and his successors, developed all the well known features of the London Christmas season. Even now, principal boys, fairies, and Harlequin are alive and well on the ROH stage. This lecture pulls together the whole performing tradition and brings it up to date with the latest Christmas offerings at the Royal Opera House.