THE Vienna Festival Ballet celebrates 35 years with an anniversary gala at the Grand Opera House, in York, next month.

Highlights will include the legendary Rose Adagio and the Bluebird pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty, as well as Clara’s journey to the glittering land of snow in The Nutcracker. Gershwin’s ground-breaking Rhapsody in Blue is also featured, as is the famous lakeside scene from Swan Lake, including the Dance of the Cygnets, which opens the second act.

The highly-successful hip-hop scene from Vienna Festival Ballet’s Snow White also appears, as does the Dance of the Mirlitons and the Trepak Dance from The Nutcracker.

The gala closes with the Corn pas de deux from Coppélia and a spectacular grand finale.

The Vienna Festival Ballet tours extensively throughout the UK, bringing well-known classics to both cities and small towns.

Artistic director Peter Mallek said: “A lot of the bigger companies cannot perform in smaller venues. However, we have tailored our productions so that we are able to adjust the ballet to fit all different sizes of stage.

“This means we can bring ballet as close to home for our audiences as possible, so they don’t have extra travel costs and long journeys. They can see a very high standard of ballet at an affordable price, right on their doorstep.”

The Vienna Festival Ballet will be at the Grand Opera House, in York, on Friday, April 24, at 7.30pm.

Tickets, priced from £14 to £29, are available from the box office on 0844 8713024 or at atgtickets.com/york

• The Gazette & Herald has a pair of tickets to giveaway for the Vienna Festival Ballet at the Grand Opera House, in York, on Friday, April 24.

To be in with a chance of winning, just answer the following question and send your answer, along with your name, address and daytime phone number, to Grand Opera House Competition, Gazette & Herald, 84-86 Walmgate, YO1 9YN, or email gazette@gazetteherald.co.uk, by Wednesday, March 18.

Question: How many years is the Vienna Festival Ballet celebrating?