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Russian dancer Tamara Karsavina, for many years a Hampstead resident, was a leading star of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company, famously created the role in Stravinsky’s Firebird and was frequently partnered by the great Vaslav Nijinsky. This photographic exhibition, at the former home of her contemporary and rival Anna Pavlova, tells the story of her career at the Russian Imperial Ballet, her solo tours, and her pioneering work with the Ballets Russes.

An entertainment of poetry and prose on the theme of Dance and Dancing, presented by Diana Bishop, Piers Plowright and Valerie Sarruf.

Simon Crawford-Phillips, Philip Moore, pianos

This remarkable duo presents three Ballets Russes works crowned by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring which caused a riot at its 1913 première. Eugene Goossens, born in Camden Town, conducted the British première of this notorious work and is celebrated with his energetic Rhythmic Dance.

The Revd Stephen Tucker gives a general introduction to the extraordinary character and career of Sergey Diaghilev and discusses the tumultuous première of The Rite of Spring in Paris.

Eight bells were installed at Christ Church Hampstead in 2005 to celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary and re-establish the tradition of English change ringing in Hampstead. One of the bells is dedicated to the memory of Sir John Betjeman and another to his publisher, John Murray, former churchwarden. The musical peal is tuned to the key of E-flat, and the tenor (largest) weighs 1¼ tons. Rarely possible, the bellringers may be observed performing on the ringing gallery. Those wishing to learn the art of change ringing are warmly encouraged to get in touch with the Tower Captain, as new recruits are very welcome.

After the peal, St Anne’s, Highgate West Hill offers the opportunity to learn about the 500-year-old tradition of ’change ringing’, in which the ability to swing the bells full-circle enables the ringers to ring them in continuously changing mathematical patterns. Captain of St Anne’s Ringers, John Thorp, writes, ‘a paradox of the British art of change-ringing is that bells are intended to be widely heard, and indeed the spread of ringing in the 16th century led to Great Britain being referred to as ‘the ringing isle’. Yet, because the ringers are hidden away at the back of the church, or even up the tower in a secluded ringing-chamber, those who hear the bells know little about the art behind the sound.’ Make this the day you learn more!

Poet Jehane Markham performs her narrative poem with musical interludes played by Robin Phillips, piano, and Jonny Gee, double bass.

Pupils from Hampstead Ballet School, West Hampstead School of Dance, Jump Up Ballet and Rona Hart School of Dance join forces in a unique festival production; dances to music from Stravinsky’s Firebird, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and a revival of L’éventail de Jeanne (Jean’s Fan), a Parisian children’s ballet with music by Ravel, Poulenc, Milhaud and others, in which Tamara Toumanova danced the lead role aged 10 in 1929.

Tamara Toumanova

Not to be missed!

The Linden Piano Trio: Danny Driver, piano; Thomas Gould, violin; Oliver Coates, cello

The Suite Italienne is taken from Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella, where Stravinsky borrows extensively from Italian baroque music. Like Prokofiev’s opera The Love of Three Oranges, Pulcinella is based on the Commedia dell’Arte. The concert closes with Tchaikovsky, Diaghilev’s ‘Uncle Petya’, and his glorious piano trio, composed in Rome in memory of his friend and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein.

Concert ends approx. 7.25 pm

Amy Freston, soprano; Louise Mott, mezzo-soprano; The International Baroque Players; Christopher Bucknall, organ & director

In the second of tonight’s concerts we celebrate the 300th birthday of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi with a performance of his Stabat Mater. An important figure in the Italian baroque, works attributed to him influenced Stravinsky, whose Suite Italienne was heard earlier this evening. Ottorino Respighi’s link to our Festival theme lies in the fact that he orchestrated music by Rossini for Diaghilev and Massine’s ballet Le Boutique Fantasque. Tonight we hear his Il Tramonto (Sunset), a mellifluous setting of Percy Bysshe Shelley for mezzo-soprano and string quartet.

Concert ends approx. 10.30 pm.

Pupils from Hampstead Ballet School, West Hampstead School of Dance, Jump Up Ballet and Rona Hart School of Dance join forces in a unique festival production; dances to music from Stravinsky’s Firebird, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and a revival of L’éventail de Jeanne (Jean’s Fan), a Parisian children’s ballet with music by Ravel, Poulenc, Milhaud and others, in which Tamara Toumanova danced the lead role aged 10 in 1929.

Not to be missed!

Join a guide from London Walks for an insightful walking tour of Highgate. Walk ends at Waterlow Park in time for Jazz at Lauderdale House (Shireen Francis and the Island Project)

Walk covers almost 2 miles; ends approx. 3.45 pm.

Danny Driver, piano; Gabriel Woolf, reader

A portrait of Chopin in his 200th birthday year, including some of his best-loved piano music and Chopin’s own letters to friends and relatives.

Shireen Francis, singer, with Barry Green, piano; Neville Malcolm, bass guitar; Kenrick Rowe, drums; Lenny Lawrence, percussion and Anise Hadid, steel pans

Relax on the terrace by Waterlow Park and enjoy this wonderful mix of Caribbean Jazz, Rhythm and Blues plus Todd Oliver and Friends from the Royal Academy Jazz Course including Emma Smith, a star of tomorrow who is already appearing in London’s professional clubs with rave reviews.

Simon Callow is Sergey Diaghilev in Matthew Hurt’s dramatic profile of the man who lived by one rule: ‘Don’t repeat; never look back’. Followed by Q & A. Presented and produced by broadcaster Piers Plowright.

Ends approx. 8.45 pm.

Join Doug Daniels for the first of three surveys of the autumn skies in the centennial year of the Hampstead Observatory (also 28th and 30th September). Tickets very limited so book early!

Ends approx. 10.30 pm.

Laura Lucas, flute, and Daniel Swain, piano

The nymph, Syrinx, frightened and pursued by Pan, asked the river nymphs for help and was transformed into hollow reeds that made a haunting sound when Pan, in his frustration, blew across them. Debussy captures the mood perfectly in his work for solo flute. Toru Takemitsu explores a different sound-world in his Voice for solo flute written in 1971, and the programme ends with Poulenc’s ever-popular Sonata for flute and piano.

One of the greatest ballet films of all time, a classic of British cinema, and a favourite of Martin Scorsese. Sumptuous décor and costumes, sublime cinematography and wonderful dancing combine in a dramatic plot partly inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale and partly by a real-life encounter between Sergey Diaghilev and the British ballerina Diana Gould.

Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Leonide Massine and Robert Helpmann.

A rare screening of a remarkable documentary. World-renowned Ballets Russes revival team Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer reconstruct Stravinsky’s lost ballet Le Chant du Rossignol with the Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The Four Emperors: composer Igor Stravinsky, choreographer George Balanchine, painter Henri Matisse, and of course Sergey Diaghilev. The Nightingale: the English ballerina Dame Alicia Markova who danced the role in 1925 when she was 14 years old.

The film includes interviews with Stravinsky, Balanchine, Tamara Geva, Boris Kochno and Nicolas Nabokov, and will be followed by Q & A with Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer, joined by American dance writer Marcia Siegel.

Ends approx. 9.55 pm

Brodowski Quartet : David Brodowski, violin; Catrin Win Morgan, violin; Felix Tanner, viola; Vanessa Lucas-Smith, cello

Shostakovich’s extraordinary eighth string quartet was composed in Dresden over just three days in 1960. It is dedicated ‘to the victims of fascism and war’ but is also strongly autobiographical, speaking deeply of Shostakovich’s own private struggle within the cruel constraints of Soviet artistic life, and peppered with musical quotations from previous works.

“Sexy, funny, socio-politically spot-on, and thrillingly alert and alive in its presentation of popular American music and dance” Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Routes is a road movie through the dance and music of the American Deep South. Inspired by Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (and evocative of Maya Deren's seminal Meshes Of The Afternoon), Alex Reuben's film offers an idiosyncratic documentation of lesser-known forms of American culture, and the extraordinary dancing Americans of the Deep South. From North Carolina to the Holy Grail of his childhood hero, Fats Domino, and the Jazz of New Orleans, Reuben captured on the road Appalachian Bluegrass, Clogging, Mississippi Fife and Drum Blues, Krumping, Memphis Hip-Hop, Indian Smoke Dance, Louisiana Cajun, Zydeco and Swamp Pop, all in a vivid stream of sound and vision.

Director of theatre, opera and TV, Jonathan Miller examines the radical nature of Anton Chekhov’s dramatic writing and its effect on actors and acting. With readings by special guests. Presented and produced by broadcaster Piers Plowright.

Ends approx. 9.15 pm.

Join Doug Daniels for the second of three surveys of the autumn skies in the centennial year of the Hampstead Observatory (also 30th September). Tickets very limited so book early!

Ends approx. 10.30 pm.

Amy Dickson, saxophone, and Martin Cousin, piano

Two Royal Over-Seas League Competition Gold Medal winners team up to perform a beautiful and highly contrasting selection of music from France, Estonia, Spain and Russia. The tender lyricism of Rachmaninoff and hypnotic calm of Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel are set against Milhaud’s vibrant and jazzy Scaramouche and Pedro Iturralde’s fiery Pequeña Czarda.

A guided tour of historic Hampstead, taking in some points of interest that relate to our Festival theme of Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes.

Walk covers almost 2 miles; ends approx. 3.45 pm near Hampstead tube station.

Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s entrancing ode to the later Ballets Russes companies formed after Diaghilev’s death, peppered with anecdotal interviews from the companies’ stars. A tale of artistry, triumphs, ego, money and, of course, dance.

Chalemie combine dance and song with commedia to evoke the spirit of the Pleasure Gardens and Theatres of 18th century London in this exuberant and fully-costumed show.

Cappa Ensemble (String Trio)

Join the award-winning Cappa Ensemble for an eclectic programme that opens refreshingly with Boccherini’s Rococo charm, lightness and optimism, continues with five short pieces based on Polish folk melodies by Witold Lutoslawski, and ends with Dohnanyi’s most popular chamber work.

Joan Frosch and Alla Kovgan’s film explores the perspective and creative processes of choreographic trendsetters from Senegal to South Africa, juxtaposing reflection, rehearsal and performance vividly bringing to life the beauty and tragedy of 21st century Africa.

Zinovy Zinik, novelist, essayist and critic, gets behind the masks of Leo Tolstoy to look at his politics, religion and sexual obsessions. Illustrated by readings, and music performed by Mary Hofman, violin and Anya Fadina, piano. Presented and produced by broadcaster Piers Plowright.

Ends approx. 9.15 pm.

Join Doug Daniels for the last of three surveys of the autumn skies in the centennial year of the Hampstead Observatory. Tickets very limited so book early!

Ends approx 10.30 pm.

Ben Schoeman, piano

One of South Africa’s foremost and celebrated pianists performs a glittering tribute to Sergey Diaghilev, including two Scarlatti Sonatas used in the 1917 ballet The Good-humoured Ladies, Chopin’s Military Polonaise featured in Les Sylphides, and the spectacularly virtuosic Sonata in A minor by Prokofiev to finish.

Fresh from recent appearances at the Berlin Philharmonie and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Fauré Quartett make their only 2010 appearance in England at the Hampstead & Highgate Festival, celebrating Schumann in his 200th birthday year.

Cathy Porter, writer and translator, talks to writer and psychotherapist, Liane Aukin about her newly published edition of Tolstoy’s wife’s revealing and touching diaries.

Tucker Finlayson cut his jazz teeth on rock’n’roll, jazz and the New Orleans style as played by Lonnie Donegan in the skiffle boom before joining Mr Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band. Now music consultant for Pizza Express, Tucker has also worked with George Melly, Humphrey Lyttelton, Sir John Dankworth, Kenny Ball, Ray Davies and Jamie Cullum among others.

Ends approx. 5 pm.

Dame Felicity Lott, soprano, and Graham Johnson, piano

A programme celebrating composers who were commissioned by Diaghilev, performed by one of the world’s leading vocal recital partnerships.

Documentary master Frederick Wiseman’s 38th film turns his attention to one of the world’s greatest ballet companies, the Paris Opera Ballet. John Davey’s camera roams the crystal chandelier-laden corridors, labyrinthine underground chambers, rehearsal studios and luxurious theatre of the vast Palais Garnier, and follows dancers including Nicolas Le Riche, Marie-Agnès Gillot, and Agnès Letestu rehearsing the choreography of Mats Ek, Wayne McGregor, Rudolf Nureyev and Pina Bausch. For balletomanes and the curious alike, La Danse serves up a scrumptious meal of delectable moments, each one more glorious than the next.

Join professional storyteller Debs Newbold on a story walk across Hampstead Heath and she will tell you all about tall trees and tall tales that burst right out of the ground under your feet. Skip through the leaves on this magical autumn walk and discover the names of the trees and the ancient stories they keep along the way.

Suitable for children aged 7–14 with their parents (max. 35). Walk ends at Highgate Boating Pond (nr. Millfield Lane).

Duration 90 mins. Wear sensible shoes!

A reading of Anna Akhmatova’s epic cycle of poems produced by Liane Aukin and read by Glenda Jackson, CBE MP.

Join Channel 5’s Milkshake presenter Naomi Wilkinson and composer, writer and cabaret artist Richard Sisson for an hour of music, poetry and fun, with the vibrant sounds of the New Professionals under the baton of Rebecca Miller.

Ends approx. 4 pm

Jean Cocteau’s turbulent life, complex relationships and the sheer variety of his talents as poet, novelist, dramatist, film maker and visual artist will be explored by Dr Benjamin Andréo. The programme includes film of a live performance by Denise Duval (soprano) and Francis Poulenc (piano) of extracts from Poulenc’s operas, including Cocteau’s La Voix Humaine, and a screening of the Paris Opera Ballet’s production of Cocteau’s Le Train Bleu, first performed by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1924. Cocteau’s work as a graphic designer will also be shown, along with extracts from several of his films.

The Festival ends, in Hampstead, in the magnificent setting of Hampstead Parish Church with a celebration of Evensong led by The Revd Stephen Tucker. Guest preacher: The Very Revd Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral. The Hampstead Parish Church Choir under Music Director Lee Ward will sing Walton’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, Stravinsky’s Psalm 39 from Symphony of Psalms and Rachmaninoff’s Ave Maria.