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Live now in The Market Building's Central Avenue
In celebration of The Royal Ballet School’s centenary, Covent Garden has commissioned sculptural paper artist Pauline Loctin to create a new landmark aerial installation inspired by 100 years of The Royal Ballet School.
Live Until September
The large-scale artwork is suspended within the historic Market Building, transforming the iconic Central Avenue into an immersive celebration of movement, grace and artistic expression. Drawing on the beauty and fluidity of dance, the installation will invite visitors to look skyward and experience ballet reimagined through sculpture in the heart of London’s West End.
The Inspiration
Drawing inspiration from the enduring legacy of ballet in Covent Garden, and The Royal Ballet School’s contribution to the art form over the last century, the installation celebrates the beauty of movement through 25 hand-crafted paper sculptural elements suspended in the air. Designed to capture the fluidity, precision and grace of dancers in motion.
The Artist: Pauline Loctin
Pauline Loctin is a multidisciplinary artist and creative director whose contemporary sculptural practice transforms paper and fabric through intricate folding techniques into immersive, sensory installations.
Drawing on principles of repetition, geometry and material tension, Loctin manipulates surfaces into rhythmic, three-dimensional forms that shift with light, movement and perspective. Rooted in narrative and precision, her work balances technical craft with poetic expression, creating moments of quiet wonder that invite audiences to pause, gather and engage through form, visual language and spatial experience.
Ballet in Bloom
West Piazza, by the VyTA entrance
Discover Ballet in Bloom, a floral installation by Covent Garden’s Head Horticulturalist, Kenny Wilding-Raybould, in celebration of The Royal Ballet School's centenary year.
Inspired by the values of consistency, aspiration and resilience, this installation celebrates ballet as a powerful expression of discipline and artistic excellence. The ribbed detailing and flowing folds of the mannequin’s dress reference the Royal Opera House’s Aspiration Tunnel and the elegance of a dancer in motion, while a planting palette of soft blues, whites, lilacs and pinks reflects both the beauty of spring and midsummer and nature’s diversity and fluidity.
Tall delphiniums echo the poised lines of a ballet dancer, and hundreds of layered plants create a rich sense of movement and texture, giving the impression that the ballerina has emerged gracefully from the blooms themselves.
