YORKSHIRE Ballet Seminar Summer Gala Evening at the Grand Opera House on Sunday is no ordinary occasion.

Not only will stars of the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Ballet be taking part but so will director Wayne Sleep, Anita Harris, Bonnie Langford, host Jason Connery and special guest Simon Callow in this one-off event.

Who has pulled off this feat for York? Step forward Marguerite Porter, former Royal Ballet principal ballerina and now in her first season as director of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminar.

"It's a funny story really. I just wandered down to the Grand Opera House!" she says. "My predecessor as director, David Gayle, had always had dancers from the Royal Ballet appearing at the seminars, and I remember thinking it's not particularly nice to have the young Royal Ballet dancers performing at York St John's College with their sweat falling on the kids! So I called up general manager Lizzie Richards at the Opera House, and said 'This is a bit of a long story but..."

They met over a cup of tea and the wheels were set in motion for the gala day: the high point of two weeks of seminars in York attended by 150 children, more than 20 of whom will dance Wayne Eagling's Troppo Allegro in Sunday's show.

Anita Harris will perform Let's Face The Music And Dance; Bonnie Langford will sing Duke Ellington's Hit Me With A Hot Note and dance with Strictly Come Dancing's Anton Du Becke; fast rising Royal Ballet choreographer Vanessa Fenton will present the world premiere of a new piece with music by Christian Henson, Marguerite's "wicked, lovely stepson"; Yat-Sen Chang and Simon Clarke will dance a piece choreographed by Sir Kenneth McMillan for Nureyev.

"Wayne Sleep, who's directing, is promising lots of surprises, such as something with Simon Callow. As we speak, they're rehearsing it. It will be humorous, though I can't say anything else," says Marguerite. Strong rumour has it that Sleep and Callow will be doing a duet of Cole Porter's Well, Did You Evah!... with different words.

Well, did you ever see such a show in York?

Yorkshire Ballet Seminar Summer Gala Evening, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 7.30pm. Tickets selling fast but still available; ring 0870 606 3595.CH

Updated: 16:35 Thursday, July 28, 2005