A unique ballet exhibition opens at the Lowry in Salford this October to tell the fascinating history of The Royal Ballet. The story begins in County Wicklow, Ireland, birthplace of Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of The Royal Ballet, and follows her remarkable endeavors to establish one of the world's greatest ballet companies. Invitation to the Ballet: Ninette de Valois and the story of The Royal Ballet is the most comprehensive exhibition on The Royal Ballet to be staged outside London. It will contain a mixture of costumes, set designs and other artefacts from the Royal Opera's House's extensive archive collections – many never before exhibited.

The exhibition is a Royal Opera House collaboration with The Lowry arts centre in Salford, and will also illustrate works by the artist LS Lowry himself. Lowry is most famous for his melancholy factory scenes and match-stick men, but was also a keen ballet-goer who attended many performances when the Royal Ballet company travelled up to Manchester on tour. For the first time, his love of ballet and its influence on his oeuvre will be explored in a public exhibition.

Highlights of the show include a recreation of Margot Fonteyn’s dressing room, and a variety of set and costume designs by designers and artists including Pablo Picasso, Edward Burra, and Yolanda Sonnabend. These will join numerous letters, press cuttings, music manuscripts dance notation scores, posters and other memorabilia.

Of course, ballet is not a static art – to bring the exhibition to life, dancers from The Royal Ballet will pay a special visit with an hour-long programme of highlights from the Company’s eight decades of history. Devised by Dame Monica Mason, Director of The Royal Ballet, The Royal Ballet – Step by Step will include extracts from works by choreographers including Frederick Ashton, Ninette de Valois, Wayne McGregor and Kenneth MacMillan. This unique once-off performance will take place on Thursday 21 October 2010.

This special performance will underline what a huge contribution to the world of dance The Royal Ballet has made, with luminary key figures such as Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan. Ashton was a commanding presence in the growth of The Royal Ballet from its humble origins in the 1930s, to his role as its director from 1963 to 1970 when it became one of the greatest companies in the world. He created more than 100 ballets over a 60-year career, including Cinderella, La Fille mal gardée and Sylvia. His successor, Kenneth MacMillan’s works are also now staples of The Royal Ballet, including his redeveloped contemporary re-workings of Romeo and Juliet and Mayerling.

The exhibition is drawn almost exclusively from the extensive Collections of the Royal Opera House with additional key items being loaned by private collectors and public institutions. The Lowry Estate is supporting the exhibition with new loans and material relating to Lowry’s interest in ballet. "Invitation to the Ballet" forms a part of The Royal Opera House’s efforts to extend its reach beyond Covent Garden, the On the Road Programme which is focused primarily in the North West and the East regions and includes touring productions, education projects and exhibitions. The exhibition runs from 23 October 2010 until 6 March 2011at The Lowry in Salford at Salford Quays.