Flight Pattern

Flight Pattern is a one-act ballet choreographed by Crystal Pite for The Royal Ballet, premiering in 2017. Set to Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), it is a powerful response to the global refugee crisis. The work features 36 dancers in a churning ensemble of desperate movement, driven by Pite's trademark physicality — bodies surging, collapsing, and reaching in waves of collective anguish and hope.

At its centre is a pas de deux for a couple — a woman in a red coat — whose yearning duet cuts through the crowd with devastating intimacy. Flight Pattern marked Pite's first main-stage commission for the Royal Ballet and was an immediate critical success, later expanding from 36 to 100 dancers for a revival. It entered the permanent repertoire and was revived to widespread acclaim.