Royal Swedish Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian dominance in this field; he also founded the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Dramatic Theatre. All of these were initially located in the old theatre of Bollhuset. The troupe was founded with the opening of the Royal Swedish Opera, which has served as its home since that time. In 1773, the cultural professions of acting, opera-singing
Villa Verdi parents, but, after the death of his mother, his father returned to Busseto. Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi, the opera singer with whom he lived prior to their 1859 marriage, moved into the Villa in 1851. Verdi extended the original house on the property by adding two wings with terraces to the front, plus greenhouses, a chapel, and garages for coaches in the rear. Also, much of both Strepponi's and Verdi's time was taken up with considerable expansion of the parkland surrounding the house and the planting of many trees, some quite exotic in their origin. Apart from his visits to