Organisers of the Millennium Dome's big opening night have revealed the faces, and a lot more, of the dancers who will perform an erotic aerial ballet in front of the Queen.

John Paul Zaccarini, 29, and Abigail Yeates, 30, will be dressed only in netting and skimpy black underwear, designed to make them appear naked, during their three-minute intrepretation of the Lover's Duet 145ft above the floor of the Dome's central area.

The ballet, which shows how a young couple meet, flirt and fall in love, will begin after the singing of Auld Lang Syne in the first minutes of New Year's Day.

The dancers will be suspended above the dome's 10,000 guests, including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"The dancers will be wearing so little that to anyone on the ground they will appear naked," said a spokeswoman for the New Millennium Experience Company.

"We're expecting it to be very cold in the dome, so it could be quite tough going for them."

New Zealand-born Ms Yeates said that "sparks fly" when the couple perform together.

"The audiences will see a lot of my legs and thighs, so I'll make sure that I keep moving quickly.

"I love working with John Paul - our bodies compliment each other's really well."

Mr Zaccarini, said: "Abigail is gorgeous with a very strong and sensuous body.

"Although we will fly together throughout 2000, for New Year's Eve we really wanted to take it to the limit.

"We've known each other for several years but we've never managed to work together so this millennium may well be the start of something exciting for both of us."

Ticket delay

The dance will be the centrepiece of the Millennium Show, the live aerial and acrobatic display that will be performed in the dome every day next year.

But whether all those invited to the New Year's Eve opening actually get to attend is still a matter for concern.

On Thursday, the Mirror newspaper reported that although organisers promised all tickets and passes for the first night would be sent out two weeks before the event - thousands of guests are still waiting for tickets.

The paper says the New Millennium Experience Company has set up two collection points at Stratford and Charlton stations, from where guests will travel to the dome.

Organisers said they delayed issuing passes for security reasons - but then had problems with the Christmas post.

VIP guests, such as Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Cabinet colleagues, were sent tickets well in advance for "security reasons".