Birmingham Royal Ballet News

Balancing Ashton's charming choreography with bright characterisation and breezy ballon, Birmingham Royal Ballet are absolutely beaming in this most charming of ballets.

For its 2018 season, the National Youth Ballet ("NYB") will present Bright Young Things, a mixed programme of ballets choreographed by some of the UKs most eminent professionals and rising talents, performed by a Company of young dancers aged 9-18 from across the UK.

Polarity & Proximity, our summer mixed programme, includes In the Upper Room, one of American dance phenomenon Twyla Tharp's most iconic ballets, and Kin., created for the Company by former Birmingham Royal Ballet dancer Alexander Whitley. The line-up is completed by Embrace, a new ballet commissioned from choreographer George Williamson as part of Ballet Now, Birmingham Royal Ballet's unique five-year programme, run in conjunction with Sadler's Wells, that will develop choreographers, composers and designers to create new and innovative works for the world stage.

“My only love sprung from my only hate.” Prokofiev's glorious score sets hearts alight in Kenneth MacMillan's enduringly popular Romeo and Juliet.

The 2017/18 Birmingham Royal Ballet season finishes at The Bristol Hippodrome with the funny and tender La Fille mal gardee. This charming ballet was an instant hit when it was created by Frederick Ashton for the Royal Ballet in 1960. Inspired by Ashton's love of the English countryside, La Fille mal gardee includes some of his most virtuoso, energetic choreography as well as elements of traditional folk dancing.

Today, Elmhurst Ballet School, the associate school of Birmingham Royal Ballet, announces details of its popular annual summer shows. Between 6th and 13th July 2018, 'Summer Creations - An Evening of New Work' will showcase an ambitious programme of new commissions and world premieres by highly sought after choreographers, the school's artistic staff and prize winning students.

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, and Executive Director Barry Hughson, today announced that Sadler's Wells in London, England will co-produce Frame by Frame, a collaboration between renowned theatre artist Robert Lepage and Choreographic Associate and Principal Dancer Guillaume Cote. Frame by Frame makes its world premiere tomorrow, June 1 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.

Young Frankenstein announced as the winners of the fourth annual right royal West End Bake Off in aid of Acting for Others. As his Royal Highness Prince Harry prepares to marry Meghan Markle the winners, chosen by returning judge Christopher Biggins alongside Wendi Peters and Ruthie Henshall, were revealed at the event held today at St Pauls Actors Church in Covent Garden.

Birmingham Hippodrome co-produced a jam-packed free Hip-Hop festival at the theatre and in the Southside streets (Mon 7 - Sun 13 May). Across a week of festival fun, there were dance competitions, rap battles and family-friendly workshops, plus graffiti and street art - set to the sounds of the festival from live DJs and MCs. Now in its third year, B-SIDE Hip-Hop Festival attracted a wide audience of Hip-Hop fans and novices alike from around the world.

The Sarasota Ballet will revive Galina Samsova's production of Paquita during the company's 2018-19 season. The performances will take place on October 26, 27, and 28, 2018 at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota, Florida. Miss Samsova's production of Paquita was first staged for the Sarasota Ballet in 2010.

Birmingham City University's Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Elmhurst Ballet School is inspiring music students to experience the working life of a professional ballet pianist with its 'Placement for Pianists Programme'. Due to overwhelming interest and a successful inaugural first year, launched as a pilot scheme in September 2017, organisers of the initiative are pleased to announce it will continue with a second cohort in the 2018 - 2019 academic year.

Birmingham Hippodrome has announced that the RSC will host its first UK and Ireland Tour Relaxed Performance of Matilda The Musical at 2pm on Thurs 19 July 2018.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has today announced that the New London Theatre is to be renamed in honour of the trailblazing choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne. The theatre will be formally recognized as the Gillian Lynne Theatre later this year and will be the first West End theatre to be named after a woman.

Love at first dance!  Forbidden passions, dangerous secrets and star-crossed fate combine in this exhilarating classic ballet that reveals the heart of Shakespeare's immortal love story, coming to Chrysler Hall April 20-22, 2018. From the tender balcony scene to the lovers' heart-breaking ends, Romeo and Juliet is dance at its most poignant and beautiful-and the opulent production by Britain's famed Birmingham Royal Ballet is doubly exciting for its dramatic choreography by the great Sir Kenneth MacMillan, lavish sets and costumes, and dancers who embody the young lovers and their noble families. Further distinguishing these Norfolk performances is the presence of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, who will perform the beautiful Prokofiev score live, making the experience a feast for the ears as well as the eyes.

Birmingham-based choreographer Rosie Kay has been selected as one of the lead artists for the handover of the Commonwealth Games from Australia to Birmingham on 15 April. Kay will be choreographing the handover performance in Birmingham which will be broadcast to a global televised audience of 1 billion people.

Today it has been announced that David Bintley will step down as Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet on 31 July 2019. When David leaves he will have been Director of the Company for 24 years. After such an impressive tenure David plans to pursue increasing international requests to choreograph new works and to stage his ballets. He has just returned from working with Sarasota Ballet in the USA who recently premiered his 'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe.

White Bird is proud to welcome Jessica Lang Dance to the Newmark Theatre, March 8-10, marking the company's first time in Portland. Founded in 2011 in New York City, Jessica Lang Dance (JLD) creates and performs diverse repertoire, often with strong visuals and intense musicality. The Washington Post has declared that "Lang has a gift for conveying emotion with exquisite simplicity."  Her work has been called "stunning" and "vibrantly cinematic" by Arts Birmingham (Alabama), and The Boston Globe states that "we enter new realms with each dance."

Fresh from her hugely successful debut show 'What Would Beyonce Do?!', star of Comic Relief and Live at The Apollo, Luisa Omelan will bring the cream of UK stand-up talent to Birmingham this February for a one-off comedy bonanza with 100% of all proceeds donated to Helena's Hospice Foundation.

Sadler's Wells' annual celebration of dance brings together an eclectic mix of extracts from some of the most exciting dance works around, performed by the world's best ballet dancers, breakers, flamenco stars and contemporary mavericks, at a specially reduced price.

Sadler's Wells today announced 20 landmark commissions to mark the 20th anniversary of its iconic London theatre. Natalia Osipova, Mark Morris, William Forsythe, Sharon Eyal and Akram Khan are among the internationally acclaimed artists presenting new work, which will be produced or co-produced by Sadler's Wells in 2018.