David Bintley CBE To Step Down As Director Of Birmingham Royal Ballet At The End Of The 2018/19 Season

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 Café.

David said, "I've been a part of this great Company since I first joined as a boy, forty two years ago. I've had the even greater privilege of leading Birmingham Royal Ballet for the past twenty three years, and I'd like to thank everyone who's been a part of our wonderful 'family' during that time. Whatever the future may hold for me I will look back on these years as being the pinnacle of my life in dance and the ones which brought me the greatest artistic and personal joy".

Birmingham Royal Ballet's Chair, Professor Michael Clarke said, "Since David Bintley took over from Sir Peter Wright in 1995, he has taken Birmingham Royal Ballet from strength to strength, cementing the Company's place as the custodian of the 19th-century classics and 20th-century masterpieces. He has also ensured BRB has continued to create new works and innovate. The sheer breadth of his work speaks volumes. David has choreographed more than ten full-length and 12 one-act ballets for the Company. Additionally, he has commissioned a further 21 ballets by guest and company choreographers, with four more world premieres due to be presented in his final season.

The Board would like to sincerely thank David for all he has done for Birmingham Royal Ballet and his devotion to the Company and we wish him every success for the future".

The Governors of the Royal Ballet said, "David Bintley has been an outstanding leader of Birmingham Royal Ballet. He leaves a remarkable legacy and the company in great form".

Birmingham Royal Ballet's 2018/19 season will celebrate David Bintley's choreography including The King Dances (2015), Beauty and the Beast (2003), and Hobson's Choice (1989).

Plans for the global search to appoint David Bintley's successor will be announced shortly.

Based at Birmingham Hippodrome since 1990, Birmingham Royal Ballet is the United Kingdom's leading classical ballet touring company performing a range of traditional, classical and heritage ballets as well as ground-breaking new works with the aim of encouraging choreographers of the future.

The company's Director is the award-winning David Bintley, CBE, Interim Chief Executive Officer is Caroline Miller, OBE, and Music Director is Koen Kessels. Birmingham Royal Ballet performs at Birmingham Hippodrome for approximately ten weeks of the year and the remainder of the year tours throughout the United Kingdom and overseas.

The Royal Ballet Sinfonia is Britain's busiest ballet orchestra, playing for Birmingham Royal Ballet's wide-ranging programme in the UK and abroad. The Sinfonia also plays frequently for The Royal Ballet and many of the world's other leading ballet companies, including regular performances with: The Royal Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet, New York City Ballet, Australian Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Kirov, Norwegian Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and La Scala Ballet.