Get to the pointe!
BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE THIS YEAR, WRITES
BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet is promising a bumper year of shows with classics, triple bills and new works.
After a hugely successful 2022 in which the company premiered its production of Don Quixote and its rebuilt Nutcracker, BRB is looking forward to sharing an exciting programme with Midlands audiences. And the company, directed by Carlos Acosta, has just announced the launch of BRB2, a company of rising stars which will showcase young dancers who have been talent-spotted from around the globe. The year begins with An Evening of Music and Dance at Symphony Hall on February 11, followed by BRB’s world-renowned production of Swan Lake at Birmingham Hippodrome from February 15-25. A Triple Bill of ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café, Apollo and Interlinked comes to the Hippodrome from June 8-11.
BRB2 embarks on its first tour in the spring, which includes Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on June 19. And BRB is soon to announce new productions for the autumn.
CEO Caroline Miller says this year’s programme aims to showcase the company’s talents, encourage loyal audiences to return to much-loved shows, attract new ballet enthusiasts and continue to take BRB forward.
“I want people to double-look at
BRB and think ‘that’s something I want to come and see, I’m excited, I’m curious’,” she says. “I want people to be prompted to remember that the city has one of the biggest ballet companies, and a major ballet company in Europe, and it’s creating and performing work first here, right on their doorstep. We’re proud to be in Birmingham.”
For those new to ballet, An Evening of Music and Dance, which features music from Rossini, de Falla and Rachmaninov and dance excerpts from Swan Lake, Carmen, Rhapsody and Le Corsaire, is a perfect introduction, Caroline says. “Our annual show at Symphony Hall is pure entertainment. There’s a whole orchestra that you can see on stage, playing short pieces of classical music. And in between the big orchestra numbers, our amazing dancers come on stage and perform excerpts from a wide variety of ballets.
“If you are a person who has said ‘I’ve always wanted to try ballet but am not sure what it is’ then this is a really good introduction because there are so many pieces that you will find surprising and enjoyable. “We have a host, Marverine Cole, who introduces each piece and guides you through the evening so you’ll never feel that you don’t know what is happening.”
Created by former BRB director, now founding director laureate Sir
Peter Wright and Galina Samsova, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake is one of the company’s most popular works. “Swan Lake is probably the most famous ballet show and ours is a spectacle. It’s got everything you could want – virtuoso dancing and then a full orchestra with the most amazing music,” says Caroline.
“Sir Peter Wright’s Swan Lake is known as one of the best in the world. The costumes are sumptuous, the sets are awesome and grandiose and it really is a rite of passage for the dancers.
‘‘We are a company of about 60 dancers and you will see our greatest stars on stage taking the lead but you will also see the younger dancers who are emerging having great roles – and they will be our future stars.”
Internationally-renowned Russian ballet dancer Polina Semionova will join the Birmingham cast to perform the role of Odette/ Odile on February 17 and 18. “British audiences very rarely get the chance to see Polina Semionova dance, and she’s one of the greatest dancers in the world,” says Caroline. “The only place she is performing in the UK is at Birmingham with BRB where she will be dancing with
Brandon Lawrence.”
The June Triple Bill will see BRB performing George Balanchine’s Apollo for the first time in nearly 20 years and the return of Juliano Nunes’ Interlinked, which was commissioned for the Commonwealth Games.
“We’ll close the night with the absolute firm favourite of audiences, Sir David Bintley’s ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café. Although it was made decades ago it’s very much about today because it deals with extinction and what man is doing to the planet and the environment. And yet you are entertained by this visual feast of zebras and fleas and penguins and a fabulous score.”
The company’s newest development is the launch of BRB2 which will see young ballet graduates take part in a two-year programme to develop and showcase their talents and help them transition from being a student into a professional company.
The dancers will not only train and perform with BRB but will also tour with their own programme which this spring features highlights from Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody, Carlos Acosta’s Carmen, Agrippina Vaganova’s Diana and Actaeon and Carlos’ interpretation of Fokine’s The Dying Swan.