Music: Black Sabbath, Christopher Austin, Marko Nyberg, Sun Keting
Director: Carlos Acosta
Choreographers: Pontus Lidberg, Cassi Abranches, Raul Reinoso,
It must have been a traumatic moment in 1968, in a Birmingham sheet metal factory, when Tony Iommi, operating a machine “like a guillotine”, slices off the end of his fingers and is told at the hospital, “You can forget playing the guitar again”. Bedside manner was somewhat harsher in the sixties. But if it hadn’t happened, and Tony hadn’t down-tuned thinner, looser strings on his guitar to compensate, we might never have had Heavy Metal.
All cities love a ‘first’ and Birmingham is rightly proud of its Metal history. The city also has a fine ballet company, so it’s hardly surprising that when two great Brum institutions come together they create something pretty special.
Premiered in 2023, the very idea of Black Sabbath – The Ballet probably brought out the cynics. Will Metal fans buy ballet tickets? Will ballet audiences embrace the non-traditional? The truth is that while Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is best known for its more traditional productions, contemporary ballet has been mixing things up for a long time. Michael Clark was doing it in the Eighties, and rarely a Rambert production goes by without some grinding industrial electronica. If the full houses it’s enjoyed to date and the proliferation of Black Sabbath T-shirts at Lowry’s opening night are anything to go by, then yes – Metal fans will buy ballet tickets.
While the original production happened while we still had Ozzy with us, this tour, which opens so soon after his death, is certainly something of a tribute – or rather a celebration of a life well spent (even if well spent is subjective) and the legacy of the music he left behind. Composers Christopher Austin and Sun Keting collaborated with Tony Iommi to create a score that is truly celebratory, blending orchestration with the original material: at times raw and raunchy, at others heartbreakingly beautiful. Choreographers Pontus Lidberg, Raul Reinoso and Cassi Abranches take this and the story of the band and craft something truly unique, deftly steering away from the obvious (as so often happens when dance tries to follow a narrative too closely) and they create a production full of emotion. It’s about the music, and how the music makes you feel.
In three sections, Heavy Metal Ballet, The Band and Everbody Is a Fan [sic], the show opens to War Pigs and sets the tone with a fast-paced, tightly choreographed routine that conjures army drills and industrial production lines. The company’s synchronicity is astonishing. With the opening lines of Iron Man we first experience a guitarist (Mark Hayward), playing live and embodying the spirit of the band and intoxicating the dancers. An orchestrated cover of Solitude takes the pace down and accompanies two dancers (Javier Rojas and Yaoqian Shang) locked in a kiss. Their extraordinary duet, during which their lips never part, is a truly unique piece of choreography and a highlight of the whole evening.
The second part works less well, lacking the raw emotion of the first. To a soundtrack of interviews with members of the band and with Sharon Osbourne, the dancers move in groups of four to stories of the ups and downs, the fallings out and making up, the excesses and the regrets. There is some beautiful choreography as dancers respond to the vocal soundtrack, make rhythmic movements, carry and support one another, and The Band ends with a foretaste of the final scene to a rousing orchestral rendition of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
There’s a wonderful reveal at the start of the third part – Everbody is a Fan as the curtain goes up on a stripped back stage, revealing the backstage area and offstage dancers, and a massive silver sculpture of a devil atop an upturned car. While it certainly gives the impression of a live gig backdrop, it seems a bit unnecessary and the dancers have to break out of the choreography to move it around the stage. It’s a joyous scene though, celebrating generations of the band’s fans and their musical legacy. Classic tunes repeat and the whole thing ends with something of a party.
The silver car devil apart, the design of the show (Alexandre Arrechea) is sparse with black and white motifs on huge lights, lowered and raised as a backdrop. Coloured neon light strips create a simple horizontal in the second part. It’s the lighting (KJ) that really adds to the drama of the piece, beautifully synchronised with the choreography and helping to create moments of intimacy on the vast stage.
While Metal fans who are open to some clever re-imagining of the band’s music will love this show, it’s an equally great experience for those who don’t know – or even don’t like – this music. A clever balance of ‘sticking to the script’ and creating something completely new. It might well be a good introduction for the ballet-curious too.
Runs until 11 October 2025
