Tag Archives: Birmingham Royal Ballet

Choreographers: Jack Lister, Cathy Marston, Twyla Tharp Reviewer: John Kennedy A Brief Nostalgia reveals two vertical, concreted-texture slabs. A vicious, horizontal fusillade of power-shadowed lighting splays the six dancers flaying in a dystopian matrix nightmare. Well, Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) just wouldn’t have it any other way when inviting the Queensland (Australia) Ballet to nimble/stomp tread their guest-spot balletic brilliance on the ...

Choreography: David Bintley Music: Glenn Buhr Reviewer: Peter Jacobs Although not one of the ‘classic’ ballets, Beauty and the Beast has a similar provenance from folk and fairy tales, originally appearing in print as early as the 1550s before Perrault’s Tales of Mother Goose in 1697 and being retold again in the 18thand 19thcenturies. In the 20thcentury Jean Cocteau made a striking ...

Director & Choreography: David Bintley Musical Director: Koen Kessels  Reviewer: Dominic Corr Sixteen years ago, David Bintley reimagined what is perhaps fairy tales’ most recognisable story. Returning to the stage, the Birmingham Royal Ballet seeks to capture the illustrious nature of the piece, whilst showcasing some of the nation’s finest dancers in the timeless classic – Beauty and the Beast. ...

Venue: Theatre Royal Plymouth Choreography: David Bintley Music: Glenn Buhr Reviewer: Helen Tope The ballet begins with a familiar scene. Belle stands at the top of a bookcase, mired deep in words. She is the original bookish heroine; an outsider in her own family. Her father is a ship merchant, deep in debt – and the bailiffs are called. While ...

Director/Choreographer: David Bintley Reviewer: Hannah Powell The folk tale of Beauty and the Beast is a familiar one of family, danger and love, shared by a vast number of cultures stretching across the breadth of the globe. After being caught trespassing and in return for his life, Belle’s father is forced to send his youngest daughter to live within the ...

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Original Choreography: Sir Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov, Vincent Redmon Additional Choreography: David Bintley, Marion Tait Reviewer: Daljinder Johal It’s difficult to reinvent the wheel for a classic ballet like The Nutcracker. But Sir Peter Wright’s 1990 production doesn’t need to when it’s just so magical. Since Wright gifted it to Birmingham, the scale of this annual production never fails ...

Choreography: Frederick Ashton Freely adapted and arranged by: John Lanchbery Music: Ferdinand Herold Reviewer: Frances Scott The Birmingham Royal Ballet is transporting audiences to a quaint community based on sunny Suffolk. The French ballet La Fille Mal Gardee(The Wayward Daughter) premiered in 1789 and was reworked by Fredrick Ashton in 1960, whose uniquely British blend has helped capture modern audiences. ...

Choreography: Frederick Ashton Music: Ferdinand Herold (adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery) Reviewer: Helen Tope One of the oldest ballets in the world, La Fille Mal Gardee (The Wayward Daughter), is an 18th-Century wonder, re-imagined to create a timeless tale. Seen here in its Frederick Ashton revival, La Fille tells the story of village girl Lise. Living with her mother, ...