Tag Archives: John F. Macfarlane

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 ...

Writer / Composer: Charles Perrault / Sergei Prokofiev Director / Choreographer: David Bintley Reviewer: Helen Tope Cinderella is the fairytale we think we know, perhaps a little too well. In this staging of the ballet, choreographer David Bintley attempts to break away from the overtly-classical staging of recent productions, instead returning the story to its roots. The problem with a ...

Music: Sergei Prokofiev Choreographer:  David Bintley Conductor: Philip Ellis Reviewer: Jo Beggs Birmingham Royal Ballet are a company unafraid to embrace the traditional. While all around them everyone’s trying to sex-up the classics, BRB know that producing something with no surprises can still be an audience winner. Cinderella certainly sends nobody home dissatisfied, and yet there’s a sense that the ...

Music: Sergei Prokofiev Choreographer: David Bintley Reviewer:  Laura Jayne Bateman Premiering in 2010, and featuring recently retired star principal Elisha Willis in the title role, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Cinderella takes inspiration from Charles Perrault’s 1697 fairy tale. Choreographed by company director David Bintley to Sergei Prokofiev’s score, the production enchantingly combines the grit of Cinderella’s abusive home life with the magic ...

Music – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreographers – Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov, Vincent Redmon Reviewer – Laura Jayne Bateman The Nutcracker is perhaps the most popular of the five quintessential classical ballets: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Coppélia. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s version, first seen in 1990 upon the company’s move to the Midlands, has become a festive ...