Birmingham Royal Ballet announces Autumn/Winter season
Photo credit: Bill Cooper
Birmingham Royal Ballet have announced their busy Autumn/Winter schedule, which balances a contemporary and classical repertoire to create a season with something for everyone.
BRB’s autumn triple bill Into the Music will play at Birmingham Hippodrome on 21 & 22 October, celebrating the marriage of music and movement. UK and world premieres and rarely seen work can be seen in this unmissable mixed programme, with each piece set to a major orchestral score performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
The triple bill opens with a work by the late and prolific German choreographer Uwe Scholz. Scholz choreographed more than 100 choreographic works for major companies and venues before his untimely death in 2004. He worked regularly with classical repertoire and never more dramatically than in his setting of Beethoven’s vibrant The Seventh Symphony, a work famously described by Wagner as ‘the apotheosis of the dance’. Choreographer Morgann Runacre-Temple and composer Mikael Karlsson team up for the world premiere of Ballet Now commission and Linbury Prize winner for Stage Design Hotel, a surreal journey into the secrets and lies that live behind closed doors. And to close, Jiří Kylián’s magnificent Forgotten Land illustrates why Kylián is one of the most revered choreographers of the 20th century with a gripping journey into memory and loss set to Benjamin Britten’s magnificent Sinfonia da Requiem.
Love conquers all in Sir Peter Wright’s joyous classic Coppelia at Birmingham Hippodrome from 26-29 October, brought back to the stage by Birmingham Royal Ballet for the first time in five years, with Léo Delibes’ glorious score performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
When eccentric toymaker Dr Coppélius leaves his greatest creation, the doll Coppélia, on his workshop balcony, she’s soon causing quite a stir in the village. Comic chaos is unleashed as Dr Coppélius tries to bring Coppélia to life in this timeless classic.
Sir Peter Wright’s world-famous production of classic Christmas tale The Nutcracker returns from 19 November-10 December following a million-pound refurbishment of John Macfarlane’s exquisite sets, funded in large part by generous audience support through the Big Give. Join 60 dancers and audiences across the generations for the perfect festive family treat, with music played live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
Carlos Acosta said: “2022 has been such an exciting time for the company. We were delighted to bring our Don Quixote to packed houses at Birmingham Hippodrome and more recently twelve of our dancers performed at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony - after which the company is now taking a well-earned break. But everyone will hit the ground running on their return as we look forward to presenting our ambitious triple bill Into The Music in the city. It’s been my ambition to programme this triple bill ever since I joined the company, and it will showcase some of the most important contemporary and classic choreographers so I’m very excited to share it here in Birmingham. We also have a revival of Sir Peter Wright’s sublime Coppélia and although temperatures are rising - we are also turning our attention to The Nutcracker, which has undergone a major refurbishment to make it even more luxurious for Birmingham. We also look forward to some very exciting announcements in this period for the 23/24 season. Watch this space!”
For more information and to book tickets, please click here.
