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of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s programme.

Via Lauren for Birmingham Royal Ballet

Birmingham Royal Ballet
Summer Season

This summer, Birmingham Royal Ballet continues its long standing tradition of showcasing the work of exceptional women choreographers, in an exciting triple bill in Birmingham and London entitled [Un]leashed. 

World premiere of Didy Veldman’s Sense of Time – the third commission in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s ground-breaking Ballet Now initiative takes place at Birmingham Hippodrome on 12th June and London’s Sadler’s Wells on 25 June. 

[Un]leashed also features the premiere performances of Ruth Brill’s bold re-imagining of the classic fable Peter and the Wolf, featuring the voice of acclaimed poet, Hollie McNish.

[Un]leashed – Sense of Time, Lyric Pieces, Peter and the Wolf

(12th to 15th June) Birmingham Hippodrome, Hurst Street, Birmingham B5 4TB

(25th and 26th June) Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN

Birmingham Royal Ballet is thrilled to be contributing to the growing voice of choreography by women by presenting the works of three outstanding artists in [Un]leashed at the Birmingham Hippodrome in June and then London’s Sadler’s Wells. 

[Un]leashed features the world premiere of Didy Veldman’s Sense of Time, choreographed to a specially commissioned score by Gabriel Prokofiev. Sense of Time is created for 12 dancers and it explores ideas of time and space, reflecting on the influences affecting the free flow of contemporary life.

Sense of Time is the third commission in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s ground breaking Ballet Now initiative. Now, the world’s largest commissioning programme for new choreography and new music, Ballet Now was inaugurated in 2017 with Ruth Brill’s Arcadia.

Sergei Prokofiev (grandfather of Gabriel Prokofiev) provides the musical inspiration for First Artist and Choreographer Ruth Brill’s bold new take on the classic fable of Peter and the Wolf, also receiving its premiere performances this season. Brill’s far-reaching retelling of the much loved Peter and the Wolf, is choreographed to the familiar score, and features the voice of spoken word artist, Hollie McNish. Drawing on influences of physical theatre and street-dance, but rooted in the vocabulary of classical ballet, Peter and the Wolf remains faithful to the essence of the original tale. The ballet transposes the action to a modern-day, urban landscape, adding a refreshed impetus that reflects topical issues in today’s society. In this bold reimagining, Peter is a fearless, determined and inquisitive young woman.

To complete the [Un]leashed programme, Jessica Lang’s beautiful Lyric Pieces makes a welcome return to the repertoire. Created for the Company as part of the 2012 International Dance Festival (BIDF) in Birmingham, Lyric Pieces is choreographed for 8 dancers and set to Edvard Grieg’s music of the same name.

Book Tickets here:
birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/birmingham-royal-ballet-unleashed

Hobson’s Choice

(19th to 22nd June) Birmingham Hippodrome, Hurst Street, Birmingham B5 4TB

(28th and 29th June) Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN

Marking his 43 year career with the Royal Ballet companies, including almost a quarter of a century leading Birmingham Royal Ballet as Director, the season includes one of David Bintley’s ’signature’ pieces, the high-spirited, audience favourite, Hobson’s Choice. 

David Bintley comments: 

I am delighted that for my final season with the Company, we are showcasing the works of some extraordinary women choreographers. In doing so, in a way, we are going back to the very roots of British ballet, the foundations of which were laid by determined women such as Dame Marie Rambert, Dame Alicia Markova and, of course, Dame Ninette de Valois. It also reminds us of our own rich history of choreography by remarkable women, members of the Company such as Andrée Howard, Susan Crow, Lynn Seymour, Jennifer Jackson, and Ruth Brill, not forgetting choreography by the likes of Twyla Tharp, Lila York, Jessica Lang, Nahid Siddiqui and Rosie Kay. 

It is particularly fitting that my own production of Hobson’s Choice concludes the season because the ballet was created at the prompting of Dame Ninette de Valois – the founder of The Royal Ballet Companies – that I create an ‘English’ ballet and each performance of it since 1989 has been dedicated with love to ‘Madam’.

Hobson’s Choice returns to the repertoire, honouring David Bintley’s final performances as Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Book tickets here: birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/birmingham-royal-ballet-hobsons-choice