Birmingham Royal Ballet#Guest Artists
{{Short description|UK ballet company}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox ballet company
| name = Birmingham Royal Ballet
| logo = Birmingham royal ballet logo22.png
| previous_names = {{unbulleted list
| Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet
| Royal Ballet Touring Group
| Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet
}}
| founded = {{Start date|1946}}
| founder = Dame Ninette de Valois
| founding_director = John Field
| founding_person_type = Director Laureate
| founding_person_name = Sir Peter Wright
| venue = Birmingham Hippodrome
Hurst Street, Birmingham
England, B5 4TB
| website = {{URL|https://www.brb.org.uk/|brb.org.uk}}
| chief_executive = Caroline Miller
| director = Carlos Acosta
| assistant_director = Dominic Antonucci
| company_manager = Tristan Rusdale
| ballet_staff_type = Ballet Staff
| ballet_staff_name = Marion Tait, Patricia Tierney, Laëtitia Lo Sardo
| sister_company = The Royal Ballet
| orchestra = Royal Ballet Sinfonia
| official_school = The Royal Ballet School
| formation = {{Unbulleted list| Principal Guest Artist | Principal | Principal Character Artist | First Soloist | Soloist | First Artist | Artist | BRB2 | Apprentice }}
|music_director=Paul Murphy}}
Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company was established in 1946 as a sister company to the earlier Sadler's Wells company, which moved to the Royal Opera House that same year, subsequently becoming known as The Royal Ballet.
The new company was formed under the direction of John Field and remained at Sadler's Wells for many years, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1977. It also toured the UK and abroad, before relocating to Birmingham in 1990, where it uses the Birmingham Hippodrome stage when performing in the city. Birmingham Royal Ballet has extensive custom-built facilities, including a suite of dance studios, the Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries and a studio theatre known as the Patrick Centre. In 1997, the Birmingham Royal Ballet became independent of The Royal Ballet in London.
History
In 1926, the Irish-born dancer Ninette de Valois founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls. Her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres, and in 1925, she engaged de Valois to stage dance performances at both venues.
Sadler's Wells reopened in 1931, and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre. These would become the predecessors of today's Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School.
In 1939, the company lost its link with the Old Vic theatre, and in 1940, Sadler's Wells theatre was bombed during World War II. These events forced the company to begin touring the country, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet. The company did return to Sadler's Wells theatre, where it stayed until 1946, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company of the newly re-opened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. The company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946, with their first production at the venue being Ninette de Valois' staging of The Sleeping Beauty.
File:Birmingham Royal Ballet - E=MC2 - February 2011.jpg
Following the relocation of the company, the school was relocated to its own premises in 1947, and a sister company was established to continue performances at Sadler's Wells, called Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet. This sister company would become the predecessor of today's Birmingham Royal Ballet. The first Artistic Director of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet was John Field, who was later made co-director of the Royal Ballet and also worked as artistic director of La Scala Theatre Ballet and English National Ballet.
In 1955, Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet temporarily lost its link with Sadler's Wells theatre and relocated to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company.
In 1956, a royal charter was granted for both companies and the school, and they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.
The Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadler's Wells theatre in 1970, whilst continuing to tour the country. The first indication that the company would leave London came in 1987, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre. Consequently, the company relocated to Birmingham in 1990, being given its current name Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Sir Peter Wright was the company's Artistic Director from 1977 until his retirement in 1995, when David Bintley was appointed Artistic Director. In 1997, Birmingham Royal Ballet was made independent of the Royal Ballet and ceased to be managed by the Royal Opera House. In January 2019 it was announced that acclaimed Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta would succeed Bintley as artistic director in January 2020.{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Mark |title=Carlos Acosta to be Birmingham Royal Ballet director |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jan/15/carlos-acosta-birmingham-royal-ballet-director-dance |access-date=31 January 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=15 January 2019}}
Works performed
| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width: 98%" |
| colspan=5 |Table of works performed by Birmingham Royal Ballet |
|---|
| width=41% | Title
! width=9% | Running Time (mins) ! width=25% | Choreographer ! width=25% | Composer |
| Agon
| 28 |
| All for a Kiss
| 5 | Aonghus Hoole |
| Apollo
| 30 |
| Arthur pt I
| 60,45 |
| Arthur pt II
| 58,65 |
| Avec Moi Ce Soir
| | Glyn Scott |
| Le Baiser de la fée
| 45 |
| Beauty and the Beast
| 50,50 | Glenn Buhr |
| Black Sabbath - The Ballet
| 30, 30, 30 | Pontus Lidberg, Raúl Reinoso & Cassi Abranches | Black Sabbath, Christopher Austin, Marko Nyberg & Sun Keting |
| Bright Young Things
| 30 | Oliver Hindle |
| Brouillards
| 37 |
| Card Game
| 24 |
| Carmina Burana
| 67 |
| Carnival of the Animals
| 25 | David Justin, Toby Norman-Wright, Jonathan Payn, Nicole Tongue |
| Checkmate
| 46 |
| Choros
| 30 |
| Concert Fantasy
| 30 |
| Concerto
| 24 |
| Concerto Barocco
| 20 |
| Coppélia
| 35,28,38 | Peter Wright after Marius Petipa & Enrico Cecchetti |
| Cyrano
| 53,33,41 |
| The Dance House
| 26 |
| Danses Concertantes
| | Kit Holder, Glyn Scott, Aonghus Hoole, Kosuke Yamamoto |
| Dante Sonata
| 17 | Franz Liszt arr Constant Lambert |
| Daphnis et Chloé
| 55 |
| The Dream
| 54 |
| Dumbarton Oaks
| 15 | Michael Kopinski |
| Duo Concertant
| 17 |
| Ebony Concerto
| | Samara Downs |
| Edward II
| 60,55 |
| Elite Syncopations
| 38 | Scott Joplin et al. |
| The End of Winter
| | Kosuke Yamamoto |
| Enigma Variations
| 34 |
| Façade
| 20 |
| Fancy Free
| 31 |
| Far from the Madding Crowd
| 50,40,40 |
| La Fille Mal Gardée
| 28,34,38 |
| The Firebird
| 47 |
| Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan
| 8 |
| Five Tangos
| 27 |
| Four Seasons
| 45 | Oliver Hindle, Shimon Kalichman, Mikaela Polley, Samira Saidi, Asier Uriagereka, Richard Whistler, Yuri Zhukov |
| The Four Seasons
| 46 | Oliver Hindle |
| The Four Temperaments
| 32 |
| Giselle
| 55,46 | Marius Petipa after Jean Coralli & Jules Perrot |
| Grosse Fuge
| 27 |
| Hobson's Choice
| 34,28,42 |
| In the Upper Room
| 40 |
| Into the Ferment
| 25 | Jonathan Payn |
| Krishna
| 35 |
| The Lady and the Fool
| 48 |
| Much A-Dance About Nothing
| | Jenny Murphy |
| Nine Sinatra Songs
| 33 | |
| The Nutcracker
| 50,50 | Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov, Vincent Redmon |
| The Nutcracker Sweeties
| 35 | Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn (after Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) |
| Orpheus
| 30 |
| The Orpheus Suite
| 45 |
| Paquita
| 28 |
| Les Petits Riens
| 25 |
| Petrushka
| 38 |
| Pictures at an Exhibition
| 35 | Shimon Kalichman, Toby Norman-Wright, Annette Pain, Jonathan Payn, Mikaela Polley, Samira Saidi, Nicole Tongue, Richard Whistler, Asier Uriagereka, Yuri Zhukov |
| Pineapple Poll
| 41 |
| The Planets
| 53 | Rosie Kay, David Bintley, Samara Downs, Lei Zhao, Michael Kopinski, Kit Holder, Jenny Murphy |
| Powder
| 33 | Stanton Welch |
| Prodigal Son
| 36 |
| The Prospect Before Us
| 38 |
| The Protecting Veil
| 43 |
| Pulcinella
| 40 | Kim Brandstrup |
| Raymonda Act III
| 34 |
| The Rite of Spring
| 35 | Millicent Hodson after Vaslav Nijinsky |
| Romeo and Juliet
| 60,34,40 |
| Sanctum
| 26 |
| Scènes de Ballet
| 22 |
| The Seasons
| 32 |
| Serenade
| 34 |
| The Shakespeare Suite
| 38 |
| Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
| 25 |
| The Sleeping Beauty
| 34,30,32,39 |
| Small Worlds
| | Kit Holder |
| Solitaire
| 27 |
| Song of the Earth
| 63 |
| The Sons of Horus
| 30 | Peter McGowan |
| 'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe
| 42 |
| Stravinsky Violin Concerto
| 20 |
| Swan Lake
| 32,32,44,20 |
| Symphonic Variations
| 21 |
| Symphony in Three Movements
| 24 |
| Take Five
| 25 | The Dave Brubeck Quartet transcribed by Colin Towns |
| Tombeaux
| 25 |
| Tweedledum and Tweedledee
| 5 |
| The Two Pigeons
| 27,33 |
| Unravelled
| | Nathanael Skelton |
| Voice of Spring
| 4 |
| The Walk to the Paradise Garden
| 9 |
| Western Symphony
| 30 | trad American melodies arr by Hershy Kay |
The company
The Birmingham Royal Ballet employs 61 dancers and a complete list as of 2024 is shown below.
The company also has an Executive, Artistic and Music staff, including the following:
- Director – Carlos Acosta, a former dancer with The Royal Ballet and Director of both Birmingham Royal Ballet and Acosta Danza {{cite web|url=https://www.acostadanza.com/en|title= Acosta Danza Homepage|website=Acosta Danza|access-date= 9 July 2023}}
- Music Director – Paul Murphy {{cite web|url=https://www.brb.org.uk/stories/paul-murphy-announced-as-new-music-director|website=Birmingham Royal Ballet|access-date= 12 March 2024|title=Paul Murphy announced as new Music Director}}
- CEO – Caroline Millar
Dancers
=Principals=
| class="wikitable" |
| Name
! Nationality ! Training ! Joined BRB ! Promoted to |
|---|
| Tzu-Chao Chou
|{{TWN}} |2011 |2017 |
| Mathias Dingman
| {{GBR}} | 2006 | 2015 |
| Samara Downs
|{{GBR}} |2003 |2016 |
| Céline Gittens
|{{CAN}} |2006 |2016 |
| Momoko Hirata
| {{JPN}} | Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School | 2003 | 2013 |
| Max Maslen
| {{GBR}} | 2012 | 2023 |
| Miki Mitzutani
| {{JPN}} | English National Ballet School | 2012 | 2022 |
| Lachlan Monaghan
| {{AUS}} | 2012 | 2023 |
| Yaoqian Shang
| {{CHN}} | 2013 | 2022 |
| Beatrice Parma
| {{ITA}} | La Scala Theatre Ballet School | 2015 | 2024 |
=Principal Character Artists=
- Rory Mackay (Assistant Répétiteur)
- Jonathan Payn (Assistant Répétiteur)
- Yvette Knight
=First Soloists=
- Riku Ito
- Yu Kurihara
=Soloists=
- Yasiel Hodelín Bello
- Karla Doorbar
- Reina Fuchigami
- Enrique Bejarano Vidal
- Sofia Liñares
=First Artists=
{{Div col|colwidth=20em|rules=no}}
- Gabriel Anderson
- Rosanna Ely
- Haoliang Feng
- Gus Payne
- Rachele Pizillo
- Eilis Small
- Daria Stanciulescu
- Lucy Waine
{{Div col end}}
=Artists=
{{Div col|colwidth=20em|rules=no}}
- Louis Andreasen
- Olivia Chang Clarke
- Jack Easton
- Ryan Felix
- Callum Findlay-White
- Tori Forsyth-Hecken
- August Generalli
- Miles Gilliver
- Tessa Hogge
- Isabella Howard
- Regan Hutsell
- Frieda Kaden
- Maïlène Katoch
- Oscar Kempsey-Fagg
- Mason King
- Ava May Llewellyn
- Hannah Martin
- Eric Pinto Cata
- Matilde Rodrigues
- Javier Rojas
- Hamish Scott
- Yuki Sugiura
- Lynsey Sutherland
- Amelia Thompson
- Shuailun Wu
{{Div col end}}
=BRB2=
{{Div col|colwidth=20em|rules=no}}
- Ariana Allen
- Charlotte Cohen
- Noah Cosgriff
- Alisa Garkavenko
- Thomas Hazelby
- Ellyne Knol
- Ixan Llorca Ferrer
- Alexandra Manuel
- Andrea Riolo
- Sophie Walters
{{Div col end}}
=Apprentices=
{{Div col|colwidth=20em|rules=no}}
- Marlo Kempsey-Fagg
{{Div col end}}
See also
- The Royal Ballet, sister company of the Birmingham Royal Ballet
- Royal Ballet School, official ballet school of the company
- English National Ballet
- Elmhurst Ballet School
Footnotes
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
{{commons cat}}
- {{Official website}}
{{Ballet schools}}
{{Ballet companies}}
{{Dance Companies in the United Kingdom}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Schools of the performing arts in the United Kingdom
Category:Ballet schools in the United Kingdom
Category:Culture in Birmingham, West Midlands
Category:National Dance Award winners