Following a transformation costing around £2.7m, Birmingham Royal Ballet will reveal its new home at the Birmingham Hippodrome complex with a special open day.
Members of the public are invited to join representatives from the company to among the first to see the company’s new rehearsal studios on guided tours. Some of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s costumes and wigs will also be on display and there will be activities for all the family.
There will also be informal performances from some of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dancers and from Freefall Dance Company, an initiative created by the Birmingham Royal Ballet for highly gifted young people of school leaving age with severe learning difficulties.
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s home had remained untouched for 24 years since the Company moved from London to Birmingham in 1990. Thanks to a grant of £1.85m from Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme and the company’s own Campaign for the Future, its premises have been transformed into an accessible rehearsal facility, which welcomes the public whilst providing a 21st-century working environment for its staff.
Christopher Barron, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Chief Executive said, "the refurbished facilities will enable an increased delivery of community work in-house offering unique, first-hand experience of dance and Birmingham Royal Ballet.
"The optimal studio configuration will enhance the Company’s scope for rehearsing and staging large-scale ballet and provide outstanding facilities to attract, retain and care for elite dancers."
The open day will be on Sunday 25 January 2015 from 11AM to 4PM. Guests are asked to arrive at the company’s main entrance on Thorp Street (follow signs for Birmingham Hippodrome Stage Door).