David Bintley will step down as Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet on 31 July 2019, when he will have been Director of the company for 24 years, to pursue international requests to choreograph new works and to stage his ballets. Sarasota Ballet in the USA recently premièred his 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café.
Bintley said, “I’ve been a part of this great company since I first joined as a boy, forty-two years ago. I’ve had the even greater privilege of leading Birmingham Royal Ballet for the past twenty-three years, and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been a part of our wonderful ‘family’ during that time.
"Whatever the future may hold for me, I will look back on these years as being the pinnacle of my life in dance and the ones which brought me the greatest artistic and personal joy.”
BRB Chair, Professor Michael Clarke, said, "since David Bintley took over from Sir Peter Wright in 1995, he has taken Birmingham Royal Ballet from strength to strength, cementing the company’s place as the custodian of the 19th-century classics and 20th-century masterpieces. He has also ensured BRB has continued to create new works and innovate.
"The sheer breadth of his work speaks volumes. David has choreographed more than ten full-length and 12 one-act ballets for the Company. Additionally, he has commissioned a further 21 ballets by guest and company choreographers, with four more world premières due to be presented in his final season."
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s 2018/19 season will celebrate David Bintley’s choreography including The King Dances (2015), Beauty and the Beast (2003) and Hobson’s Choice (1989).
Plans for the search to appoint David Bintley’s successor will be announced shortly.