Birmingham Royal Ballet is to showcase its dancers, new talent and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia in a week-long residency at the city’s Rep theatre.
The residency starts with Dance Track 25 on Sunday 8 May, featuring more than 200 former and current members of BRB’s talent development programme. It will include students of the Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst Ballet School as well as guest performances from BRB principals Céline Gittens and Brandon Lawrence.
Dance Track 25 will feature the reimagining of Dreams of a Sailor, a short ballet which BRB director Carlos Acosta recalls performing as a young ballet student in Cuba.
Acosta and members of the company will take to the Rep’s stage on Tuesday 10 May for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how the company takes a new ballet from the studio to the stage.
The event will focus on two works: Will Tuckett’s Lazuli Sky, part of a triple bill at Birmingham Hippodrome in June 2022, and Sir Peter Wright’s production of Delibes’ Coppélia which can be seen at Birmingham Hippodrome in October 2022.
“The perfect introduction to ballet and the orchestra for everyone aged four and above”, Family Music and Dance on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 May will present the 60-strong Royal Ballet Sinfonia who will take to the Rep stage to accompany BRB’s dancers as they perform highlights from Sleeping Beauty, La Fille mal gardée and other classic ballets. There will also be the Birmingham première of a new production of Cinderella which will feature students from year 12 at Elmhurst Ballet School and BRB dancers.
Acosta said, “our Music and Dance events provide the perfect opportunity to showcase our orchestra and dancers as they all take to the stage. It’s wonderful to shine a light on our musicians who are usually largely out of sight in the pit.
“The interplay of music and dance in these events creates a unique dynamic that also serves to introduce ballet to classical music fans and classical music to fans of ballet. It is, purely and simply, a wonderful way to spend an afternoon or evening with young family members and friends.”
Full details of the residency are available at the Birmingham Royal Ballet web site.