Birmingham Royal Ballet is to present a new dance production, El amor es amor, at the 2025 Birmingham Pride.
El amor es amor is inspired by BRB director Carlos Acosta’s revival of the full-length ballet Don Quixote,which will return to Birmingham Hippodrome in spring 2026 and will be “reimagined to reflect the values and vibrancy of Birmingham Pride”. It will be staged by BRB’s learning, engagement, access and participation department (LEAP) in partnership with Performers College Birmingham.
Hannah MacGregor, LEAP’s access and inclusion officer, commented, “in the original story, Don Quixote sets out on a quest to find love. In our performance, the narrative focuses on a same-sex love story. El amor es amor, which means ‘love is love’ in Spanish, is set in 1977 in La Ramblas, Barcelona where the first Gay Pride in Spain took place. The piece also reflects protesters standing up for equality and celebrates individuality.”
The piece will be performed by ten first- and second-year students aged from 18 to 22 who are studying for a BA (Hons) in musical theatre and dance. They will be supported by choreographer Patsy Browne-Hope and BRB principal dancer Lachlan Monaghan.
El amor es amor will be performed as part of Birmingham Pride’s Big Free Community Event on the main stage at Smithfield Live on Friday 23 May at 7:05PM. The students will join BRB dancers and staff for the Birmingham Pride parade which starts at 12 noon on Saturday 24 May.
At 4PM, BRB’s dancers will perform live and will feature excerpts from Hostess Solo, danced by Sophie Walters, and the pas de deux danced by Ellyne Knol and Noah Cosgriff from the ballet Les Biches, Scheherazade pas de deux danced by Andrea Riolo and Ixan Llorca Ferrer and the pas de deux from Sir Peter’s Wright’s The Nutcracker danced by Reina Fuchigami and Shuailun Wu.