Birmingham Royal Ballet – Autumn delights: La fille mal gardée & The Nutcracker – London & Birmingham
★★★★✰ I look forward to the changes inevitably coming to BRB, but I can’t believe any new director will turn their back on such repertoire gems as La fille mal gardee and their Peter Wright Nutcracker.
Leo Butler, Roxana Silbert and Rosie Kay – Woyzeck – Birmingham
★★★✰✰ As Woyzeck productions go this was rather different featuring just two professional actors, supported by a community company of over 80 who supplied the other named roles but for the most part super-colourful reality and dancing. For me, it’s their show and the big reason to see the staging.
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Coppelia and Three Short Story Ballets – Bristol and Birmingham
★★★✰✰ I went to Bristol to catch Coppelia and the specific lead casting of Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton – who have now totally transitioned from being rising stars to fully risen Principals.
Rosie Kay Dance Company – MK Ultra – Birmingham
★★★✰✰ Overall I came away impressed by an intelligent multimedia show that really makes you think about your views and how they have been influenced by what you see and hear…
Rosie Kay on her new MK Ultra – exploring the world of conspiracy theory and the Illuminati
Not heard of the Illuminati and the New World Order? Read on for a fascinating take on alternative news and brainwashing… and also a terrific record of just how a piece of dance gets created.
Birmingham Royal Ballet – The Tempest (premiere) – Birmingham
★★★✰✰ In a nutshell Bintley’s Tempest is a visual triumph but feels slight choreographically and you’d be well advised to mug up on the story before seeing it.
Rosie Kay Dance Company – Double Points: K, Motel – Birmingham
★★★★✰ Motel is a gem… An award-winning company in great creative form.
David Bintley, choreographer and director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, on his latest work – The Tempest
David Bintley, director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, is a prolific choreographer and just about to unveil his latest full evening work – The Tempest. Graham Watts went to talk to him about a work, that after 30 years of consideration, has found its time and proper custom score…
Book – Peter Wright: Wrights and Wrongs – my life in dance
His is an insider’s account, complete with waspish comments and cameos of the famous people he encountered…
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Wink, The Moor’s Pavane, The Shakespeare Suite – Birmingham
★★★✰✰ Jessica Lang’s Wink is an attractive piece, well designed and well made with a clear structure.
Birmingham Royal Ballet: Taming of the Shrew (Birmingham) and Northern Ballet: Jane Eyre (Leicester)
★★★✰✰ for BRB’s troublesome fun packed Taming of the Shrew and ★★★★✰ Northern Ballet’s Jane Eyre with Hannah Bateman in the lead…
International Dance Festival Birmingham 2016 – Ballet BC, Shun Ito/Kei Miyata/EEIH, Motionhouse & free events
★★★✰✰ IDFB is great for Birmingham and I hope those in and around the city filled their boots.
Hofesh Shechter Company at IDFB – Political Mother – Birmingham
★★★★✰ Hofesh Shechter created Political Mother in 2010 as a rebuke to totalitarianism and oppressive propaganda.
Carlos Acosta at IDFB – A Classical Farewell – Birmingham
★★★★✰ Winks, finger wags, flamboyant leaps in a criminally short leather skirt – Carlos Acosta gives the people what they want in this winsome bill, a mix of variations he’s assembled to mark his retirement after more than 25 years on stage.
David Massingham on International Dance Festival Birmingham – now running (May 2016)
International Dance Festival Birmingham is back for a fifth time, running now (1 – 22 May 2016) and larger than ever we think. To find out more we did an email interview with David Massingham – Co-Artistic Director of IDFB…
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Ashton bill: The Dream, A Month in the Country – Birmingham
★★★✰✰ When I think of Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) under David Bintley I think of tradition with a capital T and the latest double bill underlines that in spades.
