
International Draft Works 2019 – Royal Opera House, London
★★★★✰ All ten pieces on show were strong, considered commissions, and more than half came from female choreographers – a heartening boost for this male-saturated field.

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Fire and Fury: The King Dances, Ignite – London
★★★✰✰ David Bintley, who steps down as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet at the end of the 2018/2019 season, describes the current double bill as ‘two ballets fuelled by power and politics’.

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Aladdin – London
★★★✰✰ Aladdin never fully finds its feet, but there’s a lot to like about the show, from the cheery group numbers to the striking visuals.

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Arcadia (premiere), Wink – Cheltenham
★★★✰✰ The South tour is particularly interesting this year because it features a new piece by Ruth Brill, a first artist within the company, and this is her first major commission.

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…

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Shakespeare midscale tour: Wink, Three pas de deux, The Moor’s Pavane – Durham
★★★✰✰ “… Wink is a 4 star piece. We need to see more of Jessica Lang’s work…”

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Swan Lake – London
Opening night cast of Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton reviewed + some thoughts on Delia Mathews and Brandon Lawrence…

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Swan Lake (Mathews and Lawrence) – Birmingham
Some partnership work because the dancers are so different and others, as here, work because they share a style and approach – unaffected, nuanced, true and richly musical.

Birmingham Royal Ballet – La Fin du jour, Miracle in the Gorbals, Flowers of the Forest – London
Gillian Lynne has made Helpmann and Benthall’s wartime collaboration into a gutsy dramatic ballet, probably with more choreography than Helpmann attempted.

Birmingham Royal Ballet – End of season promotions, leavers and joiners
BRB Promotions, Joiners and Leavers…

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Coppelia and Mid-scale Tour – Birmingham, High Wycombe
Birmingham Royal Ballet are busy at the moment – we catch up with them touring a mixed bill, and at home in Coppelia – happy times…

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Cinderella – Birmingham
As a young partnership Delia Mathews and Tyrone Singleton really are exceptionally good.