Birmingham Royal Ballet Explained

Birmingham Royal Ballet
Founder:Dame Ninette de Valois
Founding Director:John Field
Founding Person Type:Director Laureate
Founding Person Name:Sir Peter Wright
Venue:Birmingham Hippodrome
Hurst Street, Birmingham
England, B5 4TB
Chief Executive:Caroline Miller
Director:Carlos Acosta
Assistant Director:Dominic Antonucci
Company Manager:Tristan Rusdale
Ballet Staff Type:Ballet Staff
Ballet Staff Name:Marion Tait, Patricia Tierney, Laëtitia Lo Sardo
Sister Company:The Royal Ballet
Orchestra:Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Official School:The Royal Ballet School

Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company was established in 1946 as a sister company to the earlier Sadler's Wells company, which moved to the Royal Opera House that same year, subsequently becoming known as The Royal Ballet.

The new company was formed under the direction of John Field and remained at Sadler's Wells for many years, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1977. It also toured the UK and abroad, before relocating to Birmingham in 1990, where it uses the Birmingham Hippodrome stage when performing in the city. Birmingham Royal Ballet has extensive custom-built facilities, including a suite of dance studios, the Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries and a studio theatre known as the Patrick Centre. In 1997, the Birmingham Royal Ballet became independent of The Royal Ballet in London.

History

In 1926, the Irish-born dancer Ninette de Valois founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls. Her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres, and in 1925, she engaged de Valois to stage dance performances at both venues.

Sadler's Wells reopened in 1931, and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre. These would become the predecessors of today's Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School.

In 1939, the company lost its link with the Old Vic theatre, and in 1940, Sadler's Wells theatre was bombed during World War II. These events forced the company to begin touring the country, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet. The company did return to Sadler's Wells theatre, where it stayed until 1946, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company of the newly re-opened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. The company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946, with their first production at the venue being Ninette de Valois' staging of The Sleeping Beauty.

Following the relocation of the company, the school was relocated to its own premises in 1947, and a sister company was established to continue performances at Sadler's Wells, called Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet. This sister company would become the predecessor of today's Birmingham Royal Ballet. The first Artistic Director of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet was John Field, who was later made co-director of the Royal Ballet and also worked as artistic director of La Scala Theatre Ballet and English National Ballet.

In 1955, Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet temporarily lost its link with Sadler's Wells theatre and relocated to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company.

In 1956, a royal charter was granted for both companies and the school, and they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.

The Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadler's Wells theatre in 1970, whilst continuing to tour the country. The first indication that the company would leave London came in 1987, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre. Consequently, the company relocated to Birmingham in 1990, being given its current name Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Sir Peter Wright was the company's Artistic Director from 1977 until his retirement in 1995, when David Bintley was appointed Artistic Director. In 1997, Birmingham Royal Ballet was made independent of the Royal Ballet and ceased to be managed by the Royal Opera House. In January 2019 it was announced that acclaimed Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta would succeed Bintley as artistic director in January 2020.[1]

Works performed

The company

The Birmingham Royal Ballet employs 61 dancers and a complete list as of 2024 is shown below.

The company also has an Executive, Artistic and Music staff, including the following:

Dancers

Source [4]

Principals

NameNationalityTrainingJoined BRBPromoted to
Principal
Tzu-Chao Chou Australian Ballet School20112017
Mathias DingmanKirov Academy of Ballet20062015
Samara DownsRoyal Ballet School20032016
Céline GittensGoh Ballet Academy20062016
Momoko HirataReiko Yamamoto Ballet School
Royal Ballet School		20032013
Max MaslenCentral School of Ballet20122023
Miki Mitzutani English National Ballet School20122022
Lachlan Monaghan Royal Ballet School20122023
Yaoqian Shang Royal Ballet School20132022
Tyrone SingletonTring Park School for the Performing Arts
Royal Ballet School		20032013

Principal Character Artists

First Soloists

Soloists

First Artists

Artists

Apprentices

BRB2

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Brown . Mark . Carlos Acosta to be Birmingham Royal Ballet director . 31 January 2019 . The Guardian . 15 January 2019.
  2. Web site: Acosta Danza Homepage. Acosta Danza. 9 July 2023.
  3. Web site: Paul Murphy announced as new Music Director. Birmingham Royal Ballet. 12 March 2024.
  4. Web site: Dancers and Ballet Staff . Birmingham Royal Ballet. 12 March 2024.

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