Birmingham Royal Ballet announces its 2019/20 Season
10 productions, 11 venues, 127 performances, including first time collaborations with Ballet Black and newly appointed Director Carlos Acosta.
For the first time in the history of Birmingham Royal Ballet, the season has been created in partnership with leaders from across the world of dance, including Ballet Black and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s newly appointed Director Carlos Acosta, bringing fresh perspectives to the programme.
The 2019/20 season marks the transition between David Bintley‘s directorship and Carlos Acosta’s first season, which will be in 2020/21, and creates opportunities for the company to experiment with new partnerships, as well as presenting some of its best loved classics including those by Director Laureate Sir Peter Wright.
The first full-length production in the 2019/20 season is David Bintley and Galina Samsova’s production of Giselle (25 Sep – 2 Nov), followed by the return of Peter Wright’s Swan Lake (29 Jan – 4 Apr). The end of the season marks a new beginning, as new Director Carlos Acosta is welcomed by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s inaugural performances of his Don Quixote (19 – 27 Jun), which marks its first UK performances outside London. Acosta will also curate a celebratory festival at Birmingham Hippodrome and Sadler’s Wells, London in June 2020.
Two Ballet Now World Premieres
The 2019/20 season features two world premieres in the Ballet Now talent development programme. The first, by Queensland Ballet’s Jack Lister, appears alongside Cathy Marston‘s The Suit (performed by Ballet Black) and Twyla Tharp‘s tribute to ‘Old Blue Eyes’, Nine Sinatra Songs. This mixed programme will be performed in Birmingham and London (19 Sep – 30 Oct).
Jack Lister said,
I’m really looking forward to working with BRB’s incredibly talented dancers and alongside such highly respected choreographers. To be given this platform for my first international commission and to collaborate with such a truly gifted creative team is a dream come true.
Cassa Pancho, who is the Artistic Director and founder of Ballet Black added,
I’m thrilled that Ballet Black will be joining Birmingham Royal Ballet for their mixed programme in autumn 2019. It’s a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with one of the most established British ballet companies, and for our own brilliant dancers to work alongside the world-class talent at BRB.
The season’s second world premiere, choreographed by Daniela Cardim, is part of a mixed programme curated by Acosta as part of his “soon-to-be revealed festival”. This bill is completed by George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations and Goyo Montero’s Chacona.
Chacona was created for the Ballet Nacional Sodre Uruguay in 2017, set to violin, guitar and piano, and this will be its UK premiere. This mixed programme is presented at Sadler’s Wells, London (11 – 13 Jun).
Further programme announcements for the Carlos Acosta / Birmingham Royal Ballet festival will be announced soon.
The Return of The Nutcracker & Evening of Music and Dance
Wright’s acclaimed production of The Nutcracker returns to Birmingham Hippodrome for the festive season (22 Nov – 14 Dec), and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia takes centre stage for an Evening of Music and Dance (14 & 15 Feb) in Birmingham and Northampton. This popular annual gala includes well-loved gems and hidden classics selected by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conductors alongside danced excerpts from Birmingham Royal Ballet’s repertory.
Mixed Programme: New Lister | The Suit | Nine Sinatra Songs
September – October 2019
New Lister – a co-production with the Queensland Ballet
Choreographer: Jack Lister
Composer: Tom Harrold
Designer: Thomas Mika
Lighting: Alex Berlage
The Suit
Choreography: Cathy Marston
Music: Philip Feeney
Designs: Jane Heather
Lighting: David Plater
Dramaturgy: Edward Kemp
Nine Sinatra Songs
Choreography: Twyla Tharp
Songs sung by: Frank Sinatra
Scenic Design originally by: Santo Loquasto
Original costumes by: Oscar de la Renta
Lighting originally by: Jennifer Tipton
Birmingham Hippodrome
Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 September
Sadler’s Wells, London
Tuesday 29 – Wednesday 30 October
Giselle
September – October 2019
Choreography: Marius Petipa, Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, David Bintley
Music: Adolphe Adam
Production: David Bintley, Galina Samsova
Designs: Hayden Griffin
Lighting: Mark Jonathan
Birmingham Hippodrome
Wednesday 25 – Saturday 28 September
Theatre Royal Plymouth
Wednesday 23 – Friday 25 October
Sadler’s Wells, London
Friday 1 – Saturday 2 November
Peter and the Wolf
October 2019
Choreography: Ruth Brill
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Designs: Spike Kilburn
Lighting: Peter Teigen
Theatre Royal Plymouth
Saturday 26 October
The Nutcracker
November – December 2019
Choreography: Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov, Vincent Redmond
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Production: Peter Wright
Designs: John F. MacFarlane
Lighting: David A. Finn
Birmingham Hippodrome
Friday 22 November – Saturday 14 December
On sale now
Swan Lake
January – May 2020
Choreography: Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa
Music: Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Production: Peter Wright, Galina Samsova
Designs: Philip Prowse
Lighting: Peter Teigen
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
Wednesday 29 January – Saturday 1 February
On sale 30 January 2019
Birmingham Hippodrome
Wednesday 19 February – Saturday 29 February
The Lowry, Salford
Wednesday 4 – Saturday 7 March
Sunderland Empire
Thursday 12 – Saturday 14 March
Theatre Royal Plymouth
Wednesday 1 – Saturday 4 April
An Evening of Music & Dance
February 2020
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Friday 14 February, 7.30pm
Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Saturday 15 February, 7.30pm
Mixed Programme: Theme and Variations | Chacona | New Cardim
June 2020
Theme and Variations
Choreography: George Balanchine
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Designs: Peter Farmer
Lighting: Peter Teigen
Chacona
Choreography: Goyo Montero
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Costume design: Verena Hemmerlein
New Cardim
Choreographer: Daniela Cardim
Composer: Paul Englishby
Designer: April Dalton
Lighting: Peter Teigen
Sadler’s Wells, London
Thursday 11 – Saturday 13 June
Don Quixote
as part of the Carlos Acosta Festival
June 2019
Choreography: Carlos Acosta after Marius Petipa
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Arranged and orchestrated by: Martin Yates
Production: Carlos Acosta
Designs: Tim Hatley
Lighting: Hugh Vanstone
Birmingham Hippodrome
Friday 19 – Saturday 27 June
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
