Birmingham Royal Ballet will say farewell to Principal dancer Brandon Lawrence at the end of the 2022/2023 season when he leaves to join Ballett Zürich for Cathy Marston's first season as Director.
He is currently performing in the company's tour of Swan Lake, and his final performances for BRB will be in the Still Life At the Penguin Café triple bill at the Birmingham Hippodrome from 8 – 10 June 2023.
Dancing from the age of 8, Lawrence joined the Royal Ballet School in 2006 and continued his training until he joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2011. He was promoted to Soloist in 2016, First Soloist two years later and was made Principal in 2019.
He says,
Over the last 12 years, I've been afforded a career at Birmingham Royal Ballet which has more than exceeded my expectations of myself. Being part of Sir David Bintley's and Carlos Acosta's visions, including many new creations, as well as the much-loved heritage works, has been an ongoing highlight. The time has come for me to explore a new chapter beyond Birmingham Royal Ballet which will only build on everything I've learnt from my time dancing with the company, and learning from the highly skilled people who've walked through the doors. I'm forever grateful for the countless opportunities I've been given from new creations and LEAP work to Radio and TV. It has been an honour not just to have danced with the company, but also to have been a proud ambassador.
During his career dancing with Birmingham Royal Ballet, Lawrence has been nominated for several dance awards and has created multiple roles with the company.
Carlos Acosta said,
We are sorry to see Brandon go but are excited for him in this new phase of his career. I have enjoyed working with him very much and not only is he an accomplished dancer, but also a warm-hearted person and it's been great getting to know him, as well as work with him, over the past couple of years. I wish him the very best of luck with Ballett Zürich and look forward to seeing what he does next there. Everyone at Birmingham Royal Ballet will miss him.
Lawrence added,
My partnerships with Delia Mathews, Celine Gittens and Yijing Zhang; also dancing with Tzu-Chao Chou, Yaoqian Shang, Yvette Knight and Samara Downs will all hold a special place in my heart. There have been too many favourite roles and ballets at Birmingham Royal Ballet to mention, but to name a few Romeo, Siegfried, 3rd Seminarian in Carmina Burana, Othello in The Moors Pavane and Southern Cape Zebra in Still life at the Penguin Café (which will be the final role I perform for BRB) all stick out in my memory. Most recently working with Juliano Nunez on Interlinked, Carlos on his production of Don Quixote and partnering Polina Semionova in Sir Peter Wright's Swan Lake have also been huge highlights.
Birmingham Royal Ballet will always be in my heart as the family who are in it together and there for each other.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
