[Photo Album] World premiere Black Sabbath – The Ballet
Saturday 23 September 2023, Birmingham Hippodrome
world premiere
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Black Sabbath – The Ballet
Director Carlos Acosta
Original Music Black Sabbath; Music Consultant Tony Iommi
Lead Composer and Music Supervisor Christopher Austin
Lead Choreographer and Artistic Director Pontus Lidberg
Dramaturg Richard Thomas
Designer Alexandre Arrechea
Lighting Designer K.J
Sound Designer Marko Nyberg
Metal Curator Lisa Meyer
Black Sabbath forged their unique sound in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s home city. In Black Sabbath – The Ballet expect a spectacular theatrical evening featuring thrilling dance alongside full orchestrations of legendary Black Sabbath tracks such as Paranoid and Iron Man, as well as new orchestral works inspired by their music – all performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
Act I: Heavy Metal Ballet
Composers Marko Nyberg, Christopher Austin
Choreographer Raúl Reinoso
Orchestrator Ben Foskett
Arrangements and Additional Orchestration Joshua Hickin
Featuring: War Pigs, Iron Man, Solitude, Paranoid
Reina Fuchigami, Maïlène Katoch, Hannah Martin, Beatrice Parma, Matilde Rodrigues, Yaoqian Shang, Eilis Small, Lucy Waine, Enrique Bejarano Vidal, Kit Holder, Jack Easton, Gus Payne, Ryan Felix, Eric Pinto Cata, Thomas Hazelby, Javier Rojas, Yaoqian Shang, Tzu-Chao Chou.
Guitarist Marc Hayward
Act II: The Band
Composer & Orchestrator Sun Keting
Choreographer Cassi Abranches
Featuring: Black Sabbath, Orchid, Planet Caravan, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Rosanna Ely, Tessa Hogge, Regan Hutsell, Frieda Kaden, Ava May Llewellyn, Matilde Rodrigues, Gabriel Anderson, Jack Eastonù, Ryan Felix, Kit Holder, Oscar Kempsey-Fagg, Mason King, Regan Hutsell, Céline Gittens, Tyrone Singleton.
Singer Lachlan Monaghan
Act III: Everybody is a Fan
Composer & Orchestrator Christopher Austin
Choreographer Pontus Lidberg
Featuring: Iron Man, Black Sabbath, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, War Pigs, Paranoid, Laguna Sunrise
Céline Gittens, Momoko Hirata, Miki Mizutani, Eilis Small, Lucy Waine, Tzu-Chao Chou, Shuailun Wu, Riku Ito, Lachlan Monaghan, Tyrone Singleton, Momoko Hirata, Tzu-Chao Chou, Riku Ito, and the full cast,
Guitarist Marc Hayward
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Conductor Christopher Austin
Leader Robert Gibbs
Timings
Act I 30 minutes; Act II 30 minutes; Act III 30 minutes
World Premiere
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 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.
