Birmingham Royal Ballet celebrates the birth of Frederick Ashton
Birmingham Royal Ballet will mark 120 years since the birth of Frederick Ashton with two productions celebrating the great choreographer and founder of the Royal Ballet companies.
Marking the beginning of a new season, this autumn BRB will present Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée at Birmingham Hippodrome (25-28 September 2024), Theatre Royal Plymouth (10-12 October) and London’s Sadler’s Wells (25-26 October). The season marks the first time La Fille mal gardée has been presented by BRB under the directorship of Carlos Acosta, who, for many, is one of the definitive interpreters of Colas in this sunny, funny and effervescent ballet.
Ashton Classics (15 Feb 2025) will celebrate the choreographer’s celebrated works with excerpts from popular favourites such as The Dream, Enigma Variations and A Month in the Country – the foundations of the British ballet repertory at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.
Acosta said:
The impact and importance of the great Frederick Ashton on the ballet world is immense. As founder of the Royal Ballet companies, it is a pleasure to honour his contribution by presenting what has to be one of his most popular and beloved works, La Fille mal gardée, for the first time since I took on the role of Director.
Returning to Birmingham’s beautiful Symphony Hall, we continue with celebrating Ashton’s contribution to ballet with Ashton Classics, presenting some of the highlights from a collection of great ballet works accompanied on stage by our great Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
For more information visit brb.org.uk.
La Fille mal gardée
25 – 28 September 2024, Birmingham Hippodrome (PN 25/9)
10 – 12 October 2024, Theatre Royal Plymouth
25 – 26 October 2024, Sadler’s Wells London (PN 25/10)
Ashton Classics
15 February 2025, Symphony Hall, Birmingham
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.
