2013 Split tour tweets: TeamNorth vs TeamSouth

May 11, 2013 in UK | Tags: | by | Leave a comment

Our split tour has already had an additionally competitive edge this year, with many members of the Company taking to twitter to champion TeamNorth or TeamSouth.

Here’s a peek at what they’ve been tweeting so far, including some behind-the-scenes pics:

Team North:

Team South:

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s split tour continues this month:

Theatre Royal Nottingham 10 – 11 May 2013
York Theatre Royal 14 – 15 May 2013
Durham Gala 17 – 18 May 2013
Buxton Opera House 21 – 22 May 2013

Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham 10 – 11 May 2013
The Lighthouse, Poole 14 – 15 May 2013
Hall for Cornwall 17 – 18 May 2013
Swan Theatre, High Wycombe 21 – 22 May 2013

Hello from Nottingham!

May 10, 2013 in UK | Tags: | by | Leave a comment

It’s Friday afternoon and the jazz band are just striking up the first chords of Take Five to herald the start of our stage rehearsal for the north-east split tour!

It’s been a great 36 hours at the Theatre Royal – a venue that the Company hasn’t visited since its Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet days. Marion and Henry have been reminiscing over previous visits but most of the Company are visiting for the first time.

It’s a real treat to be starting the tour here – it’s a lovely theatre; great stage, beautiful auditorium and loads of space backstage. All of the staff are very friendly and welcoming, too; the get-in went very smoothly and everyone is looking forward to getting the tour underway!

Paul Grist,
Company Manager, Northern leg of the 2013 split tour.

Virginia 2013 casting

April 11, 2013 in USA | by | Leave a comment

Birmingham Royal Ballet is heading back to America this week, to perform Coppélia at the Virginia Arts Festival.

Here you can see Principal casting for the performances, which take place at Chrysler Hall, Norfolk:

Friday 19th (matinee)
Swanilda: Maureya Lebowitz
Franz: Joseph Caley
Dr. Coppélius: Valentin Olovyannikov

Friday 19th (evening)
Swanilda: Nao Sakuma
Franz: Chi Cao
Dr. Coppélius: Michael O’Hare

Saturday 20th (evening)
Swanilda: Carol-Anne Millar
Franz: Jamie Bond
Dr. Coppélius: Rory Mackay

Sunday 21st (matinee)
Swanilda: Ambra Vallo
Franz: Tyrone Singleton
Dr. Coppélius: Jonathan Payn

Photo: Andrew Ross

Photo: Andrew Ross

#MagicCarpetTour – PLYMOUTH ROCKS!

March 7, 2013 in UK | Tags: , , , | by | Leave a comment

Above: Dancers in Plymouth outside TR2, before morning class; photo: Jonathan Caguioa

Last night was our first performance of Aladdin in Theatre Royal Plymouth, and we were absolutely bowled over by the audience response!

A number of dancers took to twitter to thank the audience for their support, including Steven Monteith, Tzu-Chao Chou, Kristen McGarrity, Lachlan Monaghan and Céline Gittens – click each name to see their thank you messages!

Company Manager Paul Grist also commented: “The audience in Plymouth are always brilliant, but they really were amazing last night. Their warmth and support really lifted the whole performance, and the whole Company were on a real high, feeding off that energy.”

Enormous thanks must also go the venue staff – While there is extensive building and renovation work going on at the theatre, they’ve ensured that this has had minimal impact on our visit.

Again, Paul explained this morning: “They’d liaised with us a long time ago to let us know what would be happening and how they’d be dealing with any issues, and in actual fact it’s been nothing like as disruptive as we were anticipating. As usual, the whole team at Plymouth Theatre Royal has worked seamlessly, and I can’t praise them highly enough.”

Springtime in Salford!

February 28, 2013 in UK | by | Leave a comment

Emily Withers is a cultural intern working with Birmingham Royal Ballet, and has currently written blog posts for us from Plymouth and London. Here she writes from The Lowry, Salford, during the week of the Company’s first touring performances of Aladdin:

The sun is shining gloriously upon Salford, and given its location overlooking the waterfront, the glittering water has truly become a feast for the eyes.

For the tour back in the autumn, the internship began the week after the company had been to Salford, so I’m glad I’ve been granted the opportunity to visit Greater Manchester before it finishes!

I’m currently in the ‘Company office’: a dressing room equipped with a fully working fridge, a fan and a monitor displaying the various ongoing activities on the stage; at the moment the dancers are taking their daily morning class on the stage, but at other times there are rehearsals, stage and lighting work going on, as well as the performances themselves.

The Lowry has two theatres: the Quays and the Lyric, and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Aladdin is being performed in the Lyric, the larger of the two. Its neighbouring attractions include MediaCity and the Imperial War Museum North, although I highly doubt I’ll have ample time to visit such places!

It’s great being out on tour again, and considering that this is how I began the internship there is a certain symmetry that makes it easier to see how much I’ve settled in during the six months, the skills I’ve learnt and all that I’ve discovered whilst working for a ballet company. There is now a familiarity with staff and a confidence in my responsibilities that allow a different kind of ease and enjoyment each day.

The project I’m currently working on is the compilation of the blue book for the Company’s upcoming trip to Virginia in April, whilst continuing to do ongoing daily tasks required for the current tour, such as updating the cast sheets ready for publication, managing general enquiries, and just absorbing the feel and workings of a new theatre!

This afternoon I will be covering the show, which involves being present in the foyer before the start of each act, for each curtain-up in case anything goes wrong, and also be responsible for ticket allocation for the ballet staff.

Backstage at The Lowry this week

This evening I’m watching the ballet. It’s been great having the opportunity to watch a performance in every theatre we’ve visited. I like the idea of ticking each one off a list. Each time I watch one of the ballets it’s an alternate cast, which makes a surprising difference and adds a real freshness, especially the more I’ve gotten to recognise individual dancers simply by the way they dance, and the signature they create. My eyesight isn’t the best, so to simply be able to recognise dancers through their movements is a rather helpful practice.

I’m heading back to Birmingham tomorrow, so the trip has felt surprisingly short, but very pleasant nonetheless. The initial friendliness and warmth I was shown by the dancers and staff when I first started has only grown as time has gone by and I can now honestly say that I very much feel part of the company now, and have been fortunate enough to work with many wonderful people.

The Aladdin score by Carl Davis is often playing in the background in the office, a gentle reminder of why we’re in Salford. I trust that the show will be received well and that it will be a mighty success!

Here’s to Plymouth next week…

All 2013 split tour dates now on sale

January 11, 2013 in UK | by | 1 comment

All dates are now on sale for the 2013 split tour, which sees half of the Company head to the North East of England while the other half heads to the South West.

Click on the dates and venues below to book!

NE2013

Theatre Royal Nottingham 10 – 11 May 2013
York Theatre Royal 14 – 15 May 2013
Durham Gala 17 – 18 May 2013
Buxton Opera House 21 – 22 May 2013

This breathtaking programme presents a work from Birmingham Royal Ballet’s award-winning Director, Take Five alongside Broadway master Joe Layton’s The Grand Tour, and thrilling excerpts from some of the world-famous classics with which Birmingham Royal Ballet has made its name.

You see preview clips of two of these pieces here:




SW2013

Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham 10 – 11 May 2013
The Lighthouse, Poole 14 – 15 May 2013
Hall for Cornwall 17 – 18 May 2013
Swan Theatre, High Wycombe 21 – 22 May 2013

In the South East we present Pineapple Poll, by the great British choreographer John Cranko, alongside US- Jessica Lang’s beautiful Lyric Pieces. The programme is completed by excerpts from the full-length classics that have brought the Company such acclaim around the world.

You can see previews of two pieces from the programme here:


A Capital Adventure!

October 25, 2012 in Uncategorized | by | Leave a comment

Emily Withers (BRB’s Cultural Intern) writes her thoughts about her week’s experiences from the Company’s temporary office in Sadler’s Wells Theatre……

We are now halfway through the penultimate leg of the tour and BRB are currently taking up residence in Sadler’s Wells theatre aka ‘London’s Dance House’. The majority of dancers and several of the company’s staff arrived in the misty, rain-drenched capital on Monday afternoon after a rather warm, sleep-inducing coach journey.

Sadler’s Wells theatre is always looking to commission fresh, innovative work and BRB’s two triple bills (Opposites Attract and Autumn Celebration) certainly fulfil those specifications.

It has been a successful start to the week and on Wednesday evening the curtain went down on the first of our two shows as the final performance of Opposites Attract came to an end. With the opening performance of Autumn Celebration tonight (which I am very privileged to be going to see), I am convinced we will have an equally favourable performances in the next two days, especially after having seen the dress rehearsal!!

This is the week in the tour I have been most looking forward to for two specific reasons. Firstly, I simply love London. I cannot imagine spending a single moment in this city at a loss for what to do, and it is always great to see friends and family and catch the odd show (in between work of course).

Secondly, Sadler’s Wells Theatre share a significant history with BRB in that it housed the Vic-Wells ballet from 1931 to 1940, a company that after going through various changes eventually became the BRB we know and love today. Due to this reason, I was very eager to see the theatre (even after its sixth renovation).

Yesterday I attended a couple of meetings alongside Paul Grace (Technical Director), Peter Teigen (Lighting Design Consultant) and Johnny Westall-Eyre (Head of Lighting); the first of which was at London Coliseum (well more accurately it was conducted in Café Neros, which is rather conveniently positioned next door). The purpose of the meeting was to consolidate the technical schedule for the forthcoming season of David Bintley’s Aladdin, which we are taking to the Coliseum in March next year. (As an aside: I did however get to experience a swift tour of the theatre, which is the largest in the UK and it has arguably the most beautiful auditorium I have ever seen).

We went from there onto the Royal Opera House, who are commissioned by BRB to create the set, costumes and props for Aladdin, along with other upcoming productions.

I was fortunate enough to be able to go behind the scenes and discover the untold delights of their Props workshop room, a treasure trove which Paul Grace has fondly termed ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ for many years, which has now quite literally become the case. Seeing the work for the set that has already been undertaken and pairing that with David Bintley’s choreography I can only imagine the show will be nothing short of spectacular.

I’m heading back to Birmingham tomorrow morning, and I cannot believe how swiftly this week has flown by.

Here’s to the final leg in Cardiff next week!!

Tweeting Faster

October 24, 2012 in UK | Tags: , | by | Leave a comment

Birmingham Royal Ballet performs the Olympic-inspired Faster in London this week, and Cardiff next week, as part of our Autumn Celebration triple bill.

The piece is choreographed by our own Director, David Bintley, with a score composed by Matthew Hindson. Matthew is a prolific tweeter, and we collected his tweets during preparations for the premiere in Birmingham this summer. You can see them here, along with some additional tweets from the Company:

We dance Faster as part of Autumn Celebration, along with The Grand Tour and The Dream.
Click here to book for Autumn Celebration at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.
Click here to book for Autumn Celebration at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

Backstage at The Dream

October 23, 2012 in UK | Tags: | by | Leave a comment

We’ve recently posted a series of galleries on Facebook, showing various ballets in our repertory from the point of view of a dancer in the wings. You can see them by clicking here.

Among the pieces featured is Frederick Ashton’s The Dream, which Birmingham Royal Ballet performs this week in London and next week in Cardiff. Click each location for booking details.

Here we’ve posted a set of images not included in our Dream wings gallery, showing dancers waiting backstage. Taken by Andrew Ross during a performance of the ballet earlier in 2012, this is the first time that these photographs have been published.

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We dance The Dream as part of Autumn Celebration, along with The Grand Tour and our Olympics-inspired ballet, Faster.
Click here to book for Autumn Celebration at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.
Click here to book for Autumn Celebration at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

Half a tour of tweets

October 19, 2012 in UK | by | Leave a comment

Various members of Birmingham Royal Ballet have been tweeting from backstage since the season began last month. Posting photos and updates, we’ve heard how things have been going in Salford, Birmingham, Plymouth and Sunderland.

Here’s a selection of our favourites. If you’re on twitter yourself and would like to follow those of us on there, you’ll find a handy list of Company tweeters here.

https://twitter.com/kbird_mg/status/248514076832038913/photo/1

You can follow Birmingham Royal Ballet on twitter here: @BRB

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