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We’re splitting up again!
But just for one tour!
Birmingham Royal Ballet are once again splitting in two, to perform simultaneously in the North East and South West of England. The tour begins on 19 April in both Durham and Yeovil, with a programme including one-act ballets performed alongside excerpts from full-length classics.
To count down the week between now and the opening night, we’ll be posting daily updates here on the tour blog, featuring some of the different works being performed.
To start us off here’s a video clip in which David Bintley and Peter Wright discuss Peter’s production work on our classical pieces. Included in video is footage of Coppélia and The Sleeping Beauty, excerpts from which are included in the programme for both the Northern and Southern tour!
Click here for details of performances in Yeovil and Truro
Click here for details of performances in Durham and York
Greetings from Sunderland and the first week of the Sleeping Beauty tour where the Company are playing to large and enthusiastic audiences. There’s no such thing as a quiet week on tour and this week has proved to be no exception – after a spot of shellac-removal from a dressing room sink yesterday afternoon (who said Company Management wasn’t glamorous?) the fun really started during Act II of last night’s show when water began dripping from the ceiling above one of the entrances to the stage.
A spot of investigation quickly revealed that the source of the problem was in the sprinkler system pump room directly above. The local crew moved swiftly into action with buckets and mops during the interval, an emergency plumber was called and we started Act III without a great deal of concern.
However, a couple of minutes into Act III as one of the guys mopping up the leak turned the valve to stop the supply of water to the leaky pipe, the entire valve (and most of the pipe it was fixed to) sheared off in his hand unleashing a significant torrent of water! Having ascertained that we were safe to carry on with the show, every spare pair of hands was enlisted to keep the water at bay as it ran through ceilings and down staircases; it was mopped, vac’d, swept out of firedoors and every spare towel and blanket was assembled to form an absorbent dam across the doorway to the stage to keep the water away from scenery, costumes and shoes.
The performance finished uninteruppted with the delighted audience completely oblivious to the drama ocurring backstage (unless they walked past the rear of the theatre on the way home and saw the water pouring out of the building!); Company and orchestra were directed out via alternative staircases and the emergency plumber had a very busy night. Everything was fixed by about 1am and by the time this afternoon’s rehearsals began, everything was dry and back to normal.
What with the significant flooding in the FOH toilets last time we were in Sunderland and the evacuation of the Cyrano Saturday matinee at Sadler’s Wells last autumn when the basement flooded, maybe we should think about getting Birmingham Royal Ballet branded wellies! Fingers crossed that the rest of the tour remains dry both outside and in!
Paul.
Birmingham Royal Ballet hit the road this week, performing The Sleeping Beauty at Sunderland Empire before continuing to Plymouth, Salford and London.
Here you can see Ambra Vallo and Mathias Dingman practicing the Bluebird pas de deux at the Company’s studios in Birmingham.
Can’t see the clip? Click here to watch it on vimeo.com
You can find out more about the tour elsewhere on this blog, or by visiting www.brb.org.uk/beauty.
Birmingham Royal Ballet perform The Sleeping Beauty at Birmingham Hippodrome this week and next, before embarking on a tour of the country that takes in Sunderland, Plymouth, Salford and London. You can find full details at www.brb.org.uk/beauty.
Here you can see a video clip of preparations for the piece, featuring Principal dancer Ambra Vallo rehearsing the Bluebird solo from Act III.
Can’t see the clip? Click here to watch it on vimeo.com
Dates for Birmingham Royal Ballet’s spring 2010 tour of The Sleeping Beauty are already on sale.
Click the venues below for links to booking details:
Birmingham Hippodrome
Wednesday 3-Saturday 13 March 2010
Sunderland Empire
Wednesday 17-Saturday 20 March 2010
Plymouth Theatre Royal
Tuesday 23-Saturday 27 March 2010
The Lowry
Tuesday 30 March-Saturday 3 April 2010
London Coliseum
Tuesday 20-Saturday 24 April 2010
See www.brb.org.uk/sleeping for further information on the production.
