- BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET RETURNS TO BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME THIS AUTUMN WITH A CONTEMPORARY TRIPLE BILL, INTO THE MUSIC AND THE MUCH LOVED COPPÉLIA
- THE TRIPLE BILL’S BIRMNGHAM PREMIERE INCLUDES JIRI KYLIAN’S FORGOTTEN LAND, THE UK PREMIERE OF UWE SCHOLZ’S BEETHOVEN’S THE SEVENTH SYMPHONY, AND NEW COMMISSION CHOREOGRAPHED BY MORGANN RUNACRE-TEMPLE WITH NEW MUSIC BY MIKAEL KARLSSON, HOTEL
Following Birmingham Royal Ballet’s critically acclaimed season of Carlos Acosta’s new production of Don Quixote in Birmingham earlier this year, the Company returns to Birmingham Hippodrome from 21-22 October to delight audiences with the premiere of the triple bill, Into The Music. Celebrating the marriage of music and movement, it has been an ambition of BRB’s Director Carlos Acosta to stage Into The Music since he announced his first season just before the pandemic. The programme showcases neo-classical and contemporary ballets, celebrated international choreographers rarely seen in the UK, BRB’s orchestra the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, and the fresh direction Carlos Acosta is setting for Birmingham Royal Ballet.
The programme brings together international artists from across the world and features UK and world premieres and rarely seen work. It showcases The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s permanent orchestra, which is also Britain’s busiest ballet orchestra. The Sinfonia frequently also plays for The Royal Ballet and other leading ballet companies, including the Paris Opera Ballet, the Kirov, New York City Ballet, Australian Ballet and more.
The triple bill opens with Jiří Kylián’s magnificent Forgotten Land which illustrates why Kylián is one of the most revered choreographers of the 20th century, with a gripping journey into memory and loss set to Benjamin Britten’s magnificent Sinfonia da Requiem. A work in which all of the choreography derives directly from the music, Britten, who grew up in East Anglia surrounded by the sea, dedicated the composition to his parents. Kylián has therefore used the idea of the everlasting presence of the ocean as a life-giving and life-taking force, as a main theme for his choreography. He also took inspiration from Edward Munch’s painting Dance of Life, in which the woman in three stages of her life is clearly present, echoing the three sections of the music.
Next, choreographer Morgann Runacre-Temple and composer Mikael Karlsson team up for the world premiere of a Ballet Now commission Hotel offering a surreal journey into the secrets and lies that live behind closed doors. Morgann will work with her collaborative partner Jessica Wright to bring their experience in film to create a playfully interactive, multimedia live performance using pre-recorded and live camera work projected onto the scenery. The performers will interact with the on-stage cameras which themselves drive the narrative; they are characters in themselves, allowing audiences behind the doors of the Hotel and into the secret lives of the occupants. Hotel features Stage Design by rising star Sami Fendall, for which she won the Linbury Prize, and brand new composition from Mikael Karlsson, whose music has been performed in concert halls, opera halls and at festivals across the globe. Karlson has released over twenty albums with works for orchestra, chamber works and soundtracks ranging from pop and film music to sound collages, dance scores and avant-garde concert music.
And to close, a work by the late and prolific German choreographer Uwe Scholz. Scholz choreographed more than 100 choreographic works for major companies and venues before his untimely death in 2004. He worked regularly with classical repertoire – and never more dramatically than in his setting of Beethoven’s vibrant The Seventh Symphony, famously described by Wagner as ‘the apotheosis (pinnacle) of the dance’.
Carlos Acosta said: ‘We were delighted to bring our Don Quixote to packed houses at Birmingham Hippodrome and cannot wait to return later this year with our ambitious triple bill Into The Music. It’s been my ambition to programme this triple bill ever since I joined the company and it will showcase some of the most important contemporary and classic choreographers as well as UK and world premieres, so I’m very excited to share it with Birmingham audiences.’
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Autumn Season at Birmingham Hippodrome continues from 26-29 October.with the return of Coppélia.
Love conquers all in Sir Peter Wright’s joyous classic brought back to the stage by Birmingham Royal Ballet for the first time in five years, with Léo Delibes’ glorious score performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
When eccentric toymaker Dr Coppélius leaves his greatest creation, the doll Coppélia, on his workshop balcony, she’s soon causing quite a stir in the village. Comic chaos is unleashed as Dr Coppélius tries to bring Coppélia to life in this timeless classic.
Tickets are on sale now from https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com