Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Don Quixote Is Coming To Birmingham

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s newest production, Don Quixote, is set to open at the Birmingham Hippodrome next week, promising to bring a show for all the family. As a ballet fan, I am totally excited about this production, as it’s not a ballet that I have seen in all my years following dance, so promises to be something new and fresh, and, as it is a long time favourite of BRB director Carlos Acosta, ballet fans know they are in for a real treat.

He said in a recent interview with the Hippodrome’s Diane Parkes:-

“Don Quixote is the best ballet to attend if you are not a ballet connoisseur,” Carlos says. “If you don’t know anything about ballet this is a great chance to learn something about it by watching Don Quixote. It appeals to family audiences, it is great for children because the story is easy to follow.

“It’s very sunny and people will laugh a lot. The world of ballet is so full of tragedies, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet etcetera, they are all tragedies but in Don Quixote nobody dies, it’s a happy tale. 

“The ballet is very exotic, it provides escapism into this amazing world of colour and the music has an amazing Spanish flavour.  When it’s raining and cold then you want to come and see Don Quixote because it’s a sunshine ballet. It’s a great show – when you’ve seen it, you leave on a high.”

Of course, the story of Don Quixote is not new. It was created by renowned choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus in 1869 and has been a successful, much loved ballet ever since, but this version is one that is new for the Birmingham Royal Ballet, a twist on his own version that he created in 2014, and something he wanted to bring to Birmingham since taking over the company in 2020, just before the pandemic hit. Carlos also takes into account the touring production, and how this can be be bought to smaller theatres too.

“For this new production, I wanted to give it a completely new take and a new look to the one that I gave to the Royal Ballet so that Birmingham has its own. It’s a new production with new concept and designs, re-orchestration, new elements of the choreography, new colours, a whole new palette.

“This one is lighter and much more tourable than the Royal Ballet Don Quixote. Predominantly Birmingham Royal Ballet is a touring company so this has to be able to fit comfortably in smaller spaces like Plymouth and Southampton that we normally tour to. But at the same time it feels grand and lush and beautifully up to date. It’s lighter and easier to move but it is still an amazing production.”

With the curtain almost ready to rise, the excitement amongst ballet fans is almost palpable. Ballet is back, in all its wonderful glory, and the Birmingham Royal Ballet is once again at the forefront.

* Birmingham Royal Ballet performs Don Quixote at the Birmingham Hippodrome from 18 – 26 February, see birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000 for more information and tickets.

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