Ballet
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20th-Century Masterpieces At The Hippodrome
The celebration for Sir Peter Wright’s 100th birthday continued at the Birmingham Hippodrome last night with 20th-Century Masterpieces, a trio of wonderful short ballets, Frederick Ashton’s Birthday Offering, Kurt Jooss The Green Table, and George Balachine’s Theme and Variation. The three ballets were a showcase for the beauty and diversity of ballet as an art form, and I thought it was an absolutely stunning night of dance. Birthday Offering Birthday Offering dates from 1956, and was the perfect start to the evening, with the ballerinas showcased ‘pure and simple’. This is a true celebratory piece, with each ballerina having a solo dance, with the stunning Yaoqian Shang front and centre, …
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Happy 100th Birthday Sir Peter Wright
Birmingham Royal Ballet hosted a very special Gala night last night to celebrate the 100th birthday of the legendary Sir Peter Wright. The man who bought the Sadler’s Wells ballet to Birmingham, who gifted the city The Nutcracker, was honoured with a night of exhilarating ballet that celebrated his greatest achievements, and even saw Carlos Acosta return to the stage. It was an incredible night. Act One The night got off to a blistering start when the wonderful future stars of the Elmhurst Ballet School performed the Eugene Onegin Polonaise to the sheer delight of the audience. It was wonderful to see so many young talents on one stage. Act One…
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Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Don Quixote Is Magnificent.
The neverending wind and rain may have been wreaking havoc outside, but at the Birmingham Hippodrome it was all about the warm Spanish sunshine, as the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s intoxicating Don Quixote had its opening night. Carlos Acosta’s wonderful reworking of the classic ballet combines wit and passion, stirring music and the most exquisite, Flamenco inspired dance to create a masterpiece of entertainment that is warm, witty and utterly stunning. Don Quixote, the wonderful Jonathan Payne, is a simple sole who lives in a world of make believe. He believes himself to be medieval knight on a quest to serve the bridelike Lady Dulcinea, and sets off, with a fruit bowl…
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The Nutcracker – Christmas Comes To Birmingham
The Birmingham Hippodrome was once again transformed into the epitome of Christmas as the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s classic production of The Nutcracker opened last night. The ballet is always seen as the opening of Christmas in Birmingham, and, once again, it’s charm, beauty and magic thrilled the sell out audience. This year it is celebrating 35 years since it first came to Birmingham and The Nutcracker can still be described in a single word- enchanting. It is Christmas Eve and the Stahlbaum family are giving a party for family and friends. A magician Drosselmeyer is invited and gives the Stahlbaum’s oldest daughter Clara the gift of a Nutcracker. When the…
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Black Sabbath The Ballet Makes A Triumphant Return To Birmingham
Black Sabbath The Ballet made a triumphant, emotional return to the Birmingham Hippodrome last night. The incredible, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s celebration of Heavy Metal and the classic form of dance is as unique and stunning as it was at its inception two years ago. But with the death of Ozzy Osbourne this Summer, the Ballet has taken on the role of the most wonderful, poignant, and somehow fitting tribute to the man, and to Black Sabbath, the Birmingham band who invented ‘Heavy Metal’. Act One And Two Act One is entitled Heavy Metal Ballet. The routines range from the frenetic bop that is Paranoid, to the more sensuous mood of…
