Ballet
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Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty
The Birmingham Royal Ballet returned to its home city this week with a spellbinding performance of Sleeping Beauty. Transforming the Birmingham Hippodrome stage into a Georgian setting fit for royalty, the dancers of the BRB created a magical and enthralling fairy tale that had just the right amount of menace and spice. We all know the story of the Princess Aurora, gifted every one of life’s advantages by a stream of beautiful fairies. This was represented in a series of solo dances representing modesty, honour, joy, and, of course, beauty. The mood is bright and beautiful, full of sparkle and light. Unfortunately, no one invited the dark Fairy, Carabosse, and…
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Christmas Magic with The Nutcracker
Christmas really came to town in Birmingham on Friday with the opening night of The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky’s yuletide classic at the Birmingham Hippodrome. A full house for the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production showed that this evergreen classic shows no sign of losing its ability to enchant, with this particular production stunning in both dance and visually through the incredible sets. The Nutcracker tells the story of a wonderful family Christmas Eve, with the initial scenes dominated by a wonderful Christmas tree. This is a picture box Victorian Christmas scene, one that could’ve come from a Christmas card, or the top of a quality street tin, the tableaux is so vivid…
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BRB2 Carlos Acosta’s Classic Selection
Birmingham Royal Ballet tried something new and exciting this afternoon in a new venue, as the BRB2 – Carlos Acosta’s selection entertained a packed house at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. This venture was a chance to see some new, fresh dancers just starting what should be illustrious careers, in a glorious showcase featuring some much loved dances, with a few very special guests offering their support, including Celine Gittens and Ryan Felix. The whole feel of this show was a brilliant introduction to ballet for those attending for the very first time, and a real treat for everyone else too. The showcase started cleverly showing the dancers warming up at…