Birmingham Royal Ballet, sister of the Royal Ballet in London, will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2015 to mark the company's rebirth and its move to the Midlands. The celebrations will include performances at the London Coliseum in March and 2015 will also mark David Bintley’s 20th anniversary as Director.
The company will present an unmissable double bill during a limited season in London, staging Carmina Burana, the revival of Bintley’s highly acclaimed large-scale production which was the first piece he made for the company in 1995. The other performance is Serenade, the 1934 piece made for students of the School of American Ballet by one of Bintley’s personal heroes, George Balanchine. Bintley’s breathtaking choreography for Carmina burana is inspired by the satirical writings of medieval priests. The Royal Ballet Sinfonia and English National Opera Chorus will perform with the company giving audiences a rare opportunity to witness the most spectacular piece in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s repertoire. The production hasn’t been seen in the capital since its premiere at the Royal Opera House in 1996.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBwZCDeduAU
Serenade was Balanchine’s first ballet to be performed in America and was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s 1880 Serenade for Strings. It was created in the 1930s when there were virtually no men dancing so it’s predominantly a ballet for women and is the opposite of the English tradition which is far more rooted in theatre, narrative and theme work. Balanchine favoured pure dance and used his responses with a wide variety of music.
It is an exciting time for this much-loved British company; under the ever creative Bintley, Birmingham Royal Ballet continues to stage top quality productions whether it is classical repertoire, new work, collaborations or intimate performances. Birmingham Royal Ballet ensures that ballet moves onwards while retaining strong roots in the classics, moving boundaries of what’s expected of a ballet company and delighting loyal audiences while developing stellar careers within the company.