Birmingham Royal Ballet

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Birmingham Royal Ballet
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General information
Name Birmingham Royal Ballet
Previous names
  • Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet
  • Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet
  • Royal Ballet Touring Group
Year founded 1946 (1946)
Founders Dame Ninette de Valois
Founding Artistic Director John Field
Director Laureate Sir Peter Wright
Principal venue Birmingham Hippodrome
Hurst Street
Birmingham
England, B5 4TB
 UK
Website brb.org.uk
Senior staff
Chief Executive Christopher Barron
Director David Bintley, CBE
Assistant Director Marion Tait
Company Manager Paul Grist
Ballet Staff Michael O'Hare, Dominic Antonucci, Wolfgang Stollwitzer
Other
Sister company The Royal Ballet
Orchestra Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Official school Elmhurst School for Dance
Formation
  • Principal Guest Artist
  • Principal
  • First Soloist
  • Soloist
  • First Artist
  • Artist

Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the four major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet and the Scottish Ballet.[1] Founded in 1946 as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company was established under the direction of John Field, as a sister company to the earlier Sadler's Wells company, which moved to the Royal Opera House. The new company remained at Sadler's Wells for many years, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. It also toured the UK and abroad, before relocating to Birmingham in 1990, as the resident ballet company of the Birmingham Hippodrome. In 1997, the Birmingham Royal Ballet became independent of the Royal Ballet in London. As a resident company, Birmingham Royal Ballet has extensive custom-built facilities, including a suite of dance studios, the Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries and a studio theatre known as the Patrick Centre. In 2002, the need for Birmingham Royal Ballet to have its own school led to a new association with Elmhurst School for Dance, which is now its official ballet school.

History

In 1926, the Irish-born dancer Ninette de Valois founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls. Her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres and in 1925 she engaged de Valois to stage dance performances at both venues.

Sadler's Wells reopened in 1931 and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre. These would become the predecessors of today's Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School.

In 1939, the company lost its link with the Old Vic theatre and, in 1940, Sadler's Wells theatre was bombed during World War II. These events forced the company to begin touring the country, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet. The company did return to Sadler's Wells theatre, where it stayed until 1946, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company of the newly re-opened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. The company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946, with their first production at the venue being Ninette de Valois' staging of The Sleeping Beauty.

Birmingham Royal Ballet performing E=MC2 in Tokyo in 2011

Following the relocation of the company the school was relocated to its own premises in 1947 and a sister company was established to continue performances at Sadler's Wells, called Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet. This sister company would become the predecessor of today's Birmingham Royal Ballet. The first Artistic Director of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet was John Field, who was later made co-director of the Royal Ballet and also worked as artistic director of La Scala Theatre Ballet and English National Ballet.

In 1955, Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet temporarily lost its link with Sadler's Wells theatre and relocated to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company.

In 1956, a Royal Charter was granted for both companies and the school and they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.

The Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadler's Wells theatre in 1970, whilst continuing to tour the country. The first indication that the company would leave London came in 1987, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre. Consequently, the company relocated to Birmingham in 1990, being given its current name Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Sir Peter Wright remained as the company's Artistic Director and held the post until his retirement in 1995, when the current Artistic Director, David Bintley was appointed. In 1997, Birmingham Royal Ballet was made independent of the Royal Ballet and ceased to be managed by the Royal Opera House.

As an independent ballet company, Birmingham Royal Ballet no longer has official links with the Royal Ballet or Royal Ballet School. To further establish its reputation as a separate entity, in 2002, it began a new relationship with the Elmhurst School for Dance, which is now its official associate school. Elmhurst is the oldest established vocational dance school in the United Kingdom, and was previously based in Camberley, Surrey. It relocated to premises in Edgbaston, Birmingham in 2004, becoming known as Elmhurst School for Dance, in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Works performed

Dancers

Principals

Name Nationality Training Joined BRB Promoted to
Principal		 Information
Jamie Bond [2]  United Kingdom Royal Ballet School 2003 2009 The Royal Ballet, 2002–2003
Eurovision Young Dancers – Finalist (Great Britain), 2001
Young British Dancer of the Year – Winner, 2000
Joseph Caley [3]  United Kingdom Royal Ballet School 2005 2011
Chi Cao [4]  United Kingdom Beijing Dance Academy
Royal Ballet School		 1995 2002 Varna International Ballet Competition – Gold Medal, 1998

Star of the film Mao's Last Dancer

Australian Inside Film Award 2010 Nominees for best actor
Mathias Dingman [5]  United Kingdom Kirov Academy of Ballet 2006 2015
Momoko Hirata [6]  Japan Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School
Royal Ballet School		 2003 2013
Iain Mackay [7]  United Kingdom Royal Ballet School 1999 2003 Promoted to Soloist – Birmingham Royal Ballet, 2001
César Morales [8]  Chile Municipal Theatre of Santiago
Houston Ballet Academy		 2008 N/A Principal Guest Artist – Vienna State Opera Ballet, 2006
English National Ballet, 2004–2006
Altazor Prize  – Winner, 2002 & 2003
New York International Ballet Competition – Gold Medal, 2003
Prague International Ballet Competitions – Gold Medal, 2002
Ballet de Santiago, years unknown
Jenna Roberts [9]  Australia Marie Walton-Mahon Dance Academy
Royal Ballet School		 2003 2012
Nao Sakuma [10]  Japan Michiko Komori Ballet School
Royal Ballet School		 1995 2002 National Dance Awards – Nominee, 2001
Jackson Ballet Competition – Special Jury Prize, 1998
Tyrone Singleton [11]  United Kingdom Royal Ballet School 2003 2013
Elisha Willis [12]  Australia Australian Ballet School 2003 2004 Promoted to Soloist – Australian Ballet, 2001
Australian Ballet, 1991999-2003

First Soloists

Soloists

First Artists

Artists

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/jamie-bond
  3. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/joseph-caley
  4. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/chi-cao
  5. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/mathias-dingman
  6. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/momoko-hirata
  7. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/iain-mackay
  8. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/c%C3%A9sar-morales
  9. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/jenna-roberts
  10. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/nao-sakuma
  11. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/tyrone-singleton
  12. ↑ https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/elisha-willis

External links

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