Romeo and Juliet, Theatre Royal Plymouth

Director Carlos Acosta

Autumn 2021

Romeo and Juliet

brb.org.uk

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET ROYAL BALLET SINFONIA Patron Her Majesty the Queen President HRH The Prince of Wales Vice-President The Lady Sarah Chatto

Director Carlos Acosta cbe Chief Executive Officer Caroline Miller obe

Founded by Dame Ninette de Valois om, ch

Prima Ballerina Assoluta Dame Margot Fonteyn

Founder Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton om, ch, cbe

Director Laureate Sir Peter Wright cbe

Founder Music Director Constant Lambert

Music Director Laureate Barry Wordsworth

Music Director Koen Kessels

WELCOME Carlos Acosta. © Johan Persson

We’re very pleased to be back at Theatre Royal Plymouth with a favourite ballet of mine – Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s powerfully dramatic Romeo and Juliet. It has been great to see so many of the Company taking on these iconic roles and we have a number of dancers making their debuts this week, accompanied as ever by our magnificent Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

We return to Plymouth in the spring with my new production of Don Quixote, created especially for Birmingham Royal Ballet. This lively comedy, set in sunny Spain, follows Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as they head off on their adventures, alongside a host of colourful characters. I hope you, your family and friends will be able to join us for these performances.

As ever, a heartfelt thanks to each and

Looking ahead, we have a packed schedule of live performances to

every one of our supporters. A special

look forward to. We return to Sadler’s

Weston Foundation, Aud Jebsen, the

Wells in early November with Curated

by Carlos, a sublime triple bill of contemporary ballet. The star Italian ballerina, Alessandra Ferri, makes her debut with Birmingham Royal Ballet in a new pas de deux created especially for Alessandra and me by Goyo Montero for his ballet Chacona - I cannot wait!

We end the year with performances, in both Birmingham and London,

thank you must go to the Garfield Michael Bishop Foundation and Oak Foundation for their extraordinary support in 2021. We are also delighted to welcome HSBC UK as Principal Sponsor of Birmingham Royal Ballet across 2021/22. We are extremely grateful for this support.

I hope you enjoy the performance

of the Christmas essential, The Nutcracker!

Director

Cover image: Céline Gittens and Brandon Lawrence. © Richard Battye

Momoko Hirata as Juliet and César Morales as Romeo. © Bill Cooper.

Romeo and Juliet Music Sergei Prokofiev (by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd) Choreography Kenneth MacMillan Designs Paul Andrews

World premiere of MacMillan’s first production: 9 February 1965, The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden. First performance of this production: 1 June 1992, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham Hippodrome, conducted by Barry Wordsworth

Lighting John B. Read Accompanied by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia

For biographies of the creative team visit brb.org.uk/romeo

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THE STORY The ballet is set in Verona Act I Scene 1: The market place Romeo, son of Montague, tries unsuccessfully to declare his love for Rosaline and is consoled by his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. As day breaks and the townspeople meet in the market place, a quarrel develops between Tybalt, a nephew of Capulet, and Romeo and his friends. The Capulets and Montagues are sworn enemies and a fight soon begins. The Lords Montague and Capulet join in the fray, which is stopped by the appearance of the Prince of Verona, who commands the families to end their feud.

Scene 2: Juliet’s ante-room in the Capulets’ house Juliet, playing with her nurse, is interrupted by her parents, Lord and Lady Capulet. They present her to Paris, a wealthy young nobleman who has asked for her hand in marriage.

Scene 3: Outside the Capulets’ house Guests arrive for a ball at the Capulets’ house. Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio, disguised in masks, decide to go in pursuit of Rosaline.

Scene 4: The ballroom Romeo and his friends arrive at the height of the festivities.

The guests watch Juliet dance. Mercutio, seeing that Romeo is entranced by her, dances to distract attention from him.

Tybalt recognises Romeo and orders him to leave, but Capulet intervenes and welcomes him as a guest in his house.

Scene 5: Outside the Capulets’ house As the guests leave the ball Capulet restrains Tybalt from pursuing Romeo.

Scene 6: Juliet’s balcony Unable to sleep, Juliet comes out on to her balcony and is thinking of Romeo, when suddenly he appears in the garden.

They confess their love for each other.

Nao Sakuma as Juliet. © Bill Cooper.

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Act II

Act III

Scene 1: The market place

Scene 1: The bedroom

Romeo can think only of Juliet, and, as a wedding procession

At dawn next morning the household is stirring and Romeo

passes, he dreams of the day when he will marry her. In the

must go. He embraces Juliet and leaves as her parents enter

meantime Juliet’s nurse pushes her way through the crowds

with Paris. Juliet refuses to marry Paris and, hurt by her

in search of Romeo to give him a letter from Juliet. He reads

rebuff, he leaves. Juliet’s parents are angry and threaten to

that Juliet has consented to be his wife.

disown her. Juliet rushes to see Friar Laurence.

Scene 2: The chapel

Scene 2: The chapel

The lovers are secretly married by Friar Laurence, who hopes

Juliet falls at the Friar’s feet and begs for his help. He gives

that their union will end the strife between the Montagues

her a phial of sleeping potion which will make her fall into

and Capulets.

a deathlike sleep. Her parents, believing her to be dead, will bury her in the family tomb. Meanwhile Romeo, warned by

Scene 3: The market place

Friar Laurence, will return under cover of darkness and take

Interrupting the revelry, Tybalt fights with Mercutio and kills

her away from Verona.

him. Romeo avenges the death of his friend and is exiled.

Scene 3: The bedroom That evening Juliet agrees to marry Paris; but next morning when her parents arrive with him they find her apparently lifeless on the bed.

Scene 4: The Capulet family crypt Romeo, who has not received the Friar’s message, returns to Verona stunned by grief at the news of Juliet’s death.

Disguised as a monk he enters the crypt, and finding Paris

by Juliet’s body, kills him. Believing Juliet to be dead, Romeo drinks a phial of poison. Juliet awakes and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself.

Kenneth MacMillan

Gus Payne as Mercutio and Valentin Olovyannikov as Tybalt. © Bill Cooper

For a castsheet visit brb.org.uk/romeo

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4

Beatrice Parma rehearsing the role of Juliet with Mathias Dingman as Romeo. © Lachlan Monaghan.

INSIGHT: BEATRICE PARMA Soloist Beatrice Parma talks about dancing the role of Juliet for the first time

I’m so excited about my debut as Juliet

Emotionally, she has such a complex

I’ve tried to approach every rehearsal

and very grateful to have been given

journey that develops through the

with one thought: ‘how would I truly

the opportunity to dance such an iconic

ballet.

react and feel if that happened in

ballet.

my life?’ Although most things are In the space of three acts she goes from

obviously choreographed I felt it was

It has been my dream role since I was

being a young innocent girl to falling

extremely important in a ballet like

11 years old, after watching Alessandra

in love for the first time, being forced

Romeo and Juliet to be as natural and

Ferri perform the role at Teatro alla

by her family in accepting to marry

credible as possible; the moment a

Scala in Milan. As a young aspiring

someone she doesn’t love, the agony of

reaction, an expression or a gesture

professional ballet dancer I remember

feeling trapped to the point of faking

is too ‘theatrical’ it becomes not

it being a very special and touching

her own death to be with Romeo only to

believable. I love watching different

performance for me. Aside from

then seeing her plan fall apart resulting

casts and seeing each person bring

the importance of having a strong

into the death of the man she loves and

something different to the role with

technical foundation, from that show I

the total desperation that brings her to

their own interpretation.

understood how incredibly important it

take her own life.

was to be an artist, expressing yourself

And what better score to perform

on stage and giving full meaning to

That’s why I’ve always loved this ballet

alongside! The music is just incredible,

each movement. I felt like it really

so much. Not only are there some

it tells the story all the way through. I

changed the way I approached my

technically challenging and incredibly

absolutely love the death scene at the

everyday training and what I was

beautiful pas de deux, but it’s the

very end of the ballet, just the music

striving for.

process of moulding into the story

alone can bring you to tears.

to truly become Juliet and the arc of Artistically, Juliet, it’s an extremely

emotions this ballet brings not only to

exposing ballet and I’ve always wanted

whoever is dancing it but the audience

to challenge myself in a dramatic role.

watching it too.

“I’ve tried to approach every rehearsal with one thought: ‘how would I truly react and feel if that happened in my life?’”

Beatrice Parma as Juliet and Mathias Dingman as Romeo. © Bill Cooper.

For a biography of Beatrice visit brb.org.uk/dancers

5

THE PRODUCTION Jann Parry looks back to the creation of Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet.

Birmingham Royal Ballet first mounted its own production of Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet in 1992, overseen by the choreographer six months before he died. He made adaptations to accommodate new designs, ensuring a fresh approach to his 20thcentury classic. He had created Romeo and Juliet, his first three-act ballet, for The Royal Ballet early in 1965, soon after Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary.

Ninette de Valois, The Royal Ballet’s founder director, had long wanted a big Shakespeare ballet for her company. So far, there had been one-act encapsulations of Shakespeare plays – Frederick Ashton’s The Dream and Robert Helpmann’s Hamlet. She hoped that Leonid Lavrovsky, who had choreographed the Bolshoi’s epic Romeo and Juliet in 1940 and brought it on early Bolshoi tours to London in the 1950s and 60s, would mount it for The Royal Ballet.

Her hopes were in vain. Cold War cultural politics meant that the Soviet authorities were not going to let a Western company duplicate one of Russian ballet’s treasures. When tentative negotiations fell through, de Valois agreed with Ashton, her successor as director of The Royal Ballet, that Kenneth MacMillan should be given the chance to prove himself a major choreographer.

He had seen Lavrovsky’s Romeo and Juliet performed by the Bolshoi, as well as John Cranko’s version for the Stuttgart Ballet, and was ambitious to do even better. He had already created a ‘balcony’ pas de deux for two young friends, Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable, to perform on Canadian television during their summer break in 1964. When he was given the goahead for a full-length ballet, he and they feverishly discussed ideas of how to portray Shakespeare’s starcrossed lovers.

MacMillan had been inspired by Franco Zeffirelli’s mould-breaking production of the play for the Old Vic in 1960. His hot-blooded youngsters (Judi Dench and John Stride) were impatient to consummate their passion as soon as possible, defying their elders. The play became a clash between generations as well as 6

Lachlan Monaghan as Mercutio, Yasuo Atsuji as Romeo, Edivaldo Souza da Silva as Benvolio and Marion Tait as the Nurse. © Caroline Holden.

a feud between two powerful clans.

the potion Friar Laurence gives her.

production, he wanted MacMillan’s

MacMillan’s ballet would establish the

Her coma and death are distressingly

version rather than any other

violent, patriarchal society in which

painful rather than pathetic.

choreographer’s. They agreed that

the lovers grew up, before narrowing

it should look distinctively different

the focus on their plight. There would

Although MacMillan devised these

from The Royal Ballet one designed by

be no reconciliation between the

effects with Seymour and Gable as his

Nicholas Georgiadis.

warring families at the end.

Juliet and Romeo, the roles were danced at the premiere on 9 February 1965 by

In 1965, Georgiadis’s brief had been to

Prokofiev’s score dictates to a large

Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev.

devise a setting to rival the Bolshoi’s

extent how the drama evolves.

They were the famous pair everyone

monumental decor. He provided a solid

MacMillan’s challenge was to find his

wanted to see and MacMillan was told

construction on two levels, linked by

own ways of developing each scene,

he had no choice over the casting. His

an impressive flight of stairs. Such an

avoiding, if he could, the effects that

new ballet was to tour to the USA and the

architectural structure was unusual

Lavrovsky and Cranko had achieved.

impresario Sol Hurok insisted that the

for ballet at the time, in place of

His lasting triumph has been the pas

opening night cast in London, as in New

painted canvas scenery. Georgiadis’s

de deux for the lovers: the ballroom

York, had to be Fonteyn and Nureyev.

sumptuous costumes were based on

encounter, the blissful balcony scene,

They guaranteed that the production

late-Renaissance paintings. His sets

Romeo’s reluctant departure after

was an immediate success in both

and costumes have altered several

their wedding night together, and

countries, though Seymour and Gable

times, but the general impression of

their final agonies.

were regarded by ballet lovers as the true

16th-century Verona remains the same.

interpreters of MacMillan’s intentions.

He chose classical ballet steps and

MacMillan chose a young designer,

naturalistic gestures instead of

Over the 50-plus years since the

Paul Andrews, whose graduation work

mime to express the meaning behind

premiere, his Romeo and Juliet has

he had seen at Wimbledon School of

Shakespeare’s words, combined with

become the best known of many

Art’s exhibition. MacMillan regularly

a potent use of stillness. The lovers

versions of the ballet, performed by

visited London art schools’ end-

simply look at each other when they

companies around the world. When

of-year shows: it was how he found

first meet; Juliet sits on her bed to

Sir Peter Wright, then artistic director

Georgiadis, Yolande Sonnabend and

make her decision what to do next;

of Birmingham Royal Ballet, decided

Andy Klunder (who designed his

she can hardly bring herself to take

that the Company should have its own

Gloria).

Brandon Lawrence as Romeo and Yaoqian Shang as Juliet. © Lachlan Monaghan.

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Momoko Hirata as Juliet and César Morales as Romeo; right: Mathias Dingman as Romeo and Cooper.

Mathias Dingman as Romeo and and Lucy Waine as Rosaline. © Cooper.

Technical credits

Andrews’s brief was to set the ballet

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dancers

earlier in the Italian Renaissance,

inhabit their own account of

when the paintings were simple in

Shakespeare’s imaginary Verona,

outline, the colours clear and the

giving their interpretations of

architecture in the classical style. It

MacMillan’s Capulets and Montagues.

Department, Harris Brothers, Cardiff Theatrical

was a big undertaking for a novice

Every Juliet has to make her own

Services, Mike Becket and Hazel Gash, Liz Reed

theatre designer. Andrews went on to

decisions; every Romeo falls in love

Assistance with original set design and model

have a substantial career, designing

differently. The pleasure for audiences

for operas, ballets, musicals and plays

is to understand the lovers’ emotions

before his premature death in 1997.

and dilemmas through movement and

head-dresses, jewellery, wigs: Royal Opera House

Some of his initial set designs proved

music without words, experiencing

and Birmingham Royal Ballet Production

impractical for a touring company. He

the essence of Shakespeare’s romantic

had retained the two-tier colonnade

tragedy in our own times.

that MacMillan’s choreography

Set construction: Royal Opera House Production Department, Harris Brothers Set painting: Royal Opera House Production

making: Alison Nalder Props: Royal Opera House Production Department Costumes, fabric-dyeing and printing, millinery,

departments Revival scene painting: Jon Goodwin Additional costumes: Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Debbie Boyd, Classic Cuts, June Callear,

required, but a frieze of statues

Jann Parry is the author of Different

decorating the top had to go: they

Drummer: the life of Kenneth

couldn’t be seen in full from the upper

MacMillan. She is a dance writer for

levels of theatres. The staircase in the

many publications and for the website

middle proved too steep, so a landing

dancetabs.com

was inserted; downstage columns

Tracy Caulfield, Globe Costumes, Jane Gill, Robert Gordon, Sarah Handley and Sue Long, Ba Higgins, Tricia Hopkins, Sasha Keir, Paul and Christine Manning, Debbie Marchant, Leslie McConkey and Susanne Parkinson, Claire Porter, Phil Reynolds, Sue Pearl and Pauline Lucas, Sue Smith, Caroline Thorpe, Beverley Vas, Wallace and MacMurray, Wear Moi, Nigel West, Charles White, Sharon

needed adjusting, as did some of the

Williams, Susanna Wilson, Ruth Woods

cast’s entrances and exits. The end

Additional dyeing and printing: Jamison Print,

result, however, is ravishing, much lighter than Georgiadis’s imposing

Parker Street, Sarah Andrews, Jane Clive, Mathilde Sandberg, Sheila White Additional millinery: Jenny Adey

vision of Verona. Andrews’s set has

Armour: Robert Allsopp

the advantage of a proper balcony for

Costume research: Joanna Freedman

Juliet’s love-struck musings, and a

Production Manager: Susan Usher

bedroom appropriate for a young girl.

For a biographies of the creative team visit brb.org.uk/romeo

Revival Costume Supervision: Birmingham Royal Ballet Costume Department

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INSIGHT: LACHLAN MONAGHAN Soloist Lachlan Monaghan talks about dancing the role of Romeo for the first time

It is a dangerous cliché to say that Romeo became my dream role very early on in my career, but it’s true.

Dancers mostly all have roles we aspire to do, and so, by its very nature as ‘the dream role’, Romeo comes with it many personal challenges. As emotional a journey as the story is, so too is the process of preparation for such a role – and how scary to take on surely one of the most romantic and famous stories to exist.

Aside from the obvious elation of my surname appearing on the cast sheet and then the Cheshire Cat grin I wore as I clumsily attempted the Balcony pas de deux for that unforgettable first time, there comes with it myriad thoughts, not least, that wanting to perform your dream role to a high personal standard means lots of internal pressure.

I discovered very quickly that every step is much more difficult than I thought.

Although having watched the ballet many times, I had never tried any of Romeo’s steps or partnering and they prove quite the physical challenge. The difficult thing is that it just doesn’t read to make it look like hard work. While fiendishly difficult, the choreography must appear to have impulsively poured out of your soul with pure emotion guiding every step or gesture.

The beautiful thing though, and that which I think makes it unique, is that beyond the steps, a true, honest, authenticity is required or there would be no point performing the steps at all.

If I achieved every step to technical perfection (what even is that!?), the performance would be lacking

10

Lachan Monaghan in rehearsal with Yu Kurihara. © Ty Singleton.

something and equally, if I sobbed

can have this effect too. Opening

the entire way through, never taking

my heart and allowing the audience

my eyes off Juliet but fell out of every

space to see the real me, the Romeo

dance step, I might lose my job – or at

I’ve chosen to be, is surely the most

the least, my pride. It is this balancing

powerful thing I can hope to achieve in

act that makes this ballet so difficult.

this role.

Being coached on this ballet has raised

As human beings, we are always

such interesting ideas for me, such as,

performing, putting ourselves on

that the strength in these characters is

display and showing the world the parts

in their subtle interactions - the tiny

of us we want them to see. There is

moments that the audience barely

power and connection in dropping that

sees unless looking for them. Yes, the

performance veil and letting people see

dancing is gorgeous, but it means

us for who we are.

nothing if not built upon a foundation of thoughts and emotions.

I am a ballet dancer, but I am first and foremost, a human being who has

My personal approach is that I am an

feelings, who has found love, lost it,

actor who is dancing rather than a

hurt, knowingly or unknowingly, and

dancer, acting. It can completely flip

been hurt, and I can only hope that

the way in which certain scenes read if I

when I step on stage to play Romeo,

consider, first and foremost, that

I can draw on these experiences;

I am supposed to be making Juliet,

ironically, strip away the performance

the audience, whoever it may be, feel

veil, and be real, honest and true.

“Opening my heart and allowing the audience space to see the real me, the Romeo I’ve chosen to be, is surely the most powerful thing I can hope to achieve in this role.”

something.

My thoughts have suddenly gone to when a performer falls over and can ironically have the entire audience in the palm of their hand because of this. I believe that vulnerable emotion

For biography of Lachlan visit brb.org.uk/dancers

11

INSIGHT: LLINOS OWEN The Royal Ballet Sinfonia’s Bassoonist tells us why Romeo and Juliet is her favourite

Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is my

I tend to well up in Act I when the

absolute favourite ballet to play –

flutes quietly play one of Juliet’s

it’s an absolute joy to come to work

themes as she innocently dances in

and play this wonderful music. The

her bedroom. As an audience, we know

first time I got to play some of it was

the tragedy that will be unfolding

performing the Balcony Scene at one

when we hear this theme again in

of our Music and Dance concerts at

Act III, reorchestrated and painfully

Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. I always

reharmonised to reflect the pathos.

enjoy the Music and Dance concerts,

In fact, there’s often a box of tissues

since the orchestra perform on stage

making its way around the orchestra

so we actually get to see the dancing

during this ballet, not least at the

for a change (only in our bars’ rest

ending. As Amos Miller our Principal

obviously)! Watching the breathtaking

Trombone so rightly described the

dancing, the beautiful acting combined

final notes – this ballet ends with ‘the

with the exquisite music, immediately

saddest C major chord in history’.

transported me back to being a teenager falling in love for the first time, and having that wonderful feeling of ‘it’s possible that no one has ever been this in love before!’

There’s not a note wasted in this work of genius by Prokofiev, and it’s great to be back to a full-strength orchestra in the pit; I’ve missed the joy and richness of two bassoons and a contrabassoon!

As well as being my favourite ballet score, this is also the first ballet that I got a ‘full house’ for, having played the contra part, as well as 1st and 2nd bassoon parts.

The contrabassoon part is one of the best in the repertoire – providing depth and colour as well as solos with the tuba and bass clarinet, such as the ‘Poison Theme’. It’s such an emotionally charged score, and so well balanced with moments of lightness and humour.

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“There’s not a note wasted in this work of genius by Prokofiev”

When we see beyond borders we see opportunity everywhere.

Visit hsbc.co.uk/opportunity

13

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GET CLOSER: BECOME A SUPPORTER Becoming part of our Dancers’ Circle or BRB Friends is a hugely rewarding and engaging way to support the work of Birmingham Royal Ballet. Your support will help us deliver our extraordinary work, on stage and in communities, and will help ensure the future success of the Company.

As a thank you we offer our supporters a programme of benefits that include:

• Priority booking or a concierge-style ticket booking service* • Exclusive online events • Invitations to rehearsals, insight events and pre-show receptions* • Our annual supporters’ magazine • Regular e-newsletters * Dependent on level of support

SUPPORTERS’ EVENTS CALENDAR

Taking every chance to dance Welcome to your Events Calendar

Sarah Crompton catches up with Carlos Acosta and Caroline Miller

You never know what’s around the corner

We have curated a range of free events which you can enjoy from the comfort of your house via Zoom. Events include:

Tea with…

Back to the future

An opportunity to socialise with our fantastic dancers, musicians and production team, and to ask any questions you might have about their careers.

To Book Events To book any of the events, simply visit Birmingham Royal Ballet website brb.org.uk/supporters-events All online events are free, but please book your space and details of how to join the event will be emailed to you.

Dancers’ Circle roundtable Guests from across Birmingham Royal Ballet will give an insight into their careers and experiences within the arts.

Jenny Gilbert talks to Alessandra Ferri

Exclusive Supporters’ talks First Soloist, Jonathan Payn, in conversation with guests.

and more...

December 2020 – April 2021

Autumn 2021

Beatrice Parma and Brandon Lawrence © Sam Robinson

Autumn 2020

For more information and to become a Supporter visit brb.org.uk/support-us

15

WELCOME: CHARLOTTE POLITI The Royal Ballet Sinfonia’s new Constant Lambert Fellowship Conductor tells us about her passion for music.

Named after the Founding Music Director of the Royal Ballet companies, the Constant Lambert Fellowship is a joint initiative with The Royal Ballet designed for conductors aspiring to gain the particular skills required to conduct for ballet. The mentoring is led by Koen Kessels, Music Director of both companies, and Paul Murphy, our Principal Conductor.

This autumn we are delighted to welcome Charlotte Politi.

How did you discover your passion

What are your memories of your first

for conducting?

professional engagement?

As a child I loved playing in orchestras.

My first professional engagement was

Later I became passionate about

in opera. I loved the feeling of being

scores, recordings of orchestral music.

involved in a theatre production that

Conducting came slowly and naturally

includes not only music, but also stage

to me. I can’t think of a specific

direction, costume design, set design,

moment where I decided I wanted to

and so forth. Conducting a show of

become a conductor. Now when I think

over three hours flew by, because of

back, it seems it’s something I always

how everybody was so connected in the

wanted to do, even before I could put in

story telling.

words what it means to be a conductor.

What do you hope to get out of the How did that lead to conducting for

scheme?

ballet?

I hope to learn from every musician, to

What attracted me to ballet is the

be inspired by every artist I will get to

wonderful repertoire. Furthermore,

work with. I hope I will be able to give a

I’ve always liked the idea of working in

positive constructive contribution and

collaboration with art forms, other than

at the same time to develop my skills

music. I love the theatre company life,

and grow in my profession.

and the spirit of collaborations between arts.

“Charlotte is a very talented young conductor I am looking forward to mentoring her throughout this unique process and observing her development in the speciality of conducting for dance.’’

Paul Murphy, Principal Conductor.

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BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET Director Carlos Acosta cbe Assistant Director Dominic Antonucci Chief Executive Officer Caroline Miller obe Acting Chief Executive Officer Anna Williams fca, dcha Music Director and Conductor Koen Kessels Birmingham Royal Ballet Board of Directors Sir David Normington gcb Chair Barry Allen Marverine Cole Anthony Coombs Sandra Crossley Michael Elliott Jane Hackett Shireenah Ingram Jeanetta Laurence obe Christine Ondimu Hemma Patel Councillor Carl Rice Deborah Spence

BALLET STAFF Senior Répétiteur Michael O’Hare Répétiteur Carmen Piqueras Rehearsal Director & Coach Marion Tait Benesh Choreologist / Video Archivist Patricia Tierney DANCERS Principals Yasuo Atsuji Tzu-Chao Chou Mathias Dingman Samara Downs Maternity leave Céline Gittens Momoko Hirata Brandon Lawrence César Morales

Alexandra Burman Enrique Bejarno Vidal Anna Ciriano Rosanna Ely Ryan Felix Callum Findlay-White Tori Forsyth-Hecken August Generalli Miles Gilliver Josue Gomez Sarria Tessa Hogge Isabella Howard Regan Hutsell Sofia Liñares Hannah Martin Apprentice Eric Pinto Cata Emma Price Matilde Rodrigues Javier Rojas Hamish Scott

First Soloists

Yuki Sugiura

Kit Holder

Anna Williams fca, dcha Company Secretary

Miki Mizutani

Honorary Secretary

Louis Andreasen

Eilis Small

Yvette Knight

Jacqueline Mistry

Gabriel Anderson

Tyrone Singleton

Ian Squires

Governors of the Royal Ballet Companies and School Dame Sue Owen Chair Leanne Benjamin am obe Vice-Chair Sir Matthew Bourne obe Anne Bulford obe Hilary S. Carty bma ccmi Lady Alison Deighton Stephen Jefferies Jeanetta Laurence obe Iain Mackay Sir David Normington gcb Derek Purnell Luke Ritter cbe Christopher Rodrigues cbe David Ross Lindsay Tomlinson obe

Artists

Rory Mackay Valentin Olovyannikov Jonathan Payn Artistic Enrichment Officer Yaoqian Shang Soloists Laura Day Karla Doorbar Yu Kurihara Max Maslen Lachlan Monaghan Beatrice Parma Yijing Zhang First Artists Reina Fuchigami Haoliang Feng Gus Payne Rachele Pizzillo Alys Shee Daria Stanciulescu

Lennert Steegen Lynsey Sutherland Amelia Thompson Lucy Waine Shuailun Wu Alexander Yap ROYAL BALLET SINFONIA Principal Conductor Paul Murphy Conductor Philip Ellis Guest Conductor Martin Georgiev Constant Lambert Conducting Fellowship Charlotte Politi First Violins Robert Gibbs Leader Vanessa David Amanda Brown Deborah Schlenther Philip Aird Caroline Ferriman

Second Violins Rebecca Jones Mary Martin Fiona Robertson Robert Simmons Violas Errika Horsley Chris Pitsillides Cellos Antonio Novais Jane Rainey Double Basses Vera Pereira Maternity leave

Alan Taylor Flute Sandra Skipper Piccolo Oboe Maxwell Spiers Cor anglais Clarinets Ian Scott Harry Penny Bassoon Llinos Owen Contra bassoon Horns Andrew Littlemore Neil Mitchell Chris Pointon Trumpets Michael Allen Christopher Deacon Trombone Amos Miller Tuba David Gordon Shute Timpani Grahame King Percussion Kevin Earley Paul Parker Company Pianists Matthew Drury Ross Williams Jeanette Wong

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Chief Commercial Officer Paul James

Trusts & Foundations Officer Rhianna Swancott

BRAND, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Individual Giving Manager Chris Smith

Director of Sales and Marketing Janina Mundy Head of Marketing Kate Howells Marketing Executive – Campaigns Kesha Beaupierre Marketing Executive – Audience Joe Palfrey PR & Media Executive Lauren Morton Creative Digital Producer Tom Rogers

Development Events Manager Hope McGoldrick Individual Giving & Events Officer Ella Cockerton Corporate Partnerships Officer Emma Thompson

Human Resources Director Claire Owen HUMAN RESOURCES

Lee Armstrong

Senior Human Resources Administrator Sam Howe

Design Executives Vicki Costin Matt Davis

Human Resources Administrator Tania Muthuparakunnel

Social Media Executive Tia Cham

Receptionist & Administrator Karen Fisher

LEARNING, ENGAGEMENT, ACCESS & PARTICIPATION

Business Administration Apprentice Lucy Tranter

Senior Design Executive

Director of Learning, Access Engagement & Participation Pearl Chesterman Head of Creative Learning Lee Fisher Participation Manager Rebecca Brookes Engagement Manager Kasia Kraus Participation Coordinator Katherine Field Engagement Coordinator Hannah MacGregor DEVELOPMENT Director of Development Matt Freeman Senior Manager – Trusts & Foundations Anna Hodgkinson 18

Health, Safety, Facilities & Risk Manager Oliver Drain Facilities Co-ordinator Glenn Rudge Caretaker Philip Pearsall COMPANY OFFICE Company Manager Will Mauchline Sabbatical Acting Company Manager Tristan Rusdale Acting Assistant Company Manager Leanne Ward EO / DIRECTOR PA to CEO & Director Jessica Rupert

JERWOOD CENTRE Clinical Director Nick Allen phd msc mcsp srp Company Physiotherapists Esther Collacott mcsp srp Khushnum Pastakia mcsp srp Masseur Jason Boyle Medical Advisors Bellevue Medical Centre

Senior Stage Technicians Paul Amoo Steve Hegan Stage Technicians Paul Fisher-Bazan Tom Reilly Alex Bacciochi Paton Lighting Design Consultant Peter Teigen Head of Lighting Johnny Westall-Eyre Deputy Head of Lighting Andy Wilson

FINANCE & PROJECTS

Senior Lighting Technicians Alastair Phillips Andy Rumble

Executive Producer Abigail Reeve

Lighting Technicians Scott Smith Marcus Trombley Apprentice

Chief Operating Officer Anna Williams fca, dcha

Finance Manager Kamla Korotane Systems & Management Accountant Finance Jocelyn Addlington Finance Officers Deseree GreenawayWilliams Ruth Whelan Finance Assistant Charlotte Rowley ORCHESTRA STAFF Orchestra Director John Beadle Orchestra Manager Andrew Bentley TECHNICAL

Head of Costume / Costume Supervisor Elaine Garlick Costume Production Coordinator Vanda Hewston Production Costume Cutter & Maker Anna Willetts Production Costume Technician Joanna Shilton Touring Costume Manager Shermaine Goucol Costume Technicians Lucy Cook Rebecca Jones Jennifer Priestly Gabrielle Raven

Technical Director Paul Grace

Shoe Supervisor Michael Clifford

Senior Stage Manager Diana Childs

Head of Wigs Lauren FitzGerald

Deputy Stage Manager Eliska Robenn

Deputy Head of Wigs

Assistant Stage Manager Gracie Adlington Head of Scenic Presentation Doug Nicholson Head of Stage Ben Leveson Deputy Head of Stage Paul Moore

Fay Johnson Wigs Assistant Lizzie Mcquire

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s repertory is recorded in Benesh Movement Notation by qualified choreologists trained at the Benesh International, 36 Battersea Square, London SW11 3RA

Director Carlos Acosta

Carlos Acosta's

Don Quixote 16 - 19 March 2022 theatreroyal.com

THANK YOU

© Ty Singleton.

Major Supporters

Aud Jebsen The Michael Bishop Foundation Oak Foundation

Principal Sponsor

Special Project Supporters Carol Barrie Jayne Cadbury and Nigel Goodman* Charles Glanville and James Hogan The Kirby Laing Foundation David and Mary Laing Sir Michael and Joan Perry *unrestricted

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Dancers’ Circle – Principal Julia and Anthony Glossop Tony Newcombe Dancers’ Circle – Soloist Jill and Andrew Chapman CMP Wealth Management Richard and Jennie Cunis Maureen Kirby Marian Mulady Sally Rowe Gillian Shaw John Weston Dancers’ Circle – Artist Philip Baldwin and Phillip Arnold Jenny Batelen and Rob Brett Roger and Felicity Burman Amanda Carter Dr Jim Clews Guy and Judy Crofts Irving and Olga David Sandra Davison Robyn Durie Susan and Frederick Furniss Tessa Gillespie Prof Caroline Gordon P.S. and C.A. Gravestock Wendy and Gordon Hardy Jill and Malcolm Harris Tom Hotchkiss Dr Sandra Kendall

Tessa and Charles King-Farlow Shirley Leaver Hilary Macaulay Chantelle Mackay Shaaron Morgan Robert and Eleanor Nagle Katie Newbon Linda Nicholls Sir David and Lady Win Normington Rosemary Perl Keith Perry Amanda & Emily Pillinger Chris Relph Ross Roberts Carole Sallnow Barbara Scott Miles Scott and Lucille Roughley Margaret Shand Su and Richard Simkin Carla and Dilys Skinner Nick Makin and Brenda Sumner Brian & Susannah Swindell Ron & Jackie Treverton-Jones and to our many individual supporters who prefer to remain anonymous.

Trusts and Foundations

The Alan Woodfield Charitable Trust The Alison Hillman Charitable Trust Amar-Franses and Foster-Jenkins Trust The Arts Society Birmingham The Aspinwall Educational Trust The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust Baron Davenport’s Charity Bayfield Charitable Trust BHSF Medical Charity and Welfare Trust The Bernard Piggott Charitable Trust The Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Brian Shaw Memorial Trust The Britford Bridge Trust The Calleva Foundation The Cecil King Memorial Foundation The Charles Brotherton Trust The Chatwin Trust Clare King Charitable Trust The Clore Duffield Foundation The John S Cohen Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dumbreck Charity The Edgar E Lawley Foundation Ensix Charitable Trust Eric W Vincent Trust Fund Eveson Charitable Trust George Fentham Birmingham Charity The George Henry Collins Charity GJW Turner Trust The Goodenough Charitable Trust The Grantham Yorke Trust The Grey Court Trust The Grimmitt Trust The H Steven and P E Wood Charitable Trust The Hawthorne Charitable Trust The Helen Rachael Mackaness Charitable Trust Henry James Sayer Charity The Idlewild Trust IMI Critical Engineering Charitable Appeals Committee The James Frederick and Ethel Anne Measures Charity The John Avins Trust

The John Thaw Foundation Langdale Trust Limoges Charitable Trust London Ballet Circle The Loppylugs and Barbara Morrison Charitable Trust The Lord Austin Trust M K Rose Charitable Trust The Marchus Trust Marsh Charitable Trust The Michael Marsh Charitable Trust Michael Watson Charitable Trust The Oakley Charitable Trust Owen Family Trust The Patricia Routledge Charitable Trust The Peter and Teresa Harris Charitable Trust Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire PRS Foundation Quayle Charitable Trust Richard Cadbury Charitable Trust The Roger and Douglas Turner Charitable Trust The Roughley Charitable Trust The Rowlands Trust RPS Drummond Fund The Rix-Thompson-Rothenberg Foundation/Baily Thomas Charitable Fund The RVW Trust The S and D Lloyd Charity Sabina Sutherland Charitable Trust The Saintbury Trust Scops Arts Trust Souter Charitable Trust St Jude’s Trust St Thomas’ Dole Charity Stanley Picker Trust The Sterry Family Foundation The Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust

Corporate Supporters Charles Stanley National Express Nicholls Brimble Bhol Price Pearson Taxwise Forresters

The Thistle Trust The Uncle Bill Trust The Vandervell Foundation W E D Charitable Trust The Wilmcote Charitrust and those trusts and foundations that prefer to remain anonymous.

The John Sumner Trust

For full lists of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s generous supporters visit brb.org.uk/join-and-support

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PERFORMANCE CALENDAR Curated by Carlos: Triple Bill City of a Thousand Trades | Imminent | Chacona

Carlos Acosta’s

Don Quixote

Thursday 4 – Saturday 6 November 2021 Sadler’s Wells, London

Thursday 10 – Saturday 12 February 2022

www. sadlerswell.com

Mayflower Theatre Southampton www.mayflower.org.uk

The Beauty of Ballet The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is joined by dancers from

Friday 18 – Saturday 26 February 2022

Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Birmingham Hippodrome

Wednesday 10 November, 7.30pm 2021

www.birminghamhippodrome.com

Royal Albert Hall www.royalalberthall.com

Wednesday 2 – Saturday 5 March 2022 The Lowry, Salford

The Nutcracker

www.thelowry.com

20 November – 11 December 2021 Birmingham Hippodrome

Thursday 10 – Saturday 12 March 2022

www.birminghamhippodrome.com

Sunderland Empire www.atg.com

The Nutcracker 28– 31 December 2021

Wednesday 16 – Saturday 19 March 2022

Royal Albert Hall

Theatre Royal Plymouth

www.royalalberthall.com

www.theatreroyal.com

Our specialists listen to your requirements and always put your needs first. We leave the drama on the stage.

Proud supporter of Birmingham Royal Ballet

PRICE PEARSON C H A RT E R E D AC C O U N TA N T S

01384 456 780 www.pricepearson.com

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