Swan Lake

Sir

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET

ROYAL BALLET SINFONIA

2

WELCOME

A warm welcome to this performance of Swan Lake, ballet’s greatest love story. Sir Peter Wright and the late Galina Samsova’s lavish production is illuminated by Tchaikovsky’s soaring score performed by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

We are delighted to welcome the sublime Polina Semionova and Vadim Muntagirov to join our worldclass dancers for some of these performance in the iconic roles of Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried.

The UK tour of Swan Lake is generously sponsored by Charles Stanley Wealth Managers. A sincere thanks also goes to Aud Jebsen, whose support has enabled the appearances of Vadim Muntagirov and Polina Semionova in our Plymouth and Birmingham performances, respectively. As always, heartfelt thanks go to all of our supporters.

There is much to celebrate in 2023, including the launch of BRB2, our junior company of rising stars. The company’s inagural tour kicks off in April. The summer season sees the return of Sir David Bintley’s beloved ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café in a triple bill alongside George Balanchine’s exquisite Apollo and Juliano Nunes’s striking Interlinked.

There are also two more of Sir Peter Wright’s classics to look forward to – The Nutcracker at Christmas 2023 and The Sleeping Beauty the following spring. To receive details of our exciting performances and events, please sign up for our newsletter at brb.org.uk/SignUp.

I hope you enjoy the performance,

Carlos Acosta cbe Director

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A castsheet for each performance is available to download.

Carlos Acosta. © Johan Persson.

SWAN LAKE

Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa

and Peter Wright

Production Peter Wright and Galina Samsova

Designs Philip Prowse

Lighting Peter Teigen (adapted by Johnny Westall-Eyre)

Guest Répétiteur Laëtitia Lo Sardo

Guest Coach Zenaida Yanowsky

World premiere: 4 March 1877, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. First performed by the Vic-Wells Ballet: 20 November 1934, Sadler’s Wells Theatre. First performance of this production: 27 November 1981, Birmingham Royal Ballet (then Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet), Palace Theatre, Manchester, conducted by Barry Wordsworth.

The UK tour of Swan Lake is generously sponsored by Charles Stanley Wealth Managers.

Tyrone Singleton as Prince Siegfried and Céline Gittens as Odette. © Bill Cooper. 3

Tyrone Singleton as Prince Siegfried and Céline Gittens as Odette. © Bill Cooper.

THE STORY

Sir Peter Wright

ACT I

A courtyard in the castle

Following his father’s death, Prince Siegfried will shortly be crowned king and must therefore marry. He dreads the loss of his freedom and has no wish to choose a bride he does not love. It is his 21st birthday and his equerry, Benno, has arranged an entertainment to divert him. His friends at court present him with a crossbow to celebrate his coming of age, but in the middle of these celebrations the Dowager Queen arrives unannounced. She is shocked at the revelry while the court is still officially in mourning and reminds Siegfried that the following day he must choose a bride from three Princesses who will attend the grand reception that is being held in his honour. She departs, leaving Siegfried despondent. Benno attempts to cheer him up with the help of two courtesans and the men then join in a drinking dance to toast their future king. When the dancers have gone, a flight of swans passes and Benno suggests that Siegfried try out his new crossbow. They depart in pursuit.

ACT II

The lakeside by moonlight

It is midnight and Baron von Rothbart, an evil magician, awaits the arrival of the Princess Odette and her companions, over whom he has cast a spell. He has transformed them into swans and it is only between the hours of midnight and dawn that they can return to human form. Von Rothbart hides when Siegfried and Benno arrive searching for swans. Left alone, Siegfried sees a swan approaching. To his amazement, the swan changes into a beautiful maiden, the Princess Odette. She tells him of her plight and explains that her enchantment can only be broken if someone who has never loved before swears an oath of undying love. When von Rothbart appears, Prince Siegfried attempts to shoot him, but Odette intercedes, explaining that if the magician dies the spell can never be broken. She warns him that if he breaks his vow of love she must remain a swan forever. Dawn approaches. Prince Siegfried declares his love and swears to be true for eternity. Odette promises him that she will visit him the following night at the castle and then, resuming their guise as swans, she and her companions depart.

Artists of Birmingham Royal Ballet as the Prince’s companions. © Bill Cooper.

Top: Max Maslen and Daria Stanciulescu in the Czárdás; below: Eilis Small as the Queen with Artists of BRB. ©Bill Cooper.

ACT III

The ballroom of the castle

At a grand reception three Princesses arrive from foreign lands and dance for Siegfried, but his thoughts are elsewhere and he refuses to make a choice. A fanfare announces the arrival of two uninvited guests; they are von Rothbart, disguised as an ambassador, and his daughter Odile, whom the sorcerer has transformed to look like Odette. The Prince is taken in by the unknown visitor’s startling resemblance to Odette and believes her to be the Swan Princess. While Odile and the Prince dance together, Odette keeps her promise and appears at the window, beseeching Siegfried to remember his vow; but his attention is distracted by the magician’s spell. Infatuated, Siegfried asks for Odile’s hand in marriage. Von Rothbart makes him swear his love for her and as Siegfried does so, Odette again appears at the window. It is too late; he has pledged his word to another. The court is thrown into confusion and, in despair, the Prince rushes out in search of Odette.

ACT IV

The lakeside

Odette returns to the swan maidens, distraught and wishing to drown herself in the waters of the lake while she is still in human form. Realising Siegfried is following her, von Rothbart creates a storm in a vain attempt to stop him. Siegfried arrives and begs Odette’s forgiveness. Sadly, she tells him that she forgives him but nothing can change the fact that his vow has been broken. Odette and Siegfried decide they cannot live apart and will die together. Odette throws herself into the lake and von Rothbart is thwarted in his attempt to stop Siegfried following her. Dawn breaks. The spell is broken as the lovers are united in a world of eternal love.

Samara Downs as the Polish Princess. © Bill Cooper.

INSIGHT: BRANDON LAWRENCE

Principal Brandon Lawrence tells us about dancing the role of Prince Siegfried Swan Lake is one of the world’s most popular ballets, why do you think this is?

I believe Swan Lake is one of the most popular ballets because the Tchaikovsky score is timeless. It was the first of his three big classics, the others being The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. Swan Lake has the perfect balance of drama, passion and evil, while still captivating audiences today with its beauty expressed in the music.

What are the challenges/joys of performing the role of the charming Prince Siegfried?

One of the challenges of performing Siegfried is showing the Prince’s progression throughout the four acts. He goes on a journey from mourning, to curiosity, temptation, to betrayal and love. It’s a lot to convey so to strike a balance while executing the technique is a challenge. For me the joy is having the story unfold as I take each step, the pas de deux’s are exquisite and the build up to the final (excuse the pun) ‘swan song’ is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Do you feel more pressure when performing such an iconic role? The pressures of performing are always going to be there, even more so when returning to a role. I try to trust in myself in putting my best foot forward and enjoy the hard work I and those around me have done. As I was reminded not long ago – if I wanted everything to be perfect I’d work in TV.

Have you got a favourite part of the ballet/score?

There are many favourite moments for me in Swan Lake. All of the pas de deux’s are a treat to dance; the music, the steps and sharing that time with my partner is very special. I particularly love the Czárdás piece of music in Act III and then the whole of the fourth act is a masterpiece.

“Swan Lake has the perfect balance of drama, passion and evil, while still captivating audiences today with its beauty expressed in the music. ”

Delia Mathews as Odile and Brandon Lawrence as Prince Siegfried. © Andrew Ross. For a biography of Brandon Lawrence see p.36.

THE HISTORY OF SWAN LAKE

Over 145 years since Swan Lake was first staged in Moscow in 1877, it continues as the most universally popular of classical ballets, both for its music and its story. Its origins may have been in a children’s entertainment devised some years previously among the family and friends of Tchaikovsky’s sister, Alexandra Davidova. The four-act ballet was commissioned by the director of the Moscow Imperial Theatres, Vladimir Petrovich Begichev, who seems to have mapped out the scenario in association with the dancer Vassily Geltzer. It is this on which Tchaikovsky based his composition and Julius Reisinger his first choreography.

Nobody was credited with the story in the original programme, but it

was familiar from collections of folktales and is very much of the Romantic epoch (though some nationalist objections were made to the use of Germanic names). The tale is in direct descent from those of earlier ballet classics like La Sylphide and Giselle, in which the universal theme of man’s quest for an ideal is illustrated in terms of a love that is unattainable in ordinary life.

Tchaikovsky was 35, a rather melancholy, introspective man who had written his first three symphonies and the B-flat minor Piano Concerto, as well as four operas; these included Undine and The Voyevoda, from both of which he borrowed musical ideas for Swan Lake. In 1875 he wrote to his fellow composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

that he had accepted Begichev’s commission, partly because he needed the money and also because he had ‘long wanted to try [his] hand at this kind of music’. That was unusual at the time, because music for ballet was customarily supplied by the theatre’s staff composers who readily adapted it to the needs of the ballet master in choreographing the dances. Other composers found this an unacceptable practice but, without actually setting out to ’reform’ ballet music, Tchaikovsky seems to have gone about his task as primarily a musical conception, treating the medium of ballet as worthy of a stronger and more imaginative musical element. Keys and their tonal opposition are related to character and situation, for instance, and identifying themes are repeated and transformed.

The score caused problems at the first performances, which were apparently poorly played and conducted. Tchaikovsky made himself amenable to some changes and wrote an extra Russian Dance as an addition to Act III.

Pelugia Karpakova was the first to dance the ballerina role, but when a more senior dancer, Anna Sobeshchanskaya, took it at the ballet’s fourth performance, she inserted a pas de deux made for her by Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus. This Tchaikovsky could not accept, so he composed his own music for it to steps already set (it is published as an appendix to the full score and is sometimes separately danced, as in Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux).

In spite of Reisinger’s indifferent choreography, the first Swan Lake was not the flop mentioned in many accounts. Nikolai Kashkin, who made the piano score, noted that it ‘achieved a success, though not a particularly brilliant one, and held its place on the stage until the scenery was worn out, when it was never renewed’. That was after new choreography by Joseph Hansen in 1880 and again in 1882; but Kashkin also recalled: ‘not only the decor became ragged, but the music suffered more and more until nearly a third was exchanged with

music from other ballets – and not necessarily good ones’.

After 41 performances up to 1883, Swan Lake remained unperformed again before Tchaikovsky died, though there is evidence to suggest that revivals were planned in the wake of his success with The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and The Nutcracker (1892). Following a new staging by Lev Ivanov of the Lakeside Act II in 1894, as part of a memorial tribute to Tchaikovsky in St Petersburg, the complete ballet was given what became the crucial historical version there with choreography by Petipa (Acts I and III) and Ivanov (the Lakeside scenes) early in 1895.

Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother, helped to modify the scenario and agreed to some musical changes, of which the most important involved the transfer from Act I to Act III of the music now known as the Black Swan pas de deux (where the new Odette/ Odile, Pierina Legnani, displayed the 32 fouettés she first achieved

Artists of Birmingham Royal Ballet. © Bill Cooper.

in an Aladdin at the Alhambra Theatre, London, in 1892). Other musical numbers were cut and three Tchaikovsky piano pieces orchestrated by Riccardo Drigo were added.

Most Soviet productions of Swan Lake descended from this Petipa–Ivanov version, with variations from one company to another. Outside Russia the first ‘complete’ staging (other than Act II on its own) was by Achille Viscusi at the Prague National Theatre in 1907. It is often forgotten that four years after this Sergei Diaghilev brought a two-act version by his Ballets Russes to Covent Garden, with choreography by Mikhail Fokine ‘after Petipa and Ivanov’, danced by Mathilde Kschessinska and Vaslav Nijinsky. Later in 1911 the USA saw its first full Swan Lake at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, staged by Mikhail Mordkin from the Moscow Bolshoi company, again ‘after Petipa and Ivanov’.

The next most historic production after 1895, however, was mounted on the fledgling Vic-Wells Ballet at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, on 20 November 1934, by Nicholas Sergueyev from his St Petersburg notebooks of the Petipa-Ivanov version. Alicia Markova and Robert Helpmann led the performances (with Margot Fonteyn among the corps de ballet). This Swan Lake became significant not only as the root from which all later Sadler’s Wells/Royal Ballet versions have flowered, but as a working basis for

most other productions in Europe, the USA and, more recently, Japan and the Far East.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of Swan Lake has been a popular part of the Company’s repertory since its premiere at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, on 27 November 1981. It was created by the Company’s then Director (now Founding Director Laureate of Birmingham Royal Ballet) Peter Wright and Galina Samsova, an outstanding Odette/Odile with many companies around the world, who took the role on the opening night. Galina Samsova was a Principal dancer and teacher with the Company when she collaborated with Peter Wright on this production. They augmented the Petipa-Ivanov choreography with some of Wright’s own and some dances from the version Russianborn Samsova learnt while she was a leading dancer with Ukrainian Ballet in Kiev, whence she returned to undertake research for this production.

The late Noël Goodwin was a freelance writer and critic with a special interest in the relationship of music and dance.

32 FOUETTÉS

Look out for the 32 fouetté turns performed by Odile in Act III. These ‘whipping’ turns are the most notorious step in the ballet.

Odile revolves on one leg 32 times. Her raised leg, never touching the ground, provides most of the propulsion. After the first 16 bars, the music changes character; she carries on regardless.

FAITHFUL SWANS

In the ballet, the swan is a symbol of faithfulness. Odette has been turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer Baron von Rothbart, and can only be released from the spell if a man pledges to love her for ever.

Swans really are faithful: they choose a mate at the age of three or four, and stay together until they die.

“The first time I performed the Act III grand pas de deux between Odile and Siegfried was when I was 15 years old. That was the first time that I’d executed 32 fouettés on stage! From that moment I dreamt about dancing the principal role in Swan Lake. ”

Céline Gittens, Principal

Céline Gittens as Odile with Tyrone Singleton as Prince Siegfried. © Bill Cooper.

INSIGHT: MIKI MIZUTANI

Principal Miki Mizutani tells us about dancing the dual role of Odette/Odile

The role of Odette/Odile is one of the most technically and emotionally demanding roles in classical ballet. What do you enjoy most about it?

I enjoy dancing the role most when I feel connected to my partner. I forget that I’m acting Odette/Odile because I’m so into it and living the moment.

It is hard technically but I get more confident by practicing every day so I don’t need to think a lot when I perform on stage. It requires lots of body language, and it is challenging to depict and ensure the audience believe you are a swan. It is exhausting physically and emotionally at the end of the ballet but that is what makes it so rewarding.

The role also requires strong acting skills to switch between Odette, the vulnerable white swan, and Odile, the seductive, deceptive black swan. How do you approach this?

Odette is pure and delicate, strong but also sensitive. After being frightened by the Prince, she learns to trust him and fall in love only to be heartbroken by the final act.

Odile is very confident and the opposite to Odette. She is deceitful and to change between these two completely different characters is a challenge, particularly when all the time trying to be a swan.

My interpretation is that Odette is a swan and Odile a human imitating a swan to trick Prince Siegfried, so this

makes it even more difficult. I think emotionally, it helps to use life experience. Each of us has a different side, even if we don’t show it – weak, strong, pure, dark, these emotions are in us all and I just try to explore these different sides of me.

Have you got a favourite part of the ballet/score?

The whole ballet is incredibly beautiful and tuneful, and Sir Peter Wright’s production is a perfect match to the score. My favourite parts would have to be the opening scene of Act IV, when the swans emerge from the smoke, and the final moments of Odette and Siegfried’s lives as they jump into the lake, dying for love and freedom.

“Each of us has a different side, even if we don’t show it – weak, strong, pure, dark – these emotions are in us all and I just try to explore these different sides of me.”

Miki Mizutani. © Johan Persson; left: swans. © Andrew Ross. For a biography of Miki Mizutani see page 37.

INSIGHT: ANDREW LITTLEMORE

Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake is one of the most recognised orchestral ballet scores, thanks in no small part to the hauntingly beautiful and memorable melody initially played on the oboe, which occurs numerous times and in various guises throughout the work.

Tchaikovsky finished the initial score between 1876 and 77 after only a year’s work on it. As a ballet composer he was hugely influenced by the writing of what were known at the time as ‘specialist’ ballet composers such as Léo Delibes and Adolphe Adam. These ‘specialist’ composers, amongst others, conveyed a storyline through the music by using leitmotifs, a means of associating certain themes with a mood or character. Their writing was known for light scoring with decorative and rhythmically clear passages. Tchaikovsky adopted this method and embellished it in his own particular style in Swan Lake.

Within his typical colourful, varied and romantic orchestration, this oboe theme can be heard throughout the ballet. The scene for the introduction of this theme is set by the upper string section, using a technique called tremolando which creates a shimmering sound symbolising water and a feeling of anticipation.

Playing the french horn in a piece like Swan Lake is a wonderful experience. Tchaikovsky uses the capabilities of the instrument for many different purposes in his scores. The horns are used to give colour and depth when accompanying delicate wind solo lines, as well as at other times joining the brass section for the dramatic sections of powerful writing. The pulses of rhythmic writing that occur through the entire ballet give a wonderful structure enabling the performers on stage to lock into the variety of rhythmic ideas.

This season will be the fourth run of Swan Lake performances I have been a part of since I joined the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. With such a full score and so many intricate details, not to mention different orchestral pit layouts, there are always new details to listen out for which make every performance slightly different, keeping each one dynamic, spontaneous and vital.

Andrew Littlemore, Principal Horn in the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, tells us about Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score.

“Playing the french horn in a piece like Swan Lake is a wonderful experience. ”

Top: Max Maslen as Benno with Karla Doorbar and Miki Mizutani. © Below: Caroline Holden; Cygnets. © Dasa Wharton. 17

Tyrone Singleton as Prince Siegfried. © Bill Cooper.

THE COSTUMES

This production of Swan Lake was designed in 1981 by acclaimed director and designer Philip Prowse.

l There are 30 rails of costumes and 14 large wicker skips of costumes, headdresses and shoes just for Swan Lake – approximately 170 costumes in total!

l Many of the costumes are made from heavy brocade and velvet, and some dancers have four layers of costume on, including tunics and cloaks.

l Many of the costumes are the original ones – over 40 years old! Some costumes, such as the Ambassadors and Nuns, are used in every performance.

l There are 18 Swans on stage at one time. Their headdresses are made of real feathers – chicken hackle.

l It is one of the heaviest ballets in terms of the weight of the costumes – the Master of Ceremonies cloak is kept in a large wicker skip of its own as it is so heavy – about six stone. Most of the cloaks are kept in skips as they are too heavy to hang.

l Swan Lake is one of the most taxing shows for the costume team in terms of weight, castings and laundry. There are 35 pairs of mens tights alone to wash after each performance.

l The Costume department keeps a stock of the original fabrics and trimmings, but as the years go by, they are getting used up and it is becoming harder to source some of them as they are no longer produced. Alternatives need to be found from suppliers in the UK and abroad.

Céline Gittens as Odile with Jonathan Payn as Baron von Rothbart. © Bill Cooper.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Peter Wright made his debut as a dancer with the Ballets Jooss during World War II and in the 1950s worked with several dance companies, including the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet, for which he created his first ballet, A Blue Rose, in 1957.

In 1959 he was appointed Ballet Master to the Sadler’s Wells Opera and teacher at The Royal Ballet School. In 1961 he went to Stuttgart as a teacher and ballet master to the company being formed by John Cranko. There he choreographed several ballets and mounted his first production of Giselle, which he has subsequently produced for The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and many international companies. His other interpretations of the classics include The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia and Swan Lake feature regularly in opera houses throughout the world.

In 1977 he was appointed Director of Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, taking the Company to Birmingham in 1990 when it became Birmingham Royal Ballet. On his retirement in 1995 he was made Director Laureate of the Company.

In 1990 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from London University, the University of Birmingham conferred on him the title of Special Professor of Performance Studies, and he was presented with the Elizabeth II Coronation Award from the Royal Academy of Dancing. In 1991 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He was awarded a knighthood in the 1993 Queen’s birthday honours list, in 1994 an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Birmingham and the Critics’ Circle Award 1995 for Distinguished Services to the Arts. He is president of the Benesh Institute and a vice president of The Royal Academy of Dancing, the Myasthenia Gravis Association and Elmhurst Ballet School.

In 2022 BRB celebrated the announcement of Sir Peter’s new title as Founding Director Laureate of Birmingham Royal Ballet, recognising his bold vision to move Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet to Birmingham in 1990.

SIR PETER WRIGHT cbe Choreographer and Founding Director Laureate of Birmingham Royal Ballet

Sir Peter Wright. © Richard Farley.

GALINA SAMSOVA

The late Galina Samsova was born in Stalingrad and began her career with Ukrainian ballet in Kiev. She joined the National Ballet of Canada and then London Festival Ballet as a Principal. Later she and André Prokovsky formed their own small company, the New London Ballet, which toured to five continents with a repertory consisting mostly of specially created works. She first danced as a guest with Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1978 and joined as a Principal and teacher in 1980. Her roles included Lise (La Fille mal gardée), the title roles in Giselle, Raymonda Act III and Papillon, Eldest Sister (Las Hermanas), the Bride (La Fête étrange) and roles in Concerto and Les Sylphides. In 1980 she produced the grand pas from Paquita for the Company, dancing the leading role. In 1981 she collaborated with Peter Wright on Swan Lake, also dancing Odette/Odile at the first performance. She created roles in MacMillan’s Quartet, Prokovsky’s Vocalise Opus 34 and the Woman in Seymour’s Intimate Letters. She appeared as Carabosse in SWRB’s first performance of its current production of The Sleeping Beauty. She was Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet (1990-97).

PETER TEIGEN

Peter Teigen was born in Oslo. He was lighting designer for London City Ballet during the 1990s, working with choreographers including Baldwin, Gable and Samsova, and as a freelance lighting designer for Bourne, Corder and Page, among others. He has lit many ballets for Birmingham Royal Ballet, including David Bintley’s The Prince of the Pagodas, Daniela Cardim’s Imminent and Will Tuckett’s Lazuli Sky. Engagements elsewhere include Sir Peter Wright’s Swan Lake for Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, and productions with New National Theatre, Tokyo, Australian Ballet Theatre and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.

Technical credits

Scenery, costumes, props, millinery, jewellery, wigs

Royal Opera House Production Department

Additional scenery painting Richard Nutbourne

Additional costumes Jenny Adey, Keith Bish, Debbie Boyd, June Callear, Jay Francois Campbell, Gordon Garforth, Anna Maria Geniuse, Robert Gordon, Trisha Hopkins, Sue Pearl, Paula Roco, Lori Wilson-Blakely, Webb Costumiers

Additional dyeing Sheila White

Revival costume supervision Birmingham Royal Ballet Costume department

PHILIP PROWSE

Philip Prowse has worked in theatre as a designer since 1961 and as a director and designer since 1972. From 1970 to 2003 he was a Director of the Glasgow Citizens Theatre and from 1995 to 2003 he taught Theatre Design at the Slade School of Fine Art. He was appointed Professor in 1995 and Professor Emeritus in 2003. His designs for Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty have remained popular features of the Company’s repertory and his collaborations with Birmingham Royal Ballet include David Bintley’s Carmina burana and Beauty and the Beast.

LAËTITIA LO SARDO M.A. PDPTC (RAD)

Trained in Marseille, France, Laëtitia won the Prix de Lausanne in 1996 and received a scholarship for The Royal Ballet School. She joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1997 where she spent her dancing career, going through the ranks to First Soloist. She danced many soloist and principal roles, including the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Swanilda in Coppélia, Aurora and the Bluebird pas de deux in The Sleeping Beauty, the Young Girl in Two Pigeons, Waltz in Serenade and Calliope in Apollo. Whilst dancing, she completed an M.A. in Applied Studies in Dance with Birmingham University and taught at Elmhurst Ballet School, for BRB’s LEAP Department and the Centre for Advanced Training. In 2013, she assisted Ballet Mistress Marion Tait in rehearsing BRB’s production of Giselle. In 2014, Laëtitia became a freelance ballet teacher and in 2019, she graduated from the RAD’s Professional Dancers’ Post Graduate Certificate with Distinction. She has taught for Elmhurst Ballet School, Blommaert Ballet School, British Ballet Organisation, Fabric and as guest teacher for Denada Dance Company and Kings International Ballet Academy. Recently, she also directed and choreographed her own Nutcracker for Ballet Academy Cymru.

Laëtitia Lo Sardo. © Tim Cross.

Repertoire Training with BRB

BRB’s Repertoire Training classes are designed to strengthen the student’s passion for and enjoyment of dance. We provide a range of classes for both children and adults with prior experience of ballet

Swan Lake

Southampton, 3 February sold out

Birmingham, 26 February sold out

Salford, 5 March

Sunderland, 10 March

Plymouth, 17 March

To book visit brb.org.uk/BalletTraining

‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café

Birmingham, 11 June

FREEFALL DANCE

2023 marks the 21st anniversary of our trail-blazing Freefall Dance Company. Freefall is a company of talented adults with learning difficulties who create stunning performances and provide essential outreach work.

There will be some exciting events in the autumn to celebrate the Company’s milestone year. To find out more about Freefall and the exciting work that they get up to visit:

brb.org.uk/Freefall

Aldeburgh Festival

09 - 25 June 2023

A celebration of music and place: music familiar and new, ve exhibitions, ve lms, two operas, a centenary celebration of the composer Ligeti, concert theatre and more. All set in the magical Suffolk landscape.

brittenpearsarts.org

SWAN LAKE FOR CHILDREN

Meet the characters

Prince Siegfried

The young prince is very sad because his father has died. He will soon become King. His family wants him to get married.

Baron von Rothbart

An evil magician who wants his daughter to marry Prince Siegfried.

Benno

Prince Siegfried’s friend who tries to cheer him up.

Princess Odette

Odette and her friends are under von Rothbart’s evil spell. They have been transformed into swans during the day. At night they become human again.

Odile

Odile is Baron von Rothbart’s daughter. He has used his magic to make her look like Princess Odette to trick Prince Siegfried.

THE STORY

Prince Siegfried is walking by the lake in the forest with his friend Benno.

He sees a beautiful white swan. As he looks at her she changes into a young woman, Princess Odette.

Odette and her friends are under a spell cast by the evil magician Baron von Rothbart. By day they are swans, at night they become princesses again

Only true love can break the spell.

It is Siegfried’s birthday and there is a ball at the palace. Siegfried’s mother has invited princesses from around the world. She wants Siegfried to marry one of them.

A beautiful woman arrives. She looks like Odette, but she is the evil magician’s daughter Odile in disguise.

Odette appears at the window but no one sees her. Odile tricks Siegfried into saying he loves only her.

As soon as Siegfried makes his promise he realises his mistake. He rushes back to the lake to find Odette and explain what happened.

Odette, Siegfried and the swans make a plan that will break the magician’s spell.

Ballet Unwrapped

An exciting cross-curricular project for Primary schools, based on Sir David Bintley’s poignant ballet featuring a colourful host of endangered animals.

‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café

Our Ballet Unwrapped initiative offers dance, live music and cross-curricular projects, and includes a CPD package to give you, the teacher, the skills you need to deliver all the content.

An artist and pianist will visit your school to deliver creative workshops and a box, containing a range of resources including a story guide, costumes, dance workshop resources sheets and much more, will be delivered for you to unwrap!

Ballet Unwrapped designed for pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2, but can be adapted for each individual school’s requirements.

Learning outcomes

l Explore resources linked to a renowned ballet company, in a crosscurricular way.

l Gain a glimpse into the many career opportunities in a ballet company.

l Allow the box to spark the children’s imaginations.

l Obtain digital resources to view the dancers and Company first hand.

Ballet Unwrapped The Nutcracker

Also available to book now!

For further information visit brb.org.uk/BalletUnwrapped

Step into one of the most magical Christmas stories with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

brb.org.uk/BalletUnwrapped

Sleeping Beauty Dreams

Coming soon – your chance to dance with Birmingham Royal Ballet!

In early 2024, BRB will present Sir Peter Wright’s sumptuous production of The Sleeping Beauty across the country.

After the huge success of previous Dreams projects, we are delighted that ballet students of all ages from across the West Midlands will have another opportunity to take part in a Sleeping Beauty Dreams performance. Dreams takes place on the Birmingham Hippodrome stage, and participants appear alongside some of the Company’s rising stars who take on the leading roles.

Full details of how to sign up for Sleeping Beauty Dreams will be available soon. Visit our website at brb.org.uk/Dreams24 to sign up to be sent more information once available.

brb.org.uk/Dreams24

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET AND THE ROYAL BALLET SINFONIA

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s life before Birmingham is a long and distinguished one, but it is a complicated story of many names, and one intertwined with the history of its sister company, The Royal Ballet.

In 1931, Ninette de Valois, or ‘Madam’, as she became known, founded a ballet company in London called the Vic-Wells Ballet, as it performed at both the Sadler’s Wells and Old Vic theatres, with composer and conductor Constant Lambert as its Music Director. Supported by a core group of wealthy funders, the company gave young composers and choreographers of the day, including Frederick Ashton and de Valois herself, the chance to have their work performed, and brought ballet to the attention of a wider public.

As part of a propaganda mission to display the best of British culture in Europe, the Company were on tour in Holland in 1940 and quite literally escaped with invading Nazis on their heels – they returned to England on a cargo boat, leaving all their sets, costumes and music behind. As a result of the bombing of Sadler’s Wells Theatre and commitments to CEMA (the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, later the Arts Council), the Company then toured the country extensively, bringing ballet to many people for the first time.

In 1946, after the war had ended, the Vic-Wells Ballet was invited to become the resident company at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. This offer was

accepted and, consequently, de Valois founded a second, connected company back at Sadler’s Wells, the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet. Both companies met with great success, including a landmark and hugely successful tour to the USA by Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet in 1951. In 1955, Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet lost its quarter-century-old link with Sadler’s Wells and joined its sister company at the Royal Opera House.

The following year, a Royal Charter was bestowed on both companies and their joint school. The company based at Covent Garden became The Royal Ballet, its sister company the Royal Ballet Touring Company and the school, The Royal Ballet School. Living up to its name, the Touring Company took ballet to all corners of the country for the next 30 years, finally returning to Sadler’s Wells permanently in 1970. In 1977, Peter Wright, who had worked with Kenneth MacMillan as Assistant Director of The Royal Ballet, was made Director of the Sadler’s Wells company and changed its name to Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s immediate predecessor.

In 1987, Birmingham Hippodrome and Birmingham City Council made a joint offer to Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet to relocate to Birmingham. Brand-new, purpose-built headquarters were constructed on Thorp Street, attached to the back of Birmingham Hippodrome, and in 1990, the Company, still under the directorship of Peter Wright, moved north and changed its name to Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s repertory is recorded in Benesh Movement Notation by qualified Benesh Choreologists trained by Benesh International at the Royal Academy of Dance, London.

Peter led the Company through the first few important years in its new home before retiring in 1995. He handed the reins over to David Bintley, a former Principal dancer with Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, who was by then an acclaimed choreographer and had worked with both Royal Ballet companies.

Under Bintley’s leadership (1995 to 2019), the Company went from strength to strength, still bringing large-scale, world-class ballet to theatres around the UK and continuing its history of successful tours abroad, including to South Africa, China, Japan and the USA, spreading the name of the Company and that of the City of Birmingham far and wide. In January 2020, renowned former Royal Ballet Principal Carlos Acosta joined as Director with a strong and exciting vision for the Company’s exciting new chapter.

Established in the early 1980s as the Orchestra of Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s orchestra became the Royal Ballet Sinfonia on the Company’s move to Birmingham in 1990.

Under current Music Director Koen Kessels, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia is Britain’s busiest ballet orchestra. As well as playing for Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Sinfonia plays for The Royal Ballet and has a long tradition of playing for tours by the world’s leading ballet companies, including Paris Opéra Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and The Australian Ballet. They have performed with Het Nationale Ballet, Queensland Ballet and Acosta Danza. They also worked with the Pet Shop Boys on The Most Incredible Thing. On the concert platform, the Sinfonia has also accompanied the National Opera Studio, the Voice of Black Opera competition and Opera North’s production of Carousel. They recorded Edward Loder’s opera Raymond and Agnes with distinguished Australian conductor, Richard Bonynge.

Regular performances of An Evening of Music and Dance play to a sellout audiences. The orchestra has an extensive library of recordings on CD and DVD. Highlights include DVD performances of Cinderella, Hobson’s Choice, The Nutcracker and Coppélia. CDs include the Sullivan overtures,

Addinsell film scores, the ballets Far from the Madding Crowd, Edward II and Cyrano, and three tribute CDs of ballet scores written for Ashton and de Valois. The orchestra also played Stephen Montague’s The King Dances in the 2015 BBC4 documentary The King Who Invented Ballet

Schemes for the development of young orchestral musicians are in place with the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and for the development of young conductors in the dance world, including the Constant Lambert Conducting Fellowship in partnership with The Royal Ballet. Several players also work with the Company’s Learning Engagement, Access and Participation team in projects around the country.

Royal Ballet Sinfonia at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. © Caroline Holden.

CARLOS ACOSTA CBE DIRECTOR

Born in Havana in 1973, Carlos trained at The National Ballet School of Havana in Cuba. After winning a succession of awards, including the 1990 Prix De Lausanne, he went on to dance professionally with the world’s most prestigious companies, with London’s Royal Ballet becoming his home. Carlos retired from classical ballet in 2016, after 28 years, having performed almost every classical role from Spartacus to Romeo.

Carlos created many award-winning shows throughout his ballet career including Tocororo, and Carlos Acosta and Friends of the Royal Ballet. He also choreographed the Royal Ballet productions of Don Quixote and Carmen, plus the latest Guys and Dolls production for the West End. He has also written two books, including a work of fiction Pig’s Foot, and his honest and heartfelt autobiography No Way Home.

Yuli, a film inspired by his life, premiered at the San Sebastian, Havana and Berlin Film Festivals to critical acclaim before its premiere and general release in April 2019.

The culture and history of Carlos’s homeland have been important influences throughout his career and will continue to be so following his establishment of his own dance company – Acosta Danza – in 2016.

The company tours the world with its vibrant combination of classical and contemporary, fused with Cuban elements of dance. In 2017 Carlos opened his first Dance Academy through the Carlos Acosta International Dance Foundation. The Foundation gives young dancers the same opportunities that he himself benefited from, by providing a three-year dance training programme, free at the point of delivery in an inspirational setting.

Carlos’s extraordinary contribution to dance continues to this day and he was recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2014 when he was awarded a CBE. In 2018 Carlos received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award from The Royal Academy of Dance in recognition of his standing as one of the most influential figures in dance today and in 2019 the Critics’ Circle bestowed Carlos with their Annual Award for Outstanding Services to the Arts.

In January 2020 Carlos became Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet.

His athleticism, the sheer joy of dancing as well as his tremendous ability to convey emotion, inspired a generation of dancers across the globe. His very touching story and the obstacles he has overcome speak for themselves.

Carlos Acosta. © Johan Persson.

DOMINIC ANTONUCCI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Born in Athens, Ohio, and brought up in Akron, Dominic Antonucci, Assistant Director, attended the Nan Klinger School of Dance and the School of American Ballet. He performed with American Ballet Theatre from 1991 to 1994, joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1994 as a Soloist, and was promoted to Principal in 2003. He was appointed Ballet Master in 2009. Dominic danced all of the leading male repertoire and was particularly prominent in the ballets of Sir Peter Wright and Sir David Bintley. Notable roles included: Colas in La Fille mal gardée, Franz in Coppélia, The Prince and Drosselmeyer

KOEN KESSELS MUSIC DIRECTOR

has conducted for companies including NYCB, La Monnaie, Brussels, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Dutch National Ballet, Vienna State Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Real, Madrid, Opera Vlaanderen, New National Theatre, Tokyo, Kungliga Operan Stockholm and La Scala Milano.

in The Nutcracker, Sir Edward Elgar in Enigma Variations and Henry Hobson in Hobson’s Choice

Dominic has been a guest teacher at National Ballet of Japan, Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Northern Ballet, English National Ballet, Adventures in Motion Pictures and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. He was a judge of the ballet final at the BBC Young Dancer competition 2015. Away from the studio, Dominic has written dozens of articles for the Dancing Times and Dance Europe. He was appointed Assistant Director in 2021.

Music Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet since 2010, he has also been Music Director of The Royal Ballet since September 2015. He made his Royal Ballet debut in 2008 conducting The Nutcracker, and has since conducted such repertory as Giselle, Symphony in C, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, and the world premieres of Raven Girl, Woolf Works, Runner, Strapless, Untouchable, Frankenstein, Flight Pattern and Symphonic Dances. He appears regularly with Paris Opéra and

His ballet repertory includes Le Parc, Coppélia, La Source, Sylvia, Proust, Cinderella, Hurlevent, Hommage à Jerôme Robbins, Giselle, Bolero, La Valse, Suite en Blanc, L’Arlésienne, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Firebird, Apollo, Les Noces, Prodigal Son, Jewels, Romeo and Juliet, Carmina burana, The Prince of the Pagodas, The Tempest (Sally Beamish), Don Quixote and Les Sylphides. DVD releases include Proust, Cinderella, Coppélia, Hommage à Jerôme Robbins and La Petite Danseuse with Paris Opéra Ballet, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Frankenstein with The Royal Ballet, and Cinderella with Birmingham

Royal Ballet. Opera repertory includes Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin (Antwerp Opera), Glass’s Satyagraha (Cherkaoui), Hosokawa’s Hanjo (Anne Teresa De Keerssmaeker), Lens and Cave’s Shell Shock (Cherkaoui; La Monnaie, Brussels), and operas by Mozart, Bizet, Verdi, Puccini, Britten and Maxwell Davies among others.

Kessels is an honorary professor of the University of Birmingham, Artistic Director of Inspiratum and on the artistic direction team at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. As Artistic Director of HERMESensemble he has collaborated with such composers as Abrahamsen, Bartholomée, Benjamin, Brewaeys, Ferrari, Henderickx, Hosokawa, Van Hove, Zev Gordon, Dusapin, Huber, Maresz, Murail, Pagh-Paan, Reich, Van Parys, Saariaho, Talbot, Turnage and Yared. Koen Kessels studied at the Antwerp Royal Flemish Conservatory of Music.

DANCERS

TZU-CHAO CHOU

PRINCIPAL

Born: Yi-Lan, Taiwan

Trained: Australian Ballet School

Joined: 2011; Principal, 2017

Repertory: Aladdin (title role), Beauty and the Beast (Raven), Coppélia (Franz), Don Quixote (Basilio, Amour), La Fille mal gardée (Colas, Alain), Giselle (Harvest pas de deux), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), Chacona, Concerto (first movement), The Dream (Puck), E=mc2 (Celeritas2), Elite Syncopations ( Alaskan Rag), Faster, Flowers of the Forest, Interlinked, Kin., Les Patineurs, Lyric Pieces, Symphonic Variations.

Awards:

Gold Medal, Asian Pacific International Ballet Competition, 2003.

Other companies: Australian Ballet (2005-11).

Guest performances: Le Spectre de la rose as a guest Principal with English National Ballet and Fall for Dance Festival, New York.

Dance hero/heroine: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Sylvie Guillem – they still inspire me every day to be a greater dancer.

If you weren’t a dancer what would you be: Perhaps a pianist or interior designer, or maybe even a horticulturist.

MATHIAS DINGMAN

PRINCIPAL

Born: South Carolina, USA

Trained: Kirov Academy of Ballet, Washington DC

Joined: 2006; Principal, 2015

Repertory: Aladdin (title role), Beauty and the Beast (Beast), Cinderella (Prince), Coppélia (Franz), Don Quixote (Basilio), La Fille mal gardée (Colas, Alain), Giselle (Albrecht), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo, Mercutio), Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried, Benno), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund, Bluebird), Chacona, Concerto (first movement), The Dream (Puck), Grosse Fuge, In the Upper Room, Theme and Variations (lead role), 5 Tangos.

Guest performances: I was invited by Tamaro Rojo to dance with English National Ballet in Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker. I performed with Star Dancers Ballet in the NHK Gala Tokyo (2017) alongside Miyako Yoshida. In 2018, Iain Webb invited me to perform Sir Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody with Sarasota Ballet.

Created roles:

Sky in Juanjo Arqués’s Ignite, Ariel in David Bintley’s The Tempest and the solo male in Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces.

SAMARA DOWNS PRINCIPAL

Born: Ashford, Kent

Trained: Caroline Shaw and Pauline Kellett Dance Schools, and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2003; Principal, 2016

Repertory: Coppélia (Swanilda), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), The Prince of the Pagodas (Empress Épine), Swan Lake (Odette/Odile), The Taming of the Shrew (Katherina), Carmina burana (Fortuna), Checkmate (Black Queen), Grosse Fuge, In the Upper Room, A Month in the Country (Natalia Petrovna), Sylvia (Diana), Giselle (Myrtha), Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (Striptease Girl).

First role with Company:

As a nine-year-old Junior Associate of the Royal Ballet, I was a child in the party scene in The Nutcracker. This is the ballet that I have danced the most (around 300 performances!). Despite this, it remains for me the best version of this Christmas delight. As I stand at the back of the stage ready to perform Snow Fairy, watching the stage crew manoeuvring the sets through the magical transformation scene, it still brings a lump to my throat.

First important role:

MacMillan’s Concerto is a ballet that has marked my journey from student to Principal. As an 18 year old I performed the first movement girl at school, and then years later, the third movement principal girl here.

CÉLINE GITTENS PRINCIPAL

Born: Trinidad; grew up in Vancouver, Canada

Trained: with her mother Janet Gittens and at Vancouver’s Goh Ballet Academy

Joined: 2006; Principal, 2016

Repertory: Coppélia (Swanilda), Don Quixote (Kitri), La Fille mal gardée (Lise), Giselle (Myrtha), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora) Swan Lake (Odette/Odile), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Queen of Hearts), Carmina burana (Fortuna), Elite Syncopations (Bethena Concert Waltz), Interlinked, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (Striptease Girl).

Awards: Royal Academy of Dance Solo Seal, 2004; Gold Medal and Audience Choice Awards, Genée International Ballet Competition, 2005; Prix de Lausanne finalist, 2006; MPhil from the University of Birmingham, 2012.

Proudest off-stage moment: In 2011, I was invited to Buckingham Palace to celebrate young performers in the arts. The event was a dream come true and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet her Majesty the Queen. Equally, it was an honour to be invited to Buckingham Palace in 2016 to perform Swanilda (Coppélia) in the presence of HRH Prince Charles.

MOMOKO HIRATA PRINCIPAL

Born: Gunma, Japan

Trained: Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2003; Principal, 2013

Repertory: Cinderella (title role, Spring), Coppélia (Swanilda), Don Quixote (Kitri), La Fille mal gardée (Lise), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Rose Fairy), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Serenade (leading role), The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora), Swan Lake (Odette/Odile), Sylvia (title role), Theme and Variations (lead couple), Apollo, Agon, Concerto (first movement), The Dream (Titania), Grosse Fuge, In the Upper Room, Mozartiana (Principal Couple), Paquita (lead couple).

Awards: Prix de Lausanne winner, 2001; Critics Circle National Dance Awards 2021, nomination for Outstanding Female Classical

Performance for the title role in Giselle; Critics Circle National Dance Award 2022 ,nomination for Best Female Classical Dancer.

Other companies: Barcelona Ballet (2011-13).

Created roles: Spring in David Bintley’s Cinderella.

Guest performances: Nina Ananiashvili’s 30 Years on Stage gala (Tchaikovsky pas de deux); NHK Gala, Tokyo ( pas de deux from The Nutcracker).

Favourite costume: Any costume designed by John Macfarlane.

BRANDON LAWRENCE PRINCIPAL

Born: Bradford

Trained: With Penny Murray, Andie Nydza and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2011; Principal, 2019

Repertory: Beauty and the Beast (Beast), Cinderella (Prince), Don Quixote (Basilio, Espada), La Fille mal gardée (Colas), Giselle (Albrecht), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund), Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried), Carmina burana (Third Seminarian), Concerto (second movement), Elite Syncopations (Bethena Waltz), End of Time, Lazuli Sky, Liebestod, Radio and Juliet, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Southern Cape Zebra), The Taming of the Shrew (Lucentio), The Moor’s Pavane (Othello).

Awards / Nominations: National Dance Awards nominee for Best Male Classical Performance (2018, 2019, 2022) and Best Male Dancer, Classical (2019), RAD Phyllis Bedells Award (2008).

Created roles:

Principal role in George Williamson’s Embrace, Pan in Ruth Brill’s Arcadia, La Grâce in David Bintley’s The King Dances, Alexander Whitley’s Kin, Red Couple in Juanjo Arqués’s Ignite, and roles in Didy Veldman’s Sense of Time, Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces and Wink, Jack Lister’s A Brief Nostalgia, Miguel Altunaga’s City of a Thousand Trades and Juliano Nunes’s Interlinked.

MIKI MIZUTANI PRINCIPAL

Born: Japan

Trained: Acri-Horimoto Ballet Academy and English National Ballet School

Joined: 2012; First Soloist 2018; Principal 2022

Repertory: Aladdin (Princess Badr al-Budur), Cinderella (title role, Spring), Coppélia (Swanilda), Don Quixote (Kitri), La Fille mal gardée (Lise), Giselle (title role), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara), The Prince of the Pagodas (Princess Belle Sakura), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora), Swan Lake (Odette/ Odile), Sylvia (title role), Concerto (first movement), Interlinked, Serenade

Guest performances: Ballet Asteras – an annual showcase of Japanese dancers who mainly perform outside the country.

Most challenging role: The title role in Sylvia – it requires a lot of stamina and the ability to change character in Act II.

Favourite full-length ballet: I enjoyed dancing Lise in La Fille mal gardée –it’s such a English ballet – I like acting and loved hearing reactions form the audience.

CÉSAR MORALES

PRINCIPAL

Born: Chile

Trained: Municipal Theatre’s Ballet School in Santiago before being offered a scholarship by Ben Stevenson to train at the Houston Ballet Academy

Joined: 2008

Awards: Dancing Times Award for Best Male Dancer, National Dance Awards 2021.

Repertory: Aladdin (title role), Beauty and the Beast (Beast), Cinderella (Prince), Giselle (Albrecht), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried), Sylvia (Amynta), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund), Chacona, Enigma Variations (Arthur Troyte Griffith), Serenade, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Southern Cape Zebra), Theme and Variations (lead role).

Other companies: Ballet de Santiago, Chile, and English National Ballet.

Repertory with other companies: Manon (Des Grieux), Le Corsaire (Conrad) and Le Spectre de la rose with Ballet de Santiago.

Guest performances: Ballet de Santiago, Chile, South African Ballet Theatre, Vienna Staatsoper, Nureyev Ballet Festival, New National Theatre, Tokyo, and many galas.

Favourite full-length ballet: Swan Lake is very special to me because, after my first-ever performance of it with Ballet de Santiago, when I was just 18, I was promoted to Principal by Ivan Nagy.

YAOQIAN SHANG

PRINCIPAL

Born: China

Trained: Beijing Dance Academy and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2013; First Soloist, 2018; Principal, 2022

Repertory: Beauty and the Beast (Wild Girl), Cinderella (title role), Don Quixote (Kitri), La Fille mal gardée (Lise), Hobson’s Choice (Salvation Army), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), The Prince of the Pagodas (Princess Belle Sakura), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora), Swan Lake (Odette/Odile), The Tempest (Miranda), 24, Chacona, 5 Tangos, E=mc2, Interlinked, Radio and Juliet, Solitaire (The Girl), The Shakespeare Suite (Juliet), ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Great Auk), Theme and Variations, Tombeaux.

Guest performances: Les Flammes de Paris pas de deux at a gala in Mexico, 2016; Polunin Project, London Coliseum, 2017.

Most important role: Princess Belle Sakura in The Prince of the Pagodas as it was the first principal role I danced and it was during my first season with the Company – it means a lot to me.

Favourite role: The title role in Romeo and Juliet – I feel like I have developed more of my artistic side by dancing this role. It allows so much freedom on stage.

TYRONE SINGLETON

PRINCIPAL

Born: Surrey

Trained: Arts Educational School in Tring and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2003; Principal, 2013

Repertory: Beauty and the Beast (Beast), Cinderella (Prince), Coppélia (Franz), Edward II (Gaveston, Mortimer), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried), The Tempest (Caliban), Agon, Carmina burana (Third Seminarian), City of a Thousand Trades, Concerto (second movement), Don Quixote pas de deux, In the Upper Room, Radio and Juliet, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Southern Cape Zebra), Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Twilight

Guest appearances:

Faster and Carmina burana with the National Ballet of Japan.

Dream roles:

The male leads in Neumeier’s The Lady of the Camellias and Cranko’s Onegin

Most challenging role:

Romeo in MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet. For years you train to perfect your technique, and in Romeo and Juliet the technique has to be so secure that it allows you to be totally free to portray the emotion and character through your movement.

Most enjoyable experience on stage:

The most enjoyable roles are always those I’m fully immersed in during performance, so much so that I forget who and where I am.

VADIM MUNTAGIROV GUEST PRINCIPAL

Russian dancer Vadim is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. He trained at The Royal Ballet Upper School and joined the Company from English National Ballet as a Principal in March 2014.

His roles with The Royal Ballet include Basilio (Don Quixote), Albrecht (Giselle), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Aminta (Sylvia), Prince Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty), Prince (The Nutcracker), Colas (La Fille mal gardée), Franz (Coppélia), Apollo, the Girl’s Cousin (The Invitation), Young Man (Two Pigeons), Onegin and Lensky (Onegin), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Des Grieux (Manon), Jack/ Knave of Hearts (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Florizel (The Winter’s Tale), Don José (Carmen) and Lt Colonel Vershinin (Winter Dreams).

Muntagirov’s awards include the 2011 Outstanding Male Performance (Classical), 2015 and 2018 Best Male Dancer at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards, the 2013 and 2018 Benois de la danse and the 2021 Dance Europe Outstanding Dancer Award. As a guest artist he has danced with companies including Paris Opéra Ballet, Mariinsky and American Ballet Theatre, in repertory including Solor (La Bayadère), Armand (Marguerite and Armand) and at National Ballet of Japan, Bavarian State Ballet, Mikhailovsky and Cape Town City Ballet.

POLINA SEMIONOVA GUEST PRINCIPAL

Polina was born in Moscow and trained there at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. In 2002 Polina was invited to join the Berlin State Opera Ballet as a Principal Artist, becoming the youngest Principal in the company’s history. She continues to dance with the company as a Resident Guest Principal Artist.

She is a former Principal Artist with American Ballet Theatre (2012-16). Polina dances almost all major roles in classical ballet and has appeared as a guest artist at companies around the world including: Mariinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg), Teatro alla Scala (Milan) Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow), English National Ballet (London), Bavarian State Ballet (Munich), Vienna State Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Mikhailovsky Theatre (St. Petersburg), Ballet of Rome, Ballet de l’Opera de Lyon, The Tokyo Ballet, The Kremlin Ballet (Moscow), Béjart Ballet Lausanne and Finnish National Ballet.

Vadim Muntagirov and Polina Semionova’s appearances with Birmingham Royal Ballet are generously supported by Mrs Aud Jebsen.

Photo © Maria-Helena Buckley

RORY MACKAY

PRINCIPAL CHARACTER ARTIST

Born: Glasgow

Trained: Dance School of Scotland and the Royal Ballet Upper School

Joined: 2002; First Soloist, 2019; Principal Character Artist, 2022

Repertory: Aladdin (Mahgrib, Sultan), Beauty and the Beast (The Merchant), Coppélia (Dr Coppélius), Cyrano (Ragueneau), Don Quixote (title role), La Fille mal gardée (Widow Simone), Giselle (Hilarion), Hobson’s Choice (Albert Prosser), Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt, Lord Capulet), The Nutcracker (Drosselmeyer), Checkmate (Red King), In the Upper Room, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Southern Cape Zebra).

Engagement and Participation work: I was involved with Ballet Hoo! Ballet Changed My Life in 2006 and the more recent Lost Souls and Cinderella Dreams projects.

Additional Birmingham Royal Ballet activities: I am an Assistant Répétiteur, teaching class and directing rehearsals and I also work with the Jerwood Centre as a Rehabilitation coach.

JONATHAN PAYN

PRINCIPAL CHARACTER ARTIST

Born: Ipswich

Trained: with my mother Janet Kinson and at The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 1993; First Soloist, 2006; Principal Character Artist, 2022

Repertory: Don Quixote (title role), Enigma Variations (Elgar), A Month in the Country (Rakitin), Hobson’s Choice (Henry Hobson), The Nutcracker (Drosselmeyer), Coppélia (Dr Coppélius), Swan Lake (Baron von Rothbart), Checkmate (The Red King), The Taming of the Shrew (Baptista), The Tempest (Alonso) and many character roles.

Dance-related work: I assisted in the staging of Enigma Variations for Sarasota Ballet, 2016. I hold Fellowship teaching status in the Cecchetti Method and teach regularly. I have been a guest teacher in South Africa, Australia, Japan and Malta.

Additional Birmingham Royal Ballet activities: As Artistic Enrichment Officer, I use the skills and talents of the dancers to enrich our engagement activities. I am also an Assistant Répétiteur, teaching class and directing rehearsals.

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KIT HOLDER

FIRST SOLOIST/ BRB2 ARTISTIC CO-ORDINATOR

Born: Leamington Spa

Trained: with Audrey Roper in Sutton Coldfield and at The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2000; First Soloist, 2019

Repertory: Don Quixote (Sancho Panzo, Gamache), Edward II (Warwick, Lancaster), La Fille mal gardée (Widow Simone, Alain), Giselle (Hilarion), The Nutcracker (many roles, including Drosselmeyer), 24, Carmina burana (Seminarian), The Dream (Bottom), Enigma Variations (Hew David Steuart Powell), In the Upper Room, Nine Sinatra Songs, Radio and Juliet, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Brazilian Woolly Monkey).

Choreography: Small Worlds, Printer Jam, 9–5, Quatrain, Tsfasmaniana, Seasons in our World (Winter) for BRB and Stems for The Royal Ballet’s International Draft Works; ballets for Elmhurst Ballet School, Ballet Central and Ballet Black; and Wolves Are People Too, an independent project in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Career if not a dancer: I am studying psychology. I am fascinated by the mental element of achieving and maintaining high performance at individual and cultural levels.

YU KURIHARA

FIRST SOLOIST

Born: Japan

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2018; Soloist 2021; First Soloist 2022

Repertory: Don Quixote (Kitri), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Swan Lake (Swan Maiden), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), La Fille mal gardée, Chacona, Ignite and Interlinked.

Created roles: Will Tuckett’s Lazuli Sky.

Awards: First prize at the Youth America Grand Prix (2015); Royal Ballet School Ashton Award, 2018.

Other companies: Asami Maki Ballet, Tokyo (Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty).

Proudest on-stage moment: Curtain calls, when I enjoy the results of all my work.

YVETTE KNIGHT FIRST SOLOIST

Born: Lancashire

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2007; First Soloist, 2018

Repertory: Cinderella (Winter), Don Quixote (Dulcinea), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Fairy), Swan Lake (Two Swan Maidens), Concerto (second movement), Elite Syncopations ( Alaskan Rag, Bethena Concert Waltz), E=mc2 (Energy lead), Les Rendezvous (lead), Serenade (Waltz lead), The Taming of the Shrew (Bianca).

Created roles: Iris in David Bintley’s The Tempest in 2016. Favourite dancers as a child: Darcey Bussell and Jamie Topper.

Teaching ballet: I have enjoyed teaching at Birmingham’s Elmhurst Ballet School for the past couple of years and seeing the students’ progress.

Most rewarding role: The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Not only because it is one of my favourite roles, but it gave me an opportunity to create a special partnership with one of my favourite partners, Yasuo Atsuji.

MAX MASLEN

FIRST SOLOIST

Born: Bradford

Trained: Nydza School of Dance and Central School of Ballet

Joined: 2012; Soloist, 2018; First Soloist 2022

Repertory: Aladdin (title role), Beauty and the Beast (Raven), Coppélia (Franz), Don Quixote (Basilio), Hobson’s Choice (Will Mossop), La Fille mal gardée (Colas), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund), Swan Lake (Benno), E=mc2 (lead role), Elite Syncopations (Golden Hours), The King Dances (Le Roi), Ignite (Fire), Pineapple Poll (Sailor), Theme and Variations, 5 Tangos.

Created roles: George Williamson’s Embrace (Him) and roles in Alexander Whitley’s Kin. and David Bintley’s The King Dances

Most rewarding role: Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet – it’s both technically challenging and requires acting skills. When you die on stage you really are on your last legs! .

Dream role: Sergeant Troy in Far from the Madding Crowd. It’s a complex and dramatic role to interpret with some incredible pas de deux

LACHLAN MONAGHAN

FIRST SOLOIST

Born: Sydney, Australia

Trained: McDonald College, Sydney, and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2012; Soloist, 2018; First Soloist 2022

Repertory: Aladdin (title role), Cinderella (Prince), Coppélia (Franz), Don Quixote (Basilio), Giselle (Hilarion), Hobson’s Choice (Will Mossop), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo, Mercutio), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund), Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried), Chacona, Concerto (principal couple), The Dream (Demetrius), Elite Syncopations (Friday Night), In the Upper Room, Interlinked, Imminent, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (Hoofer), The Shakespeare Suite (Hamlet).

Created roles: Neptune in The Tempest and Démon in The King Dances (2015). Roles in Ruth Brill’s Arcadia (2017) and Jessica Lang’s Wink (2015).

Memorable performances: I performed at Buckingham Palace for HRH, The Prince of Wales.

BEATRICE PARMA FIRST SOLOIST

Born: Prato, Italy

Trained: Teatro alla Scala, Milan and English National Ballet School

Joined: 2015; Soloist, 2019; First Soloist 2022

Repertory: Cinderella (title role), Coppélia (Swanilda), Don Quixote (Kitri), Giselle (Harvest pas de deux), Hobson’s Choice (Maggie Hobson), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), The Sleeping Beauty (Fairy of Temperament, Enchanted Princess), Swan Lake (Italian Princess), Chacona, Concerto, The Dream, Embrace, Four Scottish Dances, In the Upper Room, Interlinked, The Shakespeare Suite (Kate), Solitaire (Polka), Sense of Time.

Other companies: Soloist with Turkish State Opera and Ballet. Guest performances: Gala performances of pas de deux from La Fille mal gardée and The Sleeping Beauty, Etoile Ballet, Latvia.

Most important role: I feel so lucky to have danced Juliet, which has always been a dream role of mine. The feeling of being completely immersed into the story, to the point of forgetting I was performing in front of an audience, was incredibly unique and special.

KARLA DOORBAR SOLOIST

Born: Stoke-on-Trent

Trained: Jenny Brennan School of Dance and Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2011; Soloist, 2018

Repertory: Aladdin (Princess Badr al-Budur), Beauty and the Beast (Belle), Cinderella (Spring), Don Quixote (Kitri’s friend), La Fille mal gardée (Lise), The Nutcracker (Clara, Sugar Plum Fairy), The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora), The Taming of the Shrew (Bianca), Enigma Variations (Dorabella), Lazuli Sky, A Month in the Country (Vera).

Engagement and Participation work: I performed the role of Cinderella in the 2017 Cinderella Dreams performance project.

Proudest on-stage moment: Dancing Clara in Sir Peter Wright’s 90th birthday celebration of The Nutcracker was very special.

Most enjoyable experience on stage: Performing the wedding pas de deux from Aladdin at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. Sharing the stage with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia is amazing.

Most rewarding role: Vera in a Month in the Country, I loved discovering her character and the process of staging the ballet.

YIJING ZHANG SOLOIST

Born: China

Trained: Beijing Dance Academy and Hamburg Ballet School

Joined: 2008; Soloist, 2016

Repertory: Coppélia (Prayer), Cinderella (Winter, Fairy Godmother), Don Quixote (Dulcinea, Mercedes), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Fairy, Arabian Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Lady Capulet), The Sleeping Beauty (Lilac Fairy, Fairy of Joy), Swan Lake (Two Swan Maidens, Hungarian Princess), Carmina burana (Roast Swan), Elite Syncopations (Alaskan Rag), The King Dances (Selene, la Lune), Interlinked, Lazuli Sky, Serenade (lead role), The Shakespeare Suite (Lady Ann).

Awards: Laureate, Prix de Lausanne, 2006; Gold Medal, Beijing Ballet Dance School Invitational, 2006; Gold Medal, Fourth Shanghai International Ballet Competition, 2006.

Created roles: Roles in Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces and Wink, Alexander Whitley’s Kin. and Miguel Altunaga’s City of a Thousand Trades.

Most important role: Selene, la Lune in The King Dances.

RIKU ITO SOLOIST

Born: Yokohama, Japan

Trained: Yumi Kitamori Ballet

Studio and the School of the Hamburg Ballet

Joined: 2022

Other companies: Northern Ballet (2014-22)

Repertory with Northern Ballet: Kenneth MacMillan: Gloria (Solo man), Concerto (Three solo men), Elite Syncopations (Friday Night); David Nixon: Dracula (lead role), Cinderella (Prince), Three Musketeers (Dartagnan), The Nutcracker (Prince, Chinese, Russian, Spanish Dances, King Rat), Dangerous Liaisons (Vicomte de Valmont), The Great Gatsby (Jay Gatsby), Beauty and the Beast (Beast), Little Mermaid (Sealord Lyre), Peter Pan (Michael); Jean Christophe Maillot: Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio and Acolytes); Cathy Marston: Victoria (Lord Melbourne); Drew McOnie: Merlin (Lead role); John Neumeier: Mozart 338 (main couple), Yondering, The Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird) and Spring and Fall.

Created roles: David Nixon’s Dracula (Old Dracula), Kenneth Tindal’s Geisha (Takeda male lead role) and I am Mer-Lin a short digital film/ballet by Charlotte Edmonds.

Pre-performance Talks

A unique opportunity to hear about what it takes to be performance ready. Hear how we stage our magnificent shows and what life is really like on the road.

A series of special introductory talks with members of the Company, each lasting approximately 30 minutes. Introduced by Assistant Répétiteur and Principal Character Artist Jonathan Payn, speakers range from dancers and musicians to members of the vital backstage technical teams.

These events are free to ticket holders and supporters, but you may still need to book your place in advance when you buy your ticket to the show.

To book visit brb.org.uk/Events

REINA FUCHIGAMI FIRST ARTIST

Born: Fukushima, Japan

Trained: Hitomi Takeuchi Ballet School and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2012; First Artist, 2016

Repertory: Aladdin (Diamond), Cinderella (Spring), Don Quixote (Kitri’s friend), The Nutcracker (Clara, Rose Fairy), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet’s Friends), The Sleeping Beauty (Fairy of Honour), Swan Lake (Italian Princess), Concerto, Elite Syncopations, Imminent, Interlinked, The Dream, In the Upper Room. Most rewarding role: Each role I dance creates memories that I’ll cherish and each makes me stronger and wiser as a dancer.

GUS PAYNE FIRST ARTIST

Born: East Sussex

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2017; First Artist, 2021

Repertory: Aladdin, La Fille mal gardée (Cockerel), The Nutcracker (Harlequin, Chinese and Russian Dances), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), The Sleeping Beauty ( pas de quatre), ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café (Texas Kangaroo Rat),

In the Upper Room, Lazuli Sky, 24, Radio and Juliet.

Awards: Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award, third prize, at The Royal Ballet School.

Dream role: Puck in Ashton’s The Dream.

DARIA STANCIULESCU

FIRST ARTIST

Born: Romania

Trained: Schools in Bucharest, Monte Carlo and Munich

Joined: 2014; First Artist, 2018

Repertory: Cinderella (Stepmother), Don Quixote (Dulcinea), Romeo and Juliet (Lady Capulet), Carmina burana (Roast Swan), Enigma Variations (Lady Mary), Façade. Other companies: Bavarian National Ballet, Munich (200612), and Ballet Zurich (2012-14).

Favourite full-length ballet: Romeo and Juliet for the love story and drama.

HAOLIANG FENG FIRST ARTIST

Born: China

Trained: Beijing Dance Academy and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2017; First Artist, 2021

Awards: Silver, Youth American Grand Prix, 2014; Gold, Vienna International Ballet Competition, 2014; Bronze, Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition, 2019.

Repertory: Aladdin (Gold, Silver), Don Quixote (Espada), The Nutcracker (Prince), Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio), The Sleeping Beauty (Cavalier, pas de quatre), Swan Lake (Benno), Chacona, Lazuli Sky.

RACHELE PIZZILLO FIRST ARTIST

Born: Palermo, Italy

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2015; First Artist, 2021

Repertory: Don Quixote (Kitri’s friend), Giselle, The Nutcracker (Clara, Spanish Dance, Columbine), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet’s friends), The Sleeping Beauty (Fairy of Modesty), Swan Lake, Chacona, Concerto, Lazuli Sky, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café.

Dream role: The lead in Romeo and Juliet. I particularly love the music, story and especially her character for the strong emotions you need to be able to express throughout the ballet.

Guest dancers for Swan Lake

Isabelle Clough

Joshua Fickling

Genevieve Heron

Chloe Horton

Tamara Ledermann

Ava May Llewellyn

Andrew McFarlane

Alexander Nuttall

Gillian Whittall

Maidie Widmer

GABRIEL ANDERSON ARTIST

Born: London

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2016

Repertory: Coppélia (Mazurka, Czárdás, Call to Arms), Don Quixote (Matador), The Nutcracker (King Rat, Spanish Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Paris), Chacona, Concerto, Imminent, Sense of Time, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café.

Most important role: The creation of Didy Veldman’s Sense of Time was a highlight for me – she was so much fun to work with. What would you be if you weren’t a dancer: A freelance photographer and illustrator or jewellery maker.

ENRIQUE BEJARANO VIDAL

ARTIST

Born: Guadalajara, Mexico

Trained: National Ballet School of Cuba, Academie Princesse Grace

Joined: 2021

Awards: Gold Medal (Youth American Grand Prix finals in New York 2018); Gold Medal (international competition of Mexico 2011); award at Gala de Danza as Promising Artist, 2018.

Repertory: Don Quixote (Amour), The Nutcracker (Prince, Jackin-the Box, Magician’s Assistant, Russian and Chinese Dances), Romeo and Juliet (Benvolio, Mandolin Dance), Interlinked.

JACK EASTON ARTIST/ BRB2

Born: Miami, Florida

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2022

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Russian Dance), and Don Quixote with Birmingham Royal Ballet as a student.

LOUIS ANDREASEN ARTIST

Born: London

Trained: The Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet School, graduate year.

Joined: 2018

Repertory: Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Giselle, La Fille mal gardée, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet (Mandolin dance), The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Chacona, 24. First ballet you watched: Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Opera House. It was really special because my mum was playing in the orchestra.

OLIVIA CHANG CLARKE APPRENTICE

Born: London

Trained: Elmhurst Ballet School

Joined: 2022

My most enjoyable experience on stage: When I took part in the BBC Young Dancer Final. I was able to show my choreographic and dancing abilities on television. I will always cherish the experience.

Repertory: Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. I find it very inspiring when a dancer can change character so dramatically. Repertory: The Nutcracker (Mirliton).

ROSANNA ELY ARTIST

Born: Lancaster

Trained: Elmhurst Ballet School

Joined: 2014

Repertory: Don Quixote (Kitri’s friends), The Nutcracker (Spanish Dance), The Prince of the Pagodas, Romeo and Juliet (Harlot), Swan Lake, The Tempest, 5 Tangos, 24, City of a Thousand Trades, Elite Syncopations, Les Rendezvous, Serenade.

Favourite ballet score: Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Dream role: Lead roles in Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake.

RYAN FELIX ARTIST

Born: Stourbridge

Trained: Elmhurst Ballet School

Joined: 2019; Artist 2021

Awards: Bronze Medal, Genée

International Ballet Competition, 2017; Ballet Finalist, BBC Young Dancer, 2017.

Repertory: Cinderella (Prince’s Friends), Don Quixote (Fandango couple), The Nutcracker (Magician’s Assistant, Russian, Chinese and Spanish Dances), Romeo and Juliet (Mandolin Dance lead), Swan Lake (Czárdás, Mazurka).

Created roles: Roles in Will Tuckett’s Lazuli Sky and Daniela Cardim’s Imminent.

CALLUM FINDLAY-WHITE ARTIST

Born: Toronto, Canada

Trained: National Ballet School of Canada and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2018

Repertory: Beauty and the Beast (Hunter), Hobson’s Choice, La Fille mal gardée, The Nutcracker (Winds), Romeo and Juliet (Paris, Benvolio), The Sleeping Beauty, City of a Thousand Trades.

Career if not a dancer: Either an ice hockey player or a professional snowboarder.

Dream role: Romeo in Romeo and Juliet because it’s such a beautiful role.

TORI FORSYTH-HECKEN ARTIST

Born: London

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2018

Repertory: Cinderella (Fairy Godmother), Romeo and Juliet (Rosaline), Chacona, Imminent.

Proudest on-stage moment: Performing in the Grand Défilé i n the end-of-year show at The Royal Ballet School – after eight years of training it’s a memory I will treasure forever.

Favourite full-length ballet: Swan Lake – its emotion and intense passion is beyond comparison.

MILES GILLIVER ARTIST

Born: Gloucester

Trained: Elmhurst Ballet School

Joined: 2013

Repertory: Coppélia (Lead Call to Arms), Don Quixote (Espada, Matador), The Nutcracker (Arabian Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Lead Mandolin Dance), The Sleeping Beauty (Cavaliers), E=mc2 (Energy), In the Upper Room, Flowers of the Forest (Scottish Ballad), Monotones II.

Career if not a dancer: I’d love to be involved in motorsports. Most challenging role: Monotones II – it’s a very revealing piece with minimal sets and just a trio on stage.

ISABELLA HOWARD ARTIST

Born: Sydney, Australia

Trained: with Miss Carmel Nolan at Davidia Lind Dance Centre, Classical Coaching Australia and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2018

Repertory: Don Quixote (Gypsy Couple), The Nutcracker (Snow Fairy), Romeo and Juliet (Rosaline, Harlot).

Favourite full-length ballet: Manon because of the gripping storyline and exquisite music.

Most enjoyable experience on stage: Dancing ‘Red Girls’ in Les Patineurs because it’s such a light-hearted, fun role to play.

FRIEDA KADEN ARTIST/ BRB2

Born: Berlin

Trained: Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin, and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2022

Awards: Nadia Nerina Scholarship (2019), First place in Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance (2020) and Dance Association Award 2021.

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Mirliton), The Nutcracker with Berlin State Ballet; The Nutcracker and Giselle with The Royal Ballet and in various galas around the world including Moscow and Mexico.

AUGUST GENERALLI ARTIST

Born: New Zealand

Trained: Ellison Ballet, New York

Joined: 2018

Other companies: Boston Ballet II (2017-8)

Awards: Youth America Grand Prix awards, including Gold in Boston, 2015.

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Spanish Dance) and with Boston Ballet II: The American (Christopher Wheeldon), pas de deux from La Bayadère, Giselle and Don Quixote.

Most challenging role: Don José in Edward Ellison’s Carmen – you live the character and feel his pain, love and loss.

TESSA HOGGE ARTIST

Born: Kentucky, but raised in Florida

Trained: St Lucie Ballet

Joined: 2019

Other companies: Milwaukee Ballet II (2018-19).

Awards: First place solo in Universal Ballet Competition (2016).

Repertory: Serenade (Russian Girl), Le Corsaire (Odalisque) with Milwaukee Ballet.

First ballet you watched: The Sleeping Beauty with my dad. I was so inspired by the show that I remember throwing a small fit.

REGAN HUTSELL ARTIST

Born: Houston, Texas

Trained: Feijoo Ballet School, Texas

Joined: 2021

Other companies: The Radio City

Rockettes, Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre, Festival Ballet Providence, Guest Artist with Houston Contemporary Dance Company.

Awards: Dance Open America – Gold Medalist in Classical and Contemporary (2021); American Ballet Competition – Gold Medallist in Classical and Contemporary (2019); YAGP finalist. Favourite full-length ballet: Don Quixote. There is so much energy and passion from the plot, as well as the vivacious score.

MAÏLÈNE KATOCH ARTIST/ BRB2

Born: Paris

Trained: Paris Opera Ballet School

Joined: 2022

Other companies: Paris Opera Ballet (2021/2022 season)

Dream role: I would love to dance Odette/ because I find it interesting to be able to interpret an ethereal and delicate swan and then a mischievous swan.

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Mirliton).

Joined: 2022

OSCAR KEMPSEY-FAGG ARTIST/ BRB2

Born: Birmingham

Trained: I began my training with Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Dance Track programme and then studied as a Royal Ballet Junior Associate, The Royal Ballet and at Elmhurst Ballet School.

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Spanish Dance) Don Quixote with Birmingham Royal Ballet as a student.

SOFIA LIÑARES ARTIST

Born: A Coruña, Spain

Trained: Conservatorio de Danza de A Coruña and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2020

Repertory: Don Quixote (Mercedes), The Nutcracker (Clara, Rose Fairy, Spanish Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet’s friends), City of a Thousand Trades, Interlinked, 24, Javier De Frutos’s film The Burning Building.

Favourite one-act ballet: Elite Syncopations is such a joyful and playful piece. I could watch it all day.

ERIC PINTO CATA ARTIST

Born: London

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2021

Awards: Valerie Adams Award (2018), Lynn Seymour Award (2019); Gailene Stock Award (2020) – all Royal Ballet School.

Repertory: Don Quixote (Matador), The Nutcracker (Jack-inthe-box, Russian Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Mandolin Dance), City of a Thousand Trades, Interlinked, Lazuli Sky.

Proudest on-stage moment: Performing Didy Veldman’s Is To Be at the 2020 Youth Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Lausanne.

MATILDE RODRIGUES ARTIST

Born: Leiria, Portugal

Trained: International Conservatory

Annarella Sanchez

Awards: Semi-finals Youth American Grand Prix, 2017, and Third Place, 2018.

Joined: 2020

Career if not a dancer: A nutritionist, this is what I would like to pursue after my dancing career.

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Mirliton), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet’s friends), City of a Thousand Trades.

Created role: Morgann Runacre-Temple’s Hotel.

MASON KING ARTIST/ BRB2

Born: Ascot, England and grew up in New Zealand

Trained: Chilton Ballet Academy, Scholar and Associate of The New Zealand School of Dance, and The Royal Ballet School.

Joined: 2022

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Rat King, Spanish Dance), Don Quixote with BRB as a student and Romeo and Juliet, Giselle and The Nutcracker with The Royal Ballet as a student.

HANNAH MARTIN ARTIST

Born: Hove, Sussex

Trained: Elmhurst Ballet School

Joined: 2021; Artist 2022

Awards: Bronze Award at the Royal Academy of Dance, 2021, Fonteyn Award 2021 (previously Genée), 2021. Semi-finalist in the BBC’s The Greatest Dancer, 2020.

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Mirliton), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet’s friends), 24

Proudest off-stage achievement: I was on the national team of Great Britain as a rhythmic gymnast and competed for Team England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

EMMA PRICE ARTIST

Born: Newcastle upon Tyne

Trained: Marian Lane Theatre Dance School, English National Ballet School, Elmhurst Ballet School

Joined: 2019

Repertory: Cinderella (Dumpy, Stepmother), Don Quixote (Mercedes, Gypsy Couple), Romeo and Juliet (Lead Harlot), The Nutcracker (Spanish Dance), The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora’s friends, Lilac Fairy attendants), Swan Lake (Cygnet, Lead Czardas), 24, Chacona, Lazuli Sky, Nine Sinatra Songs (Strangers in the Night).

JAVIER ROJAS ARTIST

Born: Vedado, Cuba

Trained: National Ballet of Cuba School

Joined: 2021

Other companies: Acosta Danza, Royal Swedish Ballet

Repertory: Don Quixote (Gypsy Couple), The Nutcracker (Spanish Dance), 24, City of a Thousand Trades, Interlinked. With Acosta Danza: A Buenos Aires, Majisimo, Belles Lettres, Twelve, Imponderable, Paysage, soudain, la nuit, Rooster, End of Time and Thousand Years After.

HAMISH SCOTT ARTIST

Born: Harlow, Essex

Trained: Harlow Ballet Association and Elmhurst Ballet School

Joined: 2017

Awards: Bronze Medal, Genée International Ballet Competition, Sydney 2016; Barbara Geoghegan Award, 2016; Ballet Finalist, BBC Young Dancer, 2015.

Repertory: Don Quixote (Sancho Panza), The Nutcracker (Jackin-the-Box), Romeo and Juliet (Mandolin Dance), The Sleeping Beauty (Puss-in-Boots) Lazuli Sky, 24 and roles in 5 Tangos, Cinderella, Pineapple Poll, Solitaire and The Tempest.

LENNERT STEEGEN ARTIST

Born: Belgium

Trained: The Royal Ballet School, Antwerp, and The Royal Ballet School, London

Joined: 2018

Repertory: Don Quixote (Matador), The Nutcracker (Arabian Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Paris), Imminent, Radio and Juliet.

Other companies: Several productions with the Royal Ballet of Flanders and in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with The Royal Ballet.

Dream role: Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty.

LYNSEY SUTHERLAND ARTIST

Born: Hull

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2017

Other companies: Polish National Ballet, Repertory: Aladdin, The Nutcracker (Mirliton, Columbine), The Sleeping Beauty, La Fille mal gardée, Romeo and Juliet (Lady Monatgue), 24, Le Baiser de la fée, Concerto, Elite Syncopations, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café; with Polish National Ballet: Concerto barocco (Balanchine), Artifact Suite (Forsythe), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Neumeier), The Rite of Spring (Nijinsky), La Bayadère (Petipa).

LUCY WAINE ARTIST

Born: Cheltenham

Trained: The Royal Ballet School

Awards: Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers

Award, Royal Ballet School 2020

Joined: 2020

Ballet heroine: Darcey Bussell - she defined ballet within her career and was a key developer in the progression of athleticism paired with elegance which can be found in ballet dancers of today.

Repertory: Don Quixote (Queen of the Dryads), The Nutcracker (Snow Fairy), Romeo and Juliet (Rosaline), City of a Thousand Trades.

EILIS SMALL ARTIST

Born: Canberra, Australia

Trained: Australian Ballet School

Joined: 2018

Repertory: Cinderella (Stepsister, Stepmother), Don Quixote (Gypsy Couple), Giselle (Wilis), Imminent (lead role), The Nutcracker (Arabian Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Lady Capulet), Swan Lake (Queen Mother), Lazuli Sky, Nine Sinatra Songs ( All the Way), Peter and the Wolf, 24

Proudest onstage moment: Performing the lead role in Daniela Cardim’s Imminent. It was a privilege to be a part of the creation process.

YUKI SUGIURA ARTIST

Born: Hyogo, Japan

Trained: Seiko Kuramoto Ballet School and The Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2018

Awards: Silver Medal (Youth America Grand Prix, New York, 2014); First place (Kobe Dance Competition, Japan, 2012).

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Mirliton), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet’s Friends), Swan Lake (Swan Maiden) and Chacona

Inspirational book: Former Principal dancer Miyako Yoshida’s book – it taught me what it is to be a ballerina.

AMELIA THOMPSON ARTIST

Born: Worcester

Trained: Elmhurst Ballet School, The Royal Ballet School Senior Associates

Joined: 2021

Proudest experience on stage: Definitely performing the role of Snow Fairy in The Nutcracker with Birmingham Royal Ballet at The Rep in 2020. The elation and joy that I felt whilst being on stage and portraying such a powerful role was unmatched by anything that I had ever done before!

SHUAILUN WU ARTIST

Born: China

Trained: Beijing Dance Academy and The Royal Ballet School.

Joined: 2020

Awards: 2019 Prix de Lausanne prize winner, Silver at the 2018 Beijing International Ballet Invitational for Dance School, Bronze at the 2018 Global Dance Challenge.

Repertory: The Nutcracker (Russian Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio, Mandolin Dance), City of a Thousand Trades, Javier De Frutos’s film The Burning Building.

Birmingham Royal Ballet is delighted to announce the launch BRB2.

BRB2 puts a spotlight on the Company’s rising stars and seeks out some of the best young ballet graduates from around the world, to join this two-year performance programme that provides vital employment for the next generation of exceptional ballet dancers, helping them transition from training into jobs impacting the dance sector worldwide.

The dancers will train and perform with the whole company in major productions, and they will develop their own touring programme, mentored by BRB2’s Artistic Co-ordinator, First Soloist Kit Holder, and supported by BRB’s ballet staff.

The founder members of BRB2 (pictured above) will this year be joined by seven exceptional dancers from the Company for their moment in the spotlight.

BRB2 is generously supported by David and Mary Laing, The Kirby Laing Foundation and The Linbury Trust.

Carlos Acosta’s Classical Selection BRB2’s inaugural tour

Sparkling classical highlights from Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody, Carlos’s own temperature-raising Carmen, Bournonville’s delightful La Sylphide, the explosive Diana and Actaeon pas de deux, and Carlos’s own new interpretation of Fokine’s The Dying Swan, are just some of the highlights of this inaugural BRB2 tour. The performances also include live and recorded music from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

Northampton Royal and Derngate 25 April

Nottingham Theatre Royal 28 & 29 April

New Theatre Peterborough 3 & 4 May

The Linbury Theatre, London 13 & 14 June

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre 24 June

Book now: brb.org.uk/ClassicalSelection

From left: Mason King, Jack Easton, Maïlène Katoch, Frieda Kaden and Oscar Kempsey-Fagg with Carlos Acosta. © Drew Tommons.

“It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Birmingham Royal Ballet’s rising stars in our exciting new company, BRB2. ” Carlos Acosta

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET: BALLET STAFF

MICHAEL O’HARE SENIOR RÉPÉTITEUR

Born in Hull, Michael O’Hare trained with Louise Browne obe before joining The Royal Ballet School. He joined Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1980, became Principal, 1987, and relocated to Birmingham in 1990. He danced leading classical and character roles in the Company’s repertory for over 20 years and was the first person to perform all three principal male roles in La Fille mal gardée. He has created roles in a number of David Bintley’s ballets, including Hobson’s Choice (Will Mossop), Far from the Madding Crowd (Gabriel Oak), Sylvia (Eros), The Nutcracker Sweeties (Buttons), Flowers of the Forest, Brahms Handel Variations, Choros, The Snow Queen and Carmina burana. He joined the ballet staff in 2002 and was appointed Senior Ballet Master in 2014. He continues to perform character roles, including Widow Simone (La Fille mal gardée), Kostcheï (The Firebird ), Grandfather (The Nutcracker), Dr Coppélius (Coppélia), Lord Capulet (Romeo and Juliet), the Merchant (Beauty and the Beast), Red King (Checkmate), Catalabutte (The Sleeping Beauty), Yslaev (A Month in the Country) and the Beggar in Gillian Lynne’s 2014 revival of Miracle in the Gorbals.

CARMEN PIQUERAS RÉPÉTITEUR

Born in Murcia, Spain, Carmen Piqueras trained with José Antonio Robles and with the Carmina Ocaña Ballett School in Madrid. She has danced in several European companies, including Ballet Victor Ullate, European Ballet, Zürich Ballet, English National Ballet and joined the Semperoper Ballett in 2006 where she was then promoted to a Soloist. She has danced a wide variety of repertoire from classical to contemporary. Since 2008 Carmen has been a guest ballet teacher in many different dance companies throughout Europe. She was Ballet Master with the Semperoper Ballett (2016-21), responsible for the choreographies of MacMillan, Balanchine, Forsythe, Ashton, Dawson, Watkin, Celis, Peck, Inger and Bausch, among others. She joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2021.

MARION TAIT REHEARSAL DIRECTOR / COACH

Born in London, Marion Tait joined The Royal Ballet School at 15, graduating to The Royal Ballet’s touring company. She danced the ballerina roles in all the classics and in Romeo and Juliet, Elite Syncopations, Las Hermanas, The Invitation, Hobson’s Choice, The Dream, The Burrow, Fall River Legend (Lizzie Borden) and Pillar of Fire (Hagar). She created many roles in ballets by MacMillan and Bintley, and appeared as a guest worldwide. She was given an OBE in 1992 and made a CBE in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours. She has been nominated for two Olivier Awards, won the Evening Standard Ballet Award and was named Dancer of the Year 1994. Marion assisted Desmond Kelly in Ballet Changed My Life – Ballet Hoo!, the education project documented on Channel 4 in 2006, for which she was presented with the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards in 2008. In more recent years she was the Company’s Ballet Mistress and then succeeded Desmond Kelly as Assistant Director, a role she stood down from in early 2021. In February 2020, Marion was awarded the De Valois Award for outstanding contribution to dance at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards.

PATRICIA TIERNEY BENESH CHOREOLOGIST / VIDEO ARCHIVIST

Born in Leicester, Patricia Tierney trained at Bush Davies School and Rambert Academy and studied Benesh Movement Notation (BMN) at the Benesh Institute London. She joined the Hamburg Ballet as Choreologist under the direction of John Neumeier in 1987, returning to England in 1992 to work as Choreologist at English National Ballet before joining Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1993 as Dance Notator. Her current position is Benesh Choreologist / Video Archivist. Using BMN she has recorded, assisted and taught in rehearsals of many new ballets and revivals of works across Birmingham Royal Ballet’s repertoire, as well as recently staging the choreography of Sir Frederick Ashton (Enigma Variations, The Dream and Dante Sonata), David Bintley (Carmina burana, Cinderella, E=mc2 , Faster, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café and The Shakespeare Suite) and Stanton Welch (Powder) for various companies in Australia, Europe, Japan and the USA. Between 2009 and 2017 Patricia also taught the BMN course ‘Score Reading For Dancers’ to sixth-form students of Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham.

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET: MUSIC STAFF

PAUL MURPHY PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR

Paul Murphy studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music. He joined the Company in 1992 and was appointed Principal Conductor in 1997. He has been a guest conductor with The Royal Ballet since 1994 and conductor of The Royal Ballet School Annual Performance since 2005. He has also conducted for New York City Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Australian Ballet, BalletBoyz, NDT 1, Acosta Danza, Finnish National Ballet and Tokyo Ballet at La Scala, Milan. He has been a regular guest conductor with the National Ballet of Japan since 2008 and made his debut with the Sarasota Ballet in March 2022 conducting the world premiere of David Bintley’s A Comedy of Errors. Away from the theatre, he has guest conducted the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Hallé, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, Manchester Camerata, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has made numerous recordings for BBC television and radio, and discs for labels such as Naxos, ASV and Opus Arte.

ROBERT GIBBS LEADER

Robert Gibbs studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music, where he won the Tagore Gold Medal. He joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1994 as co-leader, taking over as leader in 1998 from Yuri Torchinsky. He is also leader of the London Festival Orchestra and has often guest-led for the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, New Queen’s Hall Orchestra and several orchestras in Japan. He has also led Nederlands Ballet Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. He has played as Soloist throughout the UK, Europe, Latin America and the Far East, with recent concerto performances in Russia and China. On many occasions he has been Soloist for Birmingham Royal Ballet and visiting companies with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. His recordings include the violin and piano works of Bax, Goossens and W.H. Reed, and chamber music by Korngold, Rawsthorne, Mozart and Brahms

PHILIP ELLIS CONDUCTOR

Conductor of Birmingham

Royal Ballet since 1990, Philip is increasingly in demand as a guest conductor. He has appeared regularly with The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, Paris Opéra Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Mikhailovsky Ballet and Australian Ballet. He has also conducted Sarasota Ballet, Angel Corella Ballet throughout Spain, Semper Opera Ballet in Dresden, English National Ballet, Gothenburg Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Polish National Ballet and Kobayashi Ballet in Tokyo. He was nominated for ‘Best Conductor’ at the inaugural Taglioni European Ballet Awards. As a concert conductor he has worked with orchestras such as the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Concert Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic, National Symphony of Mexico, Württemburgische Philharmonie Reutingen, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Belgian National Orchestra, Flanders Symphony, Western Australian Symphony and Sydney Symphony. He has made CD recordings with the Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He is Music Director of the Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

CHARLOTTE POLITI CONSTANT LAMBERT CONDUCTING FELLOWSHIP

Charlotte is a Constant Lambert Conducting Fellow with The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. She was born in Paris and grew up in Italy, where she studied conducting with mentors Piero Bellugi and Oleg Caetani, and was selected as a conducting fellow at the Accademia Chigiana in 2015. She later studied at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (Germany), and she graduated with a Masters degree from the University of Michigan (USA) under the guidance of Kenneth Kiesler. In 2020 she was selected by Riccardo Muti for the Italian Opera Academy, where she studied Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni and Pagliacci by Leoncavallo under the guidance of Maestro Muti and performed the operas with Orchestra Luigi Cherubini and a cast of internationally renowned singers. She has conducted for orchestras including: Baden-Baden Philharmonie, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Philharmonisches

Kammerorchester Dresden, Orchestra da Camera del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

MARTIN GEORGIEV GUEST CONDUCTOR

British-Bulgarian conductor and composer Martin Georgiev gained a conducting diploma and PhD in composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He has collaborated with orchestras around the world. Since 2013 he has been Assistant Conductor with The Royal Ballet, involved with the world premieres of Woolf Works, Multiverse, Connectome, Frankenstein, Yugen, Obsidian Tear, The Illustrated Farewell, Strapless, Corybantic Games, The Wind, Raven Girl, The Unknown Soldier, Medusa, The Weathering and Like Water for Chocolate, and in the current season he is conducting Mayerling and Woolf Works at the Royal Opera House, as well as making debuts with Netherlands Dance Theatre and Northern Ballet. For BRB he conducted the world premieres of Ignite (nominated for Benois de la danse, 2018) and A Brief Nostalgia, as well as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and Rosie Kay’s Romeo + Juliet. Born in Varna, he was laureate of the TACTUS International Composers’ Forum in Brussels and has won the Grand Prize of the Sofia National Philharmonic Orchestra, and over 20 other awards and scholarships.

MATTHEW DRURY COMPANY PIANIST

Born in Bury, Matthew Drury began piano lessons with local teacher Raymond Burrill. He later studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, firstly under Martin Roscoe and then with Marjorie Clementi. Upon gaining his music degree he worked as a freelance musician, eventually becoming a music teacher in Accrington. In 2004 he secured the position of pianist at Birmingham’s Elmhurst Ballet School two years later joined Birmingham Royal Ballet with which he has toured extensively, both in the UK and overseas. In 2012, he co-wrote a choral piece, Lancashire Hill Country, with teacher and percussionist Helen Davies, a performance of which was given to Her Majesty the Queen in honour of the Diamond Jubilee. Matthew lives in Staffordshire with his wife, son and dog, Oscar.

JEANETTE WONG HEAD OF PIANO

Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jeanette obtained her First-Class Honours and Master’s Degree with Distinction under Malcolm Wilson at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She was awarded the RBC Honorary Membership in 2009 (HonRBC) for her outstanding contribution to her profession. She then studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, under András Kemenes, after winning the Joseph Weingarten Scholarship. She was a full-time pianist at the Elmhurst Ballet School for six years before joining Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2014, she was the dance pianist for Eugene Onegin at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. She also sings with the award-winning CBSO Chorus.

ROSS WILLIAMS COMPANY PIANIST

Ross Williams was born and educated in Cheshire and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music.

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET

Director

Carlos Acosta cbe

Assistant Director

Dominic Antonucci

Chief Executive Officer

Caroline Miller obe

Music Director and Conductor

Koen Kessels

Board of Directors

Sir David Normington gcb

Chair

Barry Allen

Marverine Cole

Anthony Coombs

Michael Elliott

Jane Hackett

Shireenah Ingram

Jeanetta Laurence obe

Sandra Madgwick

Christine Ondimu

Hemma Patel

Deborah Spence

Ian Squires

Anna Williams fca, dch a Company Secretary

Olga David Board & Governance Assistant

Governors: Royal Ballet Companies and School

Dame Sue Owen Chair

Leanne Benjamin am obe Vice-Chair

Sir Matthew Bourne obe

Anne Bulford cbe

Hilary S. Carty obe

Lady Deighton

Sir Lloyd Dorfman cvo cbe

Sir Nicholas Hytner

Jeanetta Laurence obe

Isabel McMeekan

Sir David Normington gcb

Derek Purnell

Luke Ritter cbe

Christopher Rodrigues cbe

Lindsay Tomlinson obe

Jacqueline Mistry

Honorary Secretary

BALLET STAFF

Senior Répétiteur

Michael O’Hare

Répétiteur

Carmen Piqueras

Rehearsal Director and Coach

Marion Tait

Benesh Choreologist / Video Archivist

Patricia Tierney

Assistant Répétiteurs

Rory Mackay Rehabilitation Coach

Jonathan Payn

Artistic Enrichment O fficer

DANCERS

Principals

Mathias Dingman

Samara Downs

Céline Gittens

Momoko Hirata

Brandon Lawrence

Miki Mizutani

César Morales

Yaoqian Shang

Tyrone Singleton

Guest Principals

Vadim Muntagirov

Polina Semionova

Principal Character Artists

Rory Mackay

Jonathan Payn

First Soloists

Beatrice Parma

Kit Holder

BR B2 Artistic Co-ordinator

Yvette Knight

Yu Kurihara

Max Maslen

Lachlan Monaghan

Soloists

Karla Doorbar

Riku Ito

Yijing Zhang

First Artists

Reina Fuchigami

Haoliang Feng

Gus Payne

Rachele Pizzillo

Daria Stanciulescu

Artists

Gabriel Anderson

Louis Andreasen

Enrique Bejarano Vidal

Rosanna Ely

Ryan Felix

Callum Findlay-White

Tori Forsyth-Hecken

August Generalli

Miles Gilliver

Tessa Hogge

Isabella Howard

Regan Hutsell

Sofia Liñares

Hannah Martin

Eric Pinto Cata

Emma Price

Matilde Rodrigues

Javier Rojas

Hamish Scott

Eilis Small

Lennert Steegen

Yuki Sugiura

Lynsey Sutherland

Amelia Thompson

Lucy Waine

Shuailun Wu

Artists | BRB2

Jack Easton

Frieda Kaden

Maïlène Katoch

Oscar Kempsey-Fagg

Mason King

Apprentice

Olivia Chang Clarke

ROYAL BALLET SINFONIA

Principal Conductor

Paul Murphy

Conductor

Philip Ellis

Constant Lambert

Conducting Fellowship

Charlotte Politi

Guest Conductor

Martin Georgiev

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 Collins

Cellos

António Novais

Jane Rainey

Double Basses

Vera Pereira

Alan Taylor

Flutes

Sandra Skipper, Piccolo

Oboes

Maxwell Spiers Cor anglais

Clarinets

Ian Scott

Harry Penny Bass Clarinet

Bassoons

Luke Tucker

Horns

Andrew Littlemore

Neil Mitchell

Chris Pointon

Trumpets

Michael Allen

Christopher Deacon

Trombones

Amos Miller

Andrew White

Tubas

David Gordon Shute

Timpani

Grahame King

Percussion

Kevin Earley

Paul Parker

Head of Piano

Jeanette Wong

Company Pianists

Matthew Drury

Ross Williams

For vacancies in the Royal Ballet Sinfonia visit brb.org.uk/sinfonia

Chief Operating Officer

Anna Williams fca, dch a

Chief Commercial Officer

Paul James

Business Affairs Consultant

Irving David (Level Law)

SALES, MARKETING & AUDIENCES

Head of Marketing

Kate Howells

Senior Marketing Executive

Melissa Evans

Marketing ExecutiveAudiences

Joe Palfrey

Senior Design Executive

Lee Armstrong

Design Executives

Vicki Costin

Matt Davis

Special Projects Consultant

Jim Fletcher

Creative Digital Producer

Tom Rogers

Digital Content Executive

Imogen Harvey

Digital Marketing Apprentice

Henry McNab

Public Relations

National: Bread and Butter PR; Birmingham: M Seven Public Relations

LEARNING, ENGAGEMENT, ACCESS & PARTICIPATION

Director of LEAP

Pearl Chesterman

Head of Creative Learning

Lee Fisher

Learning & Participation

Manager

Rebecca Brookes

Engagement Manager

Kasia Carmo Maternity leave

Participation Coordinator

Katherine Field

Engagement Coordinator

Hannah MacGregor

DEVELOPMENT

Director of Development

Matt Freeman

Senior Trusts & Foundations

Manager

Rhianna Swancott

Senior Individual Giving Manager

Georgia Davenport

Company Events Manager

Hope McGoldrick

Corporate Partnerships Manager

Emma Thompson

Development Executive

Daniella Rodriguez

FINANCE AND PROJECTS

Executive Producer

Abigail Reeve

Interim Finance Director

Judith Patrickson

Finance Officers

Deseree Greenaway-Williams

Ruth Whelan

Finance Assistant

Charlotte Rowley

HUMAN RESOURCES

Human Resources Director

Claire Owen

Senior Human Resources Administrator

Sam Howe

Human Resources Administrator

Lucy Tranter

Payroll Manager

Amanda Pitt

Receptionist & Administrator

Karen Fisher

Health, Safety and Environmental Manager

Kate Darby

Facilities Manager

Glenn Rudge

Caretaker

Philip Pearsall

COMPANY OFFICE

Company Manager

Tristan Rusdale

Assistant Company Manager

Luke Kell

JERWOOD CENTRE

Clinical Director

Nick Allen ph d msc mcsp srp

Head Physiotherapist

Khushnum Pastakia mcsp srp

Rehabilitation and Conditioning Lead

Esther Collacott mcsp srp

Company Physiotherapist

Laura Gent mcsp srp

Medical Advisors

Bellevue Medical Centre

ORCHESTRA

Orchestra Director

John Beadle

Orchestra Manager

Andrew Bentley

Music Assistant

Amira Davina Campbell

TECHNICAL

Technical Director

Paul Grace

Stage Manager

Eliska Robenn

Deputy Stage Manager

Rachel Snead

Assistant Stage Manager

Kiera Smith

Technical Manager –Production

Ben Leveson

Head of Stage

Paul Moore

Deputy Head of Stage

Tom Reilly

Stage Technician

Steve Hegan

Head of Production Hire & Sales

Doug Nicholson

Technical Manager –Lighting/A/V

Johnny Westall-Eyre

Head of Lighting

Andy Wilson

Senior Lighting Technicians

Alastair Phillips

Andy Rumble

Scott Smith

Lighting Technician

Marcus Trombley

Head of Costume / Costume Supervisor

Elaine Garlick

Costume Production Coordinator

Vanda Hewston

Touring Costume Manager

Shermaine Gocoul

Production Costume Cutter & Maker

Anna Willetts

Production Costume Technician

Joanna Shilton

Costume Technicians

Lucy Cook

Katie Green

Leah Norton

Gabrielle Raven Sabbatical

Rebecca Robinson

Footwear Supervisor

Michael Clifford

Head of Wigs / Wigs Supervisor

Lauren FitzGerald

Deputy Head of Wigs

Fay Johnson

Wigs Assistant

Lizzie McQuire

THANK YOU

Birmingham Royal Ballet is grateful to Charles Stanley Wealth Managers for their sponsorship of the UK tour of Swan Lake.

Dancers’ Circle – Principal

Julia and Anthony Glossop

Richard and Sue Johnston

Tony Newcombe

Dancers’ Circle – Soloist

Jill and Andrew Chapman

CMP Wealth Management

Richard and Jennie Cunis

Peggy Czyzak-Dannenbaum

Roy and Maureen Kirby

Principal Supporters

Aud Jebsen

Lord Glendonbrook and Mr Martin Ritchie

Alan and Caroline Howard

David and Mary Laing

Oak Foundation Special Interest Programme

The Royal Opera House Benevolent Fund

Chantelle Mackay

Marian Mulady

Gillian Shaw

Su and Richard Simkin

Michael and Sandra Squires

John Weston

Dancers’ Circle – Artist

Jenny Batelen and Rob Brett

Roger and Felicity Burman

Amanda Carter

Dr Jim Clews

Guy and Judy Crofts

Major Supporters

Jayne Cadbury and Nigel Goodman

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Charles Glanville and James Hogan

The Kirby Laing Foundation

The Michael Bishop Foundation

Mr and Mrs Natsis

Sir Michael and Joan Perry

Irving and Olga David

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

Shaaron and Andrew Morgan

Katie Newbon

Linda Nicholls

Sir David and Lady Win Normington

Rosie Parker RAD RTS

Keith Perry

Amanda and Emily Pillinger

Chris Relph

Ross Roberts

Carole Sallnow

Barbara Scott

Miles Scott and Lucille Roughley

Margaret Shand

Carla and Dilys Skinner

Mark and Amanda Smith

Nick Makin and Brenda Sumner

Beverley Thurbin

Ron and Jackie Treverton-Jones

Gold Friends

Jane Arthur

Rachel Cavet

Dr Anthony Cook and Miss Susan Elias

Ian Fisher

Mrs Eileen Goodwin

Carolyn Harford

Penny Kirkwood

Ian Kirkwood

Richard Lewis

Anne Maguire

Lyn Proctor

Glen Sanderson

David Spencer

and our many individual supporters who prefer to remain anonymous.

Trusts and Foundations

Eveson Charitable Trust

The Garrick Charitable Trust

The Geoff Hill Charitable Trust

George Fentham Birmingham Charity

The George Henry Collins Charity

GJW Turner Trust

The Grantham Yorke Trust

The Grey Court Trust

The Grimmitt Trust

The H Steven & P E Wood Charitable Trust

The Hawthorne Charitable Trust

The RTR Foundation/Baily Thomas Charitable Fund

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

The Alan Woodfield Charitable Trust

The Albert And Elizabeth Clark Charitable Trust

The Alison Hillman Charitable Trust

Amar-Franses and Foster-Jenkins Trust

The Arts Society Birmingham

The Aspinwall Educational Trust

Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust

Baron Davenport’s Charity

Bayfield Charitable Trust

The Bernard Piggott Charitable Trust

BHSF Medical Charity and Welfare Trust

Birmingham Common Good Trust

The Boshier-Hinton Foundation

The Brian Shaw Memorial Trust

The Calleva Foundation

The Cecil King Memorial Foundation

The Charles Brotherton Trust

The Charlotte Bonham-Carter Charitable Trust

The Chatwin Trust

City of Birmingham Orchestral Endowment Fund

CL and JS Cadbury Trust

Clare King Charitable Trust

The Clore Duffield Foundation

The John S Cohen Foundation

The David and Helen Lowe Charitable Trust

David Solomons Charitable Trust

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust

Dumbreck Charity

The DWF Charitable Foundation

The Edgar E. Lawley Foundation

The Edward and Dorothy Cadbury Trust

The Edward Cadbury Charitable Trust

Ensix Charitable Trust

Eric W Vincent Trust Fund

The Helen Rachael Mackaness Charitable Trust

Henry James Sayer Charity

Howard Victor Skan Charitable Trust

IMI Critical Engineering Charitable Appeals Committee

The James Frederick & Ethel Anne Measures Charity

The John Avins Trust

John Feeney Charitable Trust

The John Sumner Trust

The John Thaw Foundation

The Keith Coombs Trust

Langdale Trust

London Ballet Circle

The Loppylugs and Barbara Morrison Charitable Trust

The Lord Austin Trust

M K Rose Charitable Trust

The Marchus Trust

The Marsh Charitable Trust

The Michael Marsh Charitable Trust

The Misses C M Pearson & M V Williams Charitable Trust

The Noel Coward Foundation

The Norton Foundation

The Oakley Charitable Trust

The Owen Family Trust

The Patricia Routledge Foundation

The Peter and Teresa Harris Charitable Trust

Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire

Quayle Charitable Trust

Richard Cadbury Charitable Trust

Richard Kilcuppe’s Charity

The Roger and Douglas Turner

Charitable Trust

The Roughley Charitable Trust

RPS Drummond Fund

The Thistle Trust

Thriplow Charitable Trust

The Uncle Bill Trust

The Vandervell Foundation

W E Dunn Charitable Trust

William A Cadbury Charitable Trust

The Wilmcote Charitrust

and those trusts and foundations that prefer to remain anonymous.

Corporate Supporters

Corporate Members

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

For more information and to become a Supporter visit brb.org.uk/Support

Céline Gittens in rehearsal. © @dancers_eye

Yvette Knight as the Fairy Godmother in Sir David Bintley’s Cinderella © Johan Persson

DANCE

DADAMASILO-THESACRIFICE

SEASON

RAMBERT DANCE IN PEAKY BLINDERS: THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY

Tue 14 - Sat 18 March

TONY ADIGUN’S ILLEGAL DANCE

Tue 14 - Wed 15 March

DADA MASILO - THE SACRIFICE

Tue 21 - Wed 22 March

KONTEMPORARY KOREA

Mon 24 April

AKRAM KHAN COMPANY: JUNGLE BOOK REIMAGINED

Sat 13 May

MAMA

Thu 1 - Fri 2 June

MATTHEW BOURNE’S ROMEO AND JULIET

Tue 11 - Sat 15 July

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

Thu 27 - Sat 29 July

Choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

Directed by Nancy Meckler

Music by Peter Salem performed live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra

PERFORMANCE DIARY

Carlos Acosta’s Classical Selection

BRB2’s inaugral tour

Northampton Royal and Derngate

25 April

Nottingham Theatre Royal

28 & 29 April

New Theatre Peterborough

3 & 4 May

The Linbury Theatre, London

13 & 14 June

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

24 June

Apollo | Interlinked | ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café

Birmingham Hippodrome

8 – 19 June

Watch Company Class on Stage

Ever wondered what a ballet dancer does to prepare for a day of rehearsal and performance?

Company Class on Stage offers you the chance to find out.

To find out more visit brb.org.uk/ClassOnStage

The Nutcracker

Birmingham Hippodrome

17 November – 9 December

The Sleeping Beauty

Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

8 – 10 February 2024

Birmingham Hippodrome

21 February – 2 March 2024

The Lowry, Salford

6 – 9 March 2024

Sunderland Empire

14 – 16 March 2024

Theatre Royal Plymouth

20 – 23 March 2024

Bristol Hippodrome

18 – 20 April 2024