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.

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.