Four years on, and this revival is firing on all cylinders, giving both the company and the audience the performance it deserves.

In the programme notes Acosta describes Don Quixote as “a ballet for virtuosos”. It is technically challenging as well as requiring strong acting and comic timing from its dancers.

For the audience, however, it is pure escapism, like riding the breeze of a spring morning.

In this sense it is a fantastic entry ballet because it is a straightforward story with terrific classic dance. And this lavish production gives us everything we could ask for – a wonderful live orchestra, colourful sets with some lovely flower arches, dazzling costumes and outstanding dance.

Acosta’s production emphasises the Spanish roots of the story, so we see bustling village scenes, fiery flamenco, caped matadors and live acoustic guitarists on stage among the dancers. Dream sequences provide a space for a wonderful showcase of sparkling tutus from the corp. And, of course, the spectacular solos and pas de deux full of fun, romance and energetic air-splits and high kicks.

Cervantes’ famous knight, Don Quixote, here danced with wit and presence by Dominic Antonucci, may be the title character, but it is the young lovers, Kitri (Beatrice Parma) and Basilio (Enrique Bejarano Vidal) who capture our hearts.

The whole performance feels like a celebration of youth, as we admire not simply the technical skill on display but the stamina to keep this high energy going for a three hour show.

Under Thomas Jung’s baton the Royal Ballet Sinfonia keep Minkus’ score bouncing along with the joy of a child’s skip. It’s an uplifting evening of some of the best classical dance that will no doubt delight seasoned ballet fans and newcomers alike.

Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote is at Lowry, Salford from 5-7 March 2026.

Read our interview with Carlos Acosta

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My intent is more to acknowledge that, under the direction of Carlos Acosta, it is possible that the company has chosen to embrace, most warmly, the reality of main house theatre productions – that dance, like drama, is a profoundly collaborative art form.

From the opening tableau vivant, a graveside gathering for the funeral of Cinderella’s mother, silhouette and monochrome (like a Dickensian scene of David Lean’s creation), to the comfortless, shabby basement kitchen where Cinders lives out her daily life, to the nebula-spangled Wonderworld heralding the arrival of the Fairy Godmother and her helpers, all is strikingly visualised and evocatively lit.

The ballet proper begins with Cinderella now fully orphaned and in the clutches of her wicked stepmother and her two cruel daughters (the Ugly Sisters of legend). Shoeless and shabby, living a life of deprivation and drudgery, Cinders nevertheless has her secret comforts. Hidden beneath a cupboard is a red velvet box containing precious memories of her mother – a framed silhouette in her likeness and a pair of sparkling, silver slippers.

David Bintley’s choreography aims to break away from the pantomime tradition (and specifically Frederick Ashton’s version) by eschewing travesty and using ballerinas (instead of males in drag) for the cruel stepsisters. Bintley’s concern that the usual comic grotesquery of the stepsisters is prone to displace Cinderella’s centrality is well-founded. That said, Olivia Chang Clarke’s ‘Hungry Hippo’ sister (slurping breakfast straight from the bowl) and her long, lean and mean sibling (Eilis Small) are in no danger of being upstaged by anyone. Nevertheless, the balance between their comic brutality and Cinders’ oppressed gracefulness is well struck.

When a needy stranger appears in her kitchen, Cinderella not only feeds her but gives her the precious silver slippers for her bare feet (a particular kindness since Cinders herself is shoeless).

She is the Oliver Twist of fairy tales, her heart unhardened by the harshness of her fate, her refined sensibilities beautifully evidenced in the elegant sweep of her solo dances when no one is around. Beatrice Parma, in the title role, wins us over with her delicate grace.

Receiving invitations to the royal ball, the wicked stepmother, eager for her offspring to marry well, hires dresses, wigs and even a dance master. The clueless stepsisters cavort hilariously, much to the exasperation of their tutor (danced with panache by Gus Payne). Before he departs in dudgeon, there is a brief opportunity for Cinderella to dance a few steps. He nods his approval, then goes. Nice touch.

Distraught at the realities of her life, Cinderella lies prone on the cold, stone floor. Her kindness, however, will not go unrewarded. The needy stranger was, of course, her Fairy Godmother (regally played by Isabella Howard) who now returns to ensure that our little heroine shall go to the ball. The transformation of set and lighting here is lovely: against a beautiful nebular sky, the Fairy Godmother’s helpers, Spring (Reina Fuchigami), Summer (Céline Gittens), Autumn (Amelia Thompson) and Winter (Rachele Pizzillo), each making the most of her brief solo, transform the ragged Cinderella into a princess-in-waiting.

The act closes with the arrival of a delightful silvery fairy coach, complete with a frog and two lizards for coachmen.

As act two, the ball scene, begins, the entry of the two stepsisters deserves an ovation of its own. Neither they nor their rather sumptuously dressed mother (Daria Stanciulescu must adore wearing that outfit) have the slightest idea how to behave or who to bow to. Whilst one sister yearns to eat her weight in royal cake, the other seems desperate to jump the bones of anyone who’ll stand still long enough. The Major Domo, (Rory Mackay, all flourish and pomp) hardly knows what to do.

The prince himself is amused and confused, but not tempted, until, of course, Cinderella appears. The pas de deux here is not the highlight of the evening’s choreography. Though impressively athletic, there is little sense of a young couple experiencing a moment of magic. As Prince, Enrique Bejarano Vidal’s solo moments are strong and secure. He looks like the master of all he surveys. At this point, however, he and Cinders are not quite conjoined.

The climax of the act, with a backdrop of the workings of a giant clock, mercilessly calling time on Cinderella’s adventure, is memorable. The Prince is left holding a single tiny slipper. The search is on.

Act three opens with another set piece: a mound of slippers supporting a chair. Eager young women climb the steps of the mound to try (and fail) to fit a foot into the slipper. The curtain descends again and we see a harassed prince, hurrying stage left to right, pursued by hopping women, each holding aloft a single slipper. Lovely stuff!

Back in the basement kitchen, the prince and his lackeys arrive to put the stepsisters to the slipper test. When they fail, even their desperate mother demands to be given a chance.

Will Cinderella, lurking forlornly in the background, be overlooked? Suffice to say, the finale grants us another pas de deux, and this one exudes romance.

Conductor Paul Murphy keeps the Royal Ballet Sinfonia perfectly aligned with the dancers. Bravo!

A fine effort by the whole company. Eilis Small may be one to watch.

Birmingham Royal Ballet – Cinderella is at Lowry, Salford from 6-8 March 2025.

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Artist and stage designer John Macfarlane has created stunning sets for shows across the globe but there was one story he really wanted to work on – Prokofiev’s ballet Cinderella.
So when former Birmingham Royal Ballet Director David Bintley decided to create a new production of Cinderella for 2010, John was delighted to be given the task.

“Cinderella was the one I wanted to do,” he recalls. “It’s always attracted me because of the music. For such a well-known story, the music is very dark and I think most artists and designers are always more inspired by something dark and magical. With Cinderella there’s so much for you to play with.”

John had worked with BRB in 1990 designing the iconic sets for the company’s production of The Nutcracker – a show which is greatly loved and still wows audiences most Christmases. But this was the first time he had collaborated with David Bintley.

“When David asked me to do Cinderella I was delighted, not just to work on Cinderella but also to work with him. That was the one chance we got to work together.

“I think in a sense the best experiences you have are when the person who is asking you to do something is on the same wavelength as you are. Then the discussion is quite minimal because you both want the same thing. He wanted to bring out the dark side as well and seemed very easy with what I was doing.”

A gift from David to Birmingham to celebrate the 20th anniversary of BRB’s move to the city, Cinderella premiered at Birmingham Hippodrome in November 2010 where it received critical acclaim and thrilled audiences.

With Cinderella being such a familiar story, the production needed to give audiences a tale they recognized but also provide plenty of suspense and surprises.

“My starting point is always ‘don’t make it too pretty.’ None of these big classic ballets are lovely cuddly stories,” John explains.

“The contrast in Cinderella’s circumstances is absolutely critical to the ballet. You have to believe in the first scenes of Cinderella to then see the contrast. There’s very little light music in that first scene with her in the kitchen so it should be like there’s no hope for her.

“If you don’t feel that then you don’t get this lovely moment when suddenly the fire pops out and something clearly magical is going to happen. If something magical doesn’t happen at that point you are going to shortchange your audiences as the audience is going to be coming in asking how is she going to the ball, how will the ball end, how will they do the clock?”

John’s transformation scene from ash girl Cinderella to belle of the ball is indeed magical – not least as the lizards, frogs and mice of the kitchen become her attendants.
“I was going to do lizard footmen whether anyone wanted them or not because I absolutely love designing characters with animal heads,” laughs John. “In Cinderella it is really important that you have this world that the Fairy Godmother builds. She takes the little critters from the kitchen, as Disney and many people before him did, and she turns them into coachmen and pages and all the magical things that take Cinderella to the ball.”

John painstakingly ensured the creatures were accurately portrayed. “It’s like when I did the rats for Nutcracker,” he says. “You have to be anatomically correct and they have to look real so I did about four or five sheets of detailed drawings of lizards.

“As soon as they are beautifully made you believe in them completely – and the quirk in it is that the lizards are wearing baroque costumes with coats and tails and shirt fronts.”
When Cinderella arrives at the ball she brings the magic with her.

“The ballroom is very normal and then she appears and it opens up and it’s the night sky. That was always something I thought would be wonderful,” says John.

“And then of course the clock needed to be this terrifying moment when the whole thing falls apart. You can absolutely hear the clock in the music. That’s the wonderful thing about Prokofiev and also Tchaikovsky – you can always tell where you’re going.

“When you start working on something like Cinderella, you’ve got to really listen to the music. Prokofiev gives you lots of leads before the clock starts that great whirring of the mechanism in the same way that Tchaikovsky gives you lots of leads before Aurora gets her finger pricked in the garden in Sleeping Beauty.”

John has designed numerous works including Swan Lake and Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle for Royal Ballet, War and Peace for Opéra Bastille, Hansel and Gretel and Queen of Spades for Welsh National Opera and a host of productions for New York’s Metropolitan Opera including The Flying Dutchman and Tosca.

“I only really do a show once and I only do ballet and opera because the music is so critical for me. I’m an avid reader and yet I get nothing when I read a script. If it’s an opera or ballet then everything is informed by the music.

“I have this belief that every production from Elektra to Don Giovanni to Tosca, they all have these critical moments, some of them the audience are hugely aware of, some of them are hopefully a huge surprise, but they all have this path through.”

Creating the right setting for the tale also ensures the audience enters the world onstage and becomes captivated by the story.

“All those huge Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky ballets have great stories and as long as you keep the story central it will work. And you hopefully don’t let the audience expectation down.

“So with Cinderella at midnight you’ve got to really show the audience that all this wonderful dream ballroom scene and meeting the prince have suddenly gone at the stroke of the clock. Cinderella is back to square one.”

The production also has plenty of comedy not least in the Stepsisters who are hideously mean but also so outrageous they create their own humour.

“We wanted the Ugly Sisters to be cruel of course and not just slapstick and funny,” says John. “David was brilliant on that with this sort of creepy quirky choreography for them.”
And the production needed to finish not just with a fairy tale happy ending but also with a grand finale which reflected Prokofiev’s great score.

“I think the end of Cinderella is one of the most beautiful pieces of music Prokofiev ever wrote. And so we have the Fairy Godmother and the sun coming up and the stars. There’s a magic to it as they walk into sunset or sunrise.”

Birmingham Royal Ballet Cinderella is at Lowry, Salford from 6-8 March 2025. Following on from the UK tour, the production will then play at Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan in Japan (27 – 29 June).

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Of course, the origins of this much-loved ballet are older still, having premiered at Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg in 1890 with choreography by Marius Petipa. It has stood the test of time because of its ability to enchant both those experiencing their first ballet and ballet enthusiasts alike. And, even if you’ve only heard the music ‘Once upon a Dream’ thanks to Disney, you will instantly recognise Tchiakovsky’s uplifting, romantic score, here played live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Paul Murphy.

As the curtain lifts, we are immediately transported into a grand royal court, decorated with rich gold drapes that stretch the full width of the Lowry’s huge Lyric stage. The costumes, many of which have been restored for this production, are equally striking with a palate of gold, black, peach, and blue, made from luscious fabrics of velvet, taffeta, layered lace and sequins. It makes for a fairytale vision, with the Sleeping Beauty, Aurora wearing a sparkling lace and sequinned tutu, spinning on-pointe like the perfect, music-box ballerina.

This simple tale of good versus evil, makes for effective contrasts of light and dark in the characters, the music, the costumes, and the lighting, none more so than between Daria Stanciulescu’s scheming, Fairy Carabosse, carried villainously high on a sedan chair, and Ellis Small’s gentle, almost floating, Lilac Fairy.

Taking on the challenging principal role of Princess Aurora, Momoko Hirata strikes a balance of being both delicate and strong. She is well-matched with Max Maslen, a commanding Prince Florimund, whose stage presence provides an emotional depth to the technical brilliance of their partner dances.

All the dancers are wonderfully light of foot, and there is much to admire in their technical detail and strength. However, focus on the dancers’ skill is never at the expense of the narrative, which draws us in to this world of deep forests, spells, and glittering balls.

The grand finale is joyously danced by the whole assembly with gold confetti adding a final touch of magic to the evening.

BRB The Sleeping Beauty is at The Lowry, Salford from 7 -9 March 2024.

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In his programme notes, Carlos Acosta calls Don Quixote ‘the sunshine ballet,’ and certainly Birmingham Royal Ballet are bringing some much-needed sunny escapism to audiences on this tour. Before the performance gets under way, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia play the Ukrainian national anthem – a powerful and moving gesture that brings the Lowry audience to its feet and is bookended by applause.

This production has everything you would expect from a ballet set in Spain: posturing matadors, dramatic ports de bras, flamenco guitar played live onstage, swirling capes and skirts, tambourines, castanets and fans. Ludwig Minkus’ score is a bright, sparkling accompaniment to the action – and sounds excellent even from a scaled-down orchestra (the result of rising COVID cases in the company).

The first act, set in a town square, is a riot of colour, character comedy and furiously fast-paced dancing; in spite of the reduction in performer numbers – again, due to COVID – it still feels like a bustling plaza. There’s the comically foppish, yellow-suited and blue-wigged Gamache (Rory Mackay); the slapstick antics of greedy Sancho Panza (Laura Day); the macho Espada (danced with commanding presence by Lachlan Monaghan); and of course the lovers Kitri and Basilio.

Miki Mizutani takes a little time to warm up to the role, possibly due to an early fall; she doesn’t seem fully comfortable in the shoes of the sassy, playful Kitri, though she executes the famous castanet solo with sharpness. It’s in the Act II Garden of the Dryads, as Don Quixote’s fantasy Dulcinea, where she really shines, performing the more classical choreography with confidence, grace and poise.

Acosta has reworked the production that he created for the Royal Ballet in 2013, and it is in this classical interlude that you can see some of the most notable changes. Instead of a sea of pastel colours, the garden has a much more wintry aesthetic – the ballerina dryads appear in sparkling white tutus, dancing around a silver weeping willow centrepiece, and the sprightly Cupid is reinvented as a male role (performed with great showmanship by Tzu-Chao Chu).

Tim Hatley’s set designs are noticeably different from the Royal Ballet staging, and much more practical for a touring production – gone are the famous sliding houses, and in their place is a simple colonnade to evoke the town square. The windmill that Don Quixote tilts at in Act II is projected animation, allowing the sails to be transformed into creepy, flailing monster limbs and back in the blink of an eye.

After a rather wobbly duet in Act II, it’s a relief to see Mizutani and Mathias Dingman back on form in the famous – and challenging – Act III wedding pas de deux, the ballet’s crowning glory; their adagio is controlled and clean, understated even. Dingman excels in Basilio’s flashy solo, turning and leaping with impressive power, and he inhabits the character with suitable swagger throughout the ballet.

This production is Acosta’s energetic, vibrant stamp on a classic, guaranteed to make audiences laugh, smile and leave the theatre humming its tunes – a little bit of sunshine to carry with us into an increasingly dark and worrying world.

Birmingham Royal Ballet‘s Don Quixote is at The Lowry from 2-5 March 2022.

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The curtain rises on a striking funeral scene, its dark, gothic visuals complementing the dramatic swell of Tchaikovsky’s musical introduction perfectly. These few seconds clearly set up the story – the king has died, which means that his son, Prince Siegfried needs to marry and secure the throne.

This is the command issued by the queen in Act I – an extension of the prologue, with its sombre colours and richly brocaded costumes suggesting a Russian imperial court – and each successive dance is intended only to distract the prince from his predicament.

The opening waltz is comprised of just four couples, meaning that there is a lot more space for dynamic choreography than in versions that use the whole corps de ballet. Two courtesans are brought on to distract Prince Siegfried and perform a charming pas de trois with his friend Benno (danced with immense likeability and flair by Tzu-Chao Chou). Siegfried (César Morales) reluctantly joins in, allowing his character to develop and for Morales to showcase his elegance, poise and natural, unaffected mime.

Momoko Hirata is a stunning Odette, managing to appear both weightless, with exquisite fluidity in the movement of her arms and hands, and as if in tortuous pain. The Act II tableau of glowing white swans against a shadowy, moonlit lakeside is the perfect backdrop to a breathtaking pas de deux between the lovers.

Act III marks a return to courtly splendour, as dancers in resplendent national costumes form entourages for princesses who have been invited as prospective matches for Siegfried. They perform a traditional czárdás, mazurka and Neapolitan dance – clearly enjoying the expressive flair of these character roles – that herald brief, pretty solos from the princesses themselves. The music for the final national dance – traditionally the Spanish Dance in most productions – is reserved for Rothbart and Odile’s entourage.

The Black Swan pas de deux is every bit as captivating as the White, with its spectacularly high lifts, sharp attitude turns and famous fouettés getting a huge cheer from the Lowry audience. Hirata’s frequent sly looks to Rothbart during the adagio make it very clear that this is practised deception on the prince.

The opening of the final act sees the swans rise from a sea of dry ice, a spectacular effect that garners a spontaneous burst of applause. The ensuing dance of the swans makes frequent use of sequential movements, their wings folding and unfolding endlessly to remind us of their unity in suffering under the enchantment. In the dramatic climax, Rothbart’s headdress is torn off in a struggle with Siegfried and he is left lying on the ground, the vengeful flock of swans staring him down like the Wilis in Giselle. In a poignant reminder of the ballet’s opening, Benno is left onstage cradling the prince’s lifeless body, while behind him the spirits of the lovers appear in the sky together.

This production – with its exquisite design, stunning performances and staging that really communicates the story – is a perfect example of why Swan Lake remains one of the most powerful, enduring and beautiful narrative dance works in the world.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake is at The Lowry from 2020.

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Since the early 1990s, however, Disney seems to have had the monopoly on it. There’s no denying Disney’s animated film is a wonderful version, but the classic fairytale, with its themes of sin and redemption through love, lends itself to a variety of tellings. David Bintley’s sumptuous ballet, first seen in 2003, is equally magical.

And while there aren’t any songs, there is a captivating score from Canadian composer, Glenn Buhr. The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, under conductor Paul Murphy, create a soundtrack so immersive to the dance we sense we are in a different world where at times we hear the roar of a beast.

From the start Bintley draws us into his narrative, with the set opening like a huge storybook and Belle in her element among a library of books.

Philip Prowse’s extravagant set design seamlessly opens and closes, slides and folds to draw us deeper into this gothic fairytale.  Mark Jonathan’s dim atmospheric lighting is used to full effect when we enter the enchanted forest leading to the Beast’s Castle, which shimmers with gold décor and flickering candles.

There are some clever theatrical tricks such as animated birds, magic chairs, which sweep across the room when needed, and wine that pours itself. These add to magic but never detract from the dance, which ranges from the breathtaking corps works where Belle (Yvette Knight) appears flying high, carried on the wings of a flock of ravens, to the detailed character performances of Belle’s father (Rory Mackay) and sisters Fière (Laura Perkiss) and Vanité (Samara Downs).

The Beast’s ball provides light relief with some terrific comedy cameos from Laura Day as Grandmère and James Barton as Monsieur Cochon. But it is the dark, brooding presence of the Beast (Brandon Lawrence) that has us hooked on every entrance. It is a challenging role, not least because of having to convey emotion while dancing in a heavy costume and a mask.

Next to the delicate Knight, Lawrence’s Beast is both terrifying and tender. This underlying edge of tension is finally lifted in a joyful final pas de deux, when Belle’s love transforms him back into a handsome Prince.

Beauty and the Beast marks the final tour for choreographer David Bintley after 24 years as Artistic Director of Birmingham Royal Ballets. The production feels like a celebration, not just of his work, but of the art itself. That a classical ballet of such high calibre in dance, design and score has been produced in the 21^st century gives a signal that this is an art form very much alive. And, while largely aimed at grown-ups, it was clear by the reaction of youngsters in the audience, this is a ballet that captivates old and young alike.

Beauty and the Beast is at The Lowry, Salford Quays on 20 – 23 March 2019 and on national tour until May 2019. For details or to book tickets, visit brb.org.uk.

Read our interview with David Bintley as he reflects on 24 years as Director of BRB.

Find out what it takes to be a Principal Dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet in our interview with Delia Mathews who appears as Belle in selected performances of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Beauty and the Beast.

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After 24-years leading Birmingham Royal Ballet, it feels fitting for David Bintley to close his final tour with a revival of Beauty and the Beast. As a choreographer, he’s famous for narrative works and in this majestic full-length ballet, the importance he places on story couldn’t be clearer.

The curtain raises to reveal a magical set, opening like a giant book at the heart of the stage. The ballet, first seen in 2003, is among his proudest works. But David’s story with BRB and his heart for the Company stretches far beyond what we see on stage.

Their history together goes back 42 years when he joined BRB, then Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, as a dancer. Almost 20 years later, aged 38, he succeeded Sir Peter Wright at the head of the organisation and was keen to continue the supportive ethos inspired by his predecessor.

“I never wanted to be a director, but everything suddenly came together,” he remembers. “I wanted to be in a place where my work would be of use; where it would become part of the Company’s history – that it would mean something. The best way to do that was to be the director of a company.”

Since then, David has choreographed more than 22 ballets and commissioned a further 21. However, it’s clear his roots with BRB run deeper than personal artistic achievements.

“The works mean more to me than just the work itself,” David explains. “They are part of a period of my life. When I revive a work it’s not just the work but what one has memories of. Like one of the pas de deux in Carmina Burana. I know the date I choreographed that because it was the day my son was born.”

Carmina Burana was David’s first piece as newly appointed director in 1995. He took the show to South Africa shortly after, making BRB the first major ballet company to visit following the country’s first free elections. Ten years later he revived the show for his debut with National Ballet of Japan. The collaboration led to him becoming its director, a role he held for four-years, in addition to his role at BRB.

While these are the recorded moments, David’s strongest memories are often outside the lights of the stage.

“The things that really stand out to me are not the ballets or the performances, but what the company can do and what it can mean outside of the show,” he says.

There’s joy in his voice as he recalls the work of BRB’s education team in South African townships. Enthusiasm spilled into the rest of the Company and by the end of the tour everyone wanted to get involved. “On the final day we had 500 kids from all over Pretoria and Johannesburg doing a workshop with the Company. All 500 of them performed the leading girl’s solo from Carmina Burana. There wasn’t a dry eye.”

Another personal highlight was their 2011 Japanese tour. Falling two months after the Tōhoku earthquake and during the ongoing disaster in Fukushima, the Japanese National Ballet saw BRBs presence as a demonstration of solidarity with its people, strengthening an artistic partnership that continues today.

“It was a very emotional tour,” says David. “The Japanese greeted us little short of ecstatically. For us to be strong enough, brave enough and trusting enough when much of the world ran away was a fantastic thing.”

Closer to home, David encouraged life-changing projects such as Bally Hoo, working with 200 youngsters from deprived backgrounds to produce a full-length performance of Romeo and Juliet. The two-year project was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary, Ballet Hoo! – Ballet Changed My Life. It was a remarkable example of community outreach. More remarkable – BRB’s commitment didn’t end when the cameras stopped rolling.

“Bally Hoo was a massive project which caused a lot of disruption and a lot of patience and commitment from all the dancers,” David admits. “We are still in touch with some of those young people. We have a group that regularly gets together.

“I’ve always been pleased that our presence in Birmingham goes beyond simply being a performing arts company. We are part of the social structure – to me that is the true value of any kind of art.”

David understands the impact dance can have on a child’s life. Growing up in a village outside Huddersfield, at age 4 he fell in love with performing on the Sunday School stage. At 16, he trained at the Royal Ballet’s Upper School under Dame Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton, before joining Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet at 19.

His role as Director of BRB has allowed him to spot and nurture new talent. He rarely hires dancers at a high level, preferring to bring them through first year corps de ballet so they have a depth of understanding and respect for what it’s like to be a dancer at all levels of the Company.

In addition to the 60 dancers under his guidance, David expresses genuine care and value for the 100 staff working for him across all areas of the Company. His stability in the role has maintained a family atmosphere while instilling confidence to push artistic boundaries.

“The public wants to see new things as well as old,” he says. “The great thing about classical ballet is it has absorbed every other dance influence of the day since 1600. I like to bring new trends from theatre into dance. It’s a question of what is a novelty and what is an innovation? Novelties are easy and true innovation is harder, but that’s what we chase.”

Throughout his career, David has shown great innovation in commissioning new music for ballet, including for Beauty and the Beast’s score from Canadian composer, Glenn Buhr.

“To me, working with a composer on a new piece is infinitely more satisfying than finding something on a record or online,” he explains. “I make dance because of music and, for me, the relationship between music and dance is fundamental.”

One of his greatest legacies is the hugely ambitious, Ballet Now – a ground-breaking initiative supporting choreographers, composers and designers to develop new work of world-class potential.

“It was an idea we never thought we’d attain,” he admits. “It was me and our previous development director and we just shot for the stars. For a couple of years nothing happened. We were very lucky to get a big sponsor in the Oak Foundation and suddenly it came together.”

David leaves BRB in July 2019, his place in the Company’s history firmly set as one of Britain’s most successful classical choreographers. His last piece takes the audience almost back to the beginning, with one of his first major successes, Hobson’s Choice from 1989.

“There’s a point where you have to go back to the beginning again and completely reassess everything that you’ve done and everything that has to be done,” David reflects. “I feel it’s just time for somebody else to look at it.”

Looking forward to more creative freedom as a freelance choreographer again, he already has commissions lined-up in China, Japan, Florida and Bordeaux. Not surprising for a choreographer who has transformed BRB into one of UK’s major cultural exports with tours and co-productions stretching every corner of the globe. And testament to David’s strong international legacy, the greatest dancer of our generation, Carlos Acosta has been attracted as his successor.

“Carlos is a world superstar as a dancer and will open a lot of doors internationally,” says David. “I hope he is as successful in his career as a director as he was as a dancer – that will be great for the Company”.

Beauty and the Beast is at  The Lowry, Salford Quays on 20 – 23 March 2019 and on national tour until May 2019. For details or to book tickets, visit brb.org.uk.

Find out what it takes to be a Principal Dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet in our interview with Delia Mathews who appears as Belle in selected performances of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Beauty and the Beast.

The post David Bintley reflects on a magical 24 years with Birmingham Royal Ballet appeared first on Quays Life.

When and why did you first start dancing?

Delia: “I started when I was 5-years-old. Basically, I went to dancing because my sister did it; I just went along and wanted to be like her”.

What are the best things about being a ballet dancer? And what are the biggest challenges?

Delia: “I love being on stage, telling a story and being able to take people away from their everyday lives, forgetting their problems for those two hours in the theatre. Also, Birmingham Royal Ballet is a touring company so we get to see the world quite a lot, which is cool. I guess the biggest challenge is that we do long hours and it’s hard on your body, but when you do a performance it’s all worthwhile”.

As you’ve mentioned, ballet is a pretty demanding profession – there are long hours, it’s very physical and you have to travel a lot. What motivates you?

Delia: “In rehearsals and in class you’re constantly working towards a performance so that, hopefully, when you get on stage you don’t need to think about all the details; it should be ingrained in your body. We work hard so that in the show it all comes together, and you have that wonderful moment that makes up for everything. I am also motivated by always trying to better myself; trying do a better performance than last time or the time before that”.

Can you describe a typical day in your life when you’re on tour?

Delia: “Our shows usually finish quite late, so I’ll get up later the next morning and have breakfast, a coffee and relax with friends. We then have our daily ballet class and the rest of the day depends on my performance schedule. If I’m dancing in the matinee show I need to get ready a lot faster. If I have to wait until the evening performance, then I’ll go for a longer lunch; I’ll have something filling like pasta.

“My go-to pre-show snack is a honey and banana sandwich because I know that’s going to be give me energy with making me feel too full. Next, I’ll have a bit of a rest, maybe do some physio and then start getting ready for the show at around 5.30pm. However, this is my routine on tour now I’m a principal dancer; it was very different when I was in the corps de ballet, which is non-stop all the time. Every role is different, and every dancer will have their own methods of getting ready and preparing for the show”.

How do you get into character before a show?

Delia: “Belle’s hairstyle takes quite a long time, and obviously I can’t do anything else while someone’s doing my hair, so that’s a good time to be quiet and think about the ballet, the story and start getting into character. It’s a rare moment of reflection which enables me to focus on the emotional aspects of the role as I’m literally being transformed into someone else. Afterwards, I’ll do my own warm-up and practice some of the steps. I like not having to be Delia in roles – not being myself on stage – I actually really enjoy that”.

Will audiences be familiar with the story of Beauty and the Beast or is it quite different from the famous Disney film?

Delia: “I think the story is pretty much the same but there are a few key differences. It starts with Belle reading a fairy tale before she is transported into the world of her story. It’s a wistful moment, with Belle wondering, ‘Why can’t anything like that ever happen to me? Why can’t I have that fairy tale adventure?’ Slowly, the story of Beauty and the Beast builds around her. It’s definitely not a twinkly, Disney version of the story; it’s quite a lot darker. However, all the family will still enjoy it – just don’t go expecting to see Belle in the bright yellow ballgown! There aren’t any dancing teapots, but we do have a chair which comes to life, so there’s still a lot of magic involved”.

What’s it like coming back to dance the role of Belle for a second time? 

Delia: “I always really enjoy coming back to dance a role again because the first time you do it, you’re really focusing on the steps and the musicality. However, no matter how long it’s been, when the music comes on in rehearsals muscle memory kicks in and you do automatically remember a lot of the steps. It’s really nice to have that base knowledge, so you’re at a better starting point second time around and can start to develop the finer details. Last time I danced with Iain Mackay as the Beast, which was really great because he’d done the role a lot, so he was able to pass on little tricks. This time I’m dancing with Tyrone Singleton, who has also done this ballet a lot, and we’re working on building a rapport together”.

What do you think makes a good partnership, both in rehearsal and on stage?

Delia: “You have to have mutual respect, I think that’s really important, and chemistry. Coordination is also hugely important because everyone is slightly different. You need to know each other so well that if something goes wrong, for example, you know what the other person is going to do. In a really good performance, when everything comes together, you are completely in sync with one another and it feels really nice”.

What is your favourite part of Beauty and the Beast?

Delia: “I really like the final pas de deux, when the Beast has transformed back into a human. Belle is really confused because she fell in love with the Beast, but he’s disappeared and there’s a stranger in his place. There’s a really nice moment, which reflects a scene earlier in the ballet, where the Prince touches her hand to his heart and she realises that this is still the person she fell in love with”.

Delia Mathews appears as Belle in selected performances of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Beauty and the Beast, on national tour from January to May 2019 and coming to The Lowry, Salford Quays on 20 – 23 March 2019. For details or to book tickets, visit brb.org.uk.

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For this reason alone it feels a fitting choice for David Bintley to launch his final season, as he steps down after 24 years as Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Considering its heritage, this ballet is not frequently toured, hence why it is perhaps not as well-known. Bintley’s production uses the choreography of the late Frederick Ashton, who revived the ballet in 1960 with Ferdinand Herold’s score adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery.

Ashton kept the setting very much in the late eighteenth-century countryside. To a 21^st century audience this feels not so much a period piece as a fairy-tale. And it is this charming innocence that gives it such a universal and lasting appeal for all ages.

The story is a simple one of love and ambition. Lise is the only daughter of Simone, a widow and owner of a prosperous farm. Simone tries to get Lise to work churning butter and other farm yard chores, but Lise’s mind is elsewhere.

Here lies the drama. For while Lise is distracted by her love for young farmer, Colas, her mother is distracted by her ambition – planning for Lise to marry Alain, the son of a wealthy vineyard owner.

Osbert Lancaster’s design is painted like a story book. Combined with Bo-peep bonnets and costumes of gingham, stripes, and sunny pastels we are transported to another world.  Here young men and women circle colourful ribbons around a Maypole, chickens dance and a gorgeous, real Shetland pony takes centre stage.

There are elements of pantomime too, in so far as Simone is played by male dancer, Rory Mackay, whose clog dancing en pointe is worth the ticket fee alone.

Kit Holder is equally engaging as Lise’s unsuitable suitor, Alain.  His clown-like appearance – rosy-red painted cheeks, wearing a flower in his hat and always carrying an umbrella – is matched by his puppet-like mime and foolery. He wins both the audience’s laughs and sympathies.

But unfortunately for him no-one can compete with the incredible athleticism of Colas (Lachlan Monaghan) whose spectacular leaps draw spontaneous applause. Miki Mizutani makes a cheeky and nimble-footed Lise. Together they create a wonderful air of playful romance.

It’s a joyful escape, guaranteed to bring out the child in you, and leave you floating on a breeze.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★

La Fille Mal Gardée is at The Lowry from 24-27 October 2018. 

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