PRESS RELEASE: BRB’S 2012 INTERNATIONAL TOUR to GRANADA

[Jan McNulty]

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET’S 2012 INTERNATIONAL TOUR to GRANADA

 

Two performances only at the 61^st INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND DANCE

Peter Wright’s COPPÉLIA anda triple bill includingDirector David Bintley’s TAKE FIVE

 

Birmingham Royal Ballet will close its 2011/12 season with two spectacular outdoor performances at the Teatro del Generalife in Granada next month as part of the 61^st International Festival of Music and Dance. Birmingham Royal Ballet will perform Coppélia, one of the company’s established favourites by the Company’s Director Laureate Sir Peter Wright on Thursday 5 July, and a triple bill of Joe Layton’s The Grand Tour, Director David Bintley’s Take Five and Frederick Ashton’s The Dream on Saturday 7 July. The performances will mark Birmingham Royal Ballet’s first visit to Spain in the Company’s 22 year history, building further international links by carrying the torch for the City of Birmingham and UK arts in its role as a city and cultural ambassador.

 

The forthcoming 61^st International Festival of Music and Dance of Granada will be staged in 10 different venues over 17 days, from 22 June through to 8 July. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s performances will take place at the Teatro del Generalife in the wonderful open air grounds of the Alhambra Palace, a fourteenth century World Heritage Site. The festival will host 29 performances and related dance, music and theatre events, featuring eight ensembles or solo artists from overseas and twelve from Spain.

Orquesta Ciudad de Granada will play for the Company’s performances during the internationally-renowned festival, with the exception of Take Five, for which a jazz quartet from the Colin Towns Band will travel to Granada from the UK to play the famous Dave Brubeck music. The Birmingham Cathedral Choir will also perform alongside Birmingham Royal Ballet and Orquesta Ciudad de Granada for Felix Mendelsson’s famous music for The Dream on Saturday 7 July.

As well as the two performances, which are expected to draw an audience of over 4000 people, Birmingham Royal Ballet will also provide a unique opportunity for young Spanish dancers. Assistant Director Marion Tait along with Ballet Masters Michael O’Hare, Wolfgang Stollwitzer and Dominic Antonucci will run ballet master classes during the tour for aspiring young ballet dancers living in the Granada area. Approximately 100 members of Birmingham Royal Ballet will travel to Granada for the performances including dancers, Artistic team, technical staff and physiotherapists.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s performances in Granada will be part of a wider dance interest at this year’s festival with further performances from Flamenco dancer Rafaela Carrasco, The Ballet of the Opera of Munich, Spanish dancer Olga Pericet and the María Pagés Compañía.

ENDS

 

Further information on the 61^st International Festival of Music and Dance of Granada and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s performances can be found at:

www.granadafestival.org or www.brb.org.uk

 

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s International Tour to Granada 2012 - Performance dates and times:

 

Coppélia at theTeatro del Generalife, Granada

Thursday 5 July, 10.30pm

 

Alhambra 2012 Mixed Programme (The Grand Tour / Take Five / The Dream)

at the Teatro del Generalife, Granada

Saturday 7 July, 10.30pm

[aileen]

What a lovely place to perform in. The Alhambra in Granada is one of my favourite places. Lucky BRB. Are you going Janet? I know that you are a travelling BRB fan.

[Jan McNulty]

Sadly, I can't make this trip Aileen (but at least I still have my memories of Munich!).

 

Have you noticed that the performances don't start till 22:30. For Coppelia that would mean an end time of 01:00 in the morning and even later for the mixed programme! When I went to Barcelona last year, the theatre performances started at 21:00 and that was bad enough!

[aileen]

The Spanish are night-owls and so the late start will not be a problem for them. In Spain we usually found that we were leaving the restaurant as the Spanish were arriving around 10.30pm. I don't know how any visiting Americans will cope, though. They used to be leaving the restaurant just as we were arriving!

[Julie 2 Milner]

The Bavarian State Ballet are also going. They are taking" Steps and Times" and" Swan Lake." Their performances are 27th and 29th June. I was tempted to go and watch my son but am in Munich in July to see "La Fille" so have decided not this time.

 

It does sound a wonderful event and setting though.