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BRB SEASON 2012/12


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BRB announced the 2012/2013 programme for their Birmingham Hippodrome home season in 2012/13:

  • 26-29 September 2012 - Lyric Pieces (the new work by Jessica Lang), Take Five, Grosse Fugue
  • 02-06 October 2012 - Swan Lake
  • 21 November - 09 December 2012 - Cinderella
  • 15-23 February 2013 - Aladdin (Bintley)
  • 04-08 June 2013 - Coppelia
  • 19-22 June 2013 - Giselle

There is much to enjoy but I am disappointed that only one mixed programme is scheduled. It looks to me like a "bums on seats" season as the financial cuts will be starting to bite.

 

Aladdin is the work that David Bintley choreographed for his Japanese company a couple of years ago using the delightful Carl Davies score previously used for Scottish Ballet's (Robert Cohan) Aladdin. In the past two years we have seen two duets from this work at the Evening of Music and Dance at Symphony Hall. It was looking good!

 

Swan Lake is being performed at THE LOWRY 19-22 September. The tickets are already on sale for this: https://tickets.thel...8F-95C7910F1669

 

 

I will post more Autumn tour dates (and beyond) as they are published

Edited by JohnM
Date corrected (as below)
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It will be interesting to see the full length Aladinn ,I am very disappointed that BRB are doing Coppelia again instead of a triple bill,what has happened to having new ballets that are not by David Bintley so healthy for a company (one can cast a Bintley ballet he always uses the same people,other choreographers might see talent in other dancers,like Vanessa Hamilton was chosen by Wayne McGregor at the RB) and please replace the GHASTLY Giselle by the GORGEOUS Peter Wright production.

That's it no more grumps !!!

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Thanks, Janet. I have to say, the one triple bill doesn't sound as though it's going to entice me to Birmingham, especially compared with the programming BRB have done in their mixed bills in recent years. Assuming that BRB are going to carry on with their London Coliseum season in the spring as they have in recent years, does that mean we shall get the Aladdin? Interesting. Giselle sounded good, until I read cabriole's post and remembered that it wasn't the Wright production.

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Re Giselle: I've got to say that while Act 1 may not be my favourite act 1, Act 2 is EXEMPLARY and worth the entrance money on its own. The production was a collaboration between David Bintley and Galina Samsova so has excellent credentials. BRB has some wonderful Giselles and Albrechts.

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I think it's a very disappointing rep for next season, no doubt due to box office problems; but it seems all the thinner after the good rep this season. The single triple bill doesn't look well balanced and the full lengths are mostly fairy stories and classical warhorses. Not much variety for dancers or regular members of the audience. I partly agree with Cabriole about the BRB Giselle, so much weaker than Peter Wright's, and with that absurd ending. And both Royal companies ought to feature at least one Ashton ballet a year, for the heritage, the choreographic quality, and to keep the dancers familiar with the special Ashton style. And why no Balanchine? When Desmond Kelly was in BRB the company regularly danced a variety of Balanchine ballets, and pretty well. It's important for dancers' development as well as the audience's, that a variety of choreographic styles is on offer each season. With Wayne Eagling now going, despite the fight back last year, the future for interesting programmes looks bleak. Let's hope Kevin O'Hare redresses the balance.

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BRB have posted the details of their Autumn Tour. Two mixed programmes are scheduled for Sadler's Wells.

 

http://brb.org.uk/ma...eason&urn=24022

 

Details for the Opposites Attract programme:

 

Opposites Attract

 

 

 

Lyric Pieces | Take Five | Grosse Fuge Flair, energy and innovation in three original modern ballets.

 

Creating her first piece for a major European company, award-winning American choreographer, Jessica Lang crosses the Atlantic to make this ballet, jointly commissioned by International Dance Festival Birmingham 2012 and Birmingham Royal Ballet. Set to romantic musical miniatures by Norwegian master Edvard Grieg and with a hand-picked design team, Lyric Pieces promises to be one of the Company’s highlights of 2012.

 

Director David Bintley invites you to share his love of jazz and, in particular, the music of Dave Brubeck. In homage to one of his heroes, he created this sexy and energetic series of vignettes to some of Brubeck’s most famous tracks including, Take Five and Unsquare Dance.

 

One of Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen’s most famous works, Grosse Fuge is an invigorating and uplifting experience, that has lost none of its power over the last 40 years. The tension is palpable as four men and four women take to the stage, their gazes never meeting. Bare-chested, the men enter into a stern and muscular display. Ripping the men’s skirts from them, the women meet them on equal terms, and the two groups engage in a ritualised dance of raw power and sexuality.

 

 

Details for the Autumn Celebration programme:

 

Autumn Celebration

 

 

 

The Grand Tour | Faster | The Dream A sizzling taste of Shakespeare, Noël Coward and Olympic dreams

 

THE GRAND TOUR

All aboard for the roaring 20s! Setting out for Europe, our heroine, a doughty American spinster, can't believe her luck when she embarks on her cruise and finds herself in the company of a feast of famous faces. However, it turns out that Noël Coward, Gertrude Stein and George Bernard Shaw, to name but a few, aren't necessarily the friendliest of shipmates. Add stowaways and a rather handsome Chief Steward into the mix and things might get a little... complicated.

 

Choreographer of many films and hit Broadway shows, American Joe Layton's The Grand Tour is a genuinely funny take on the eccentric celebrities that populated England's stages, screens and newspapers in the 1920s. Accompanied by unique orchestral renditions of Noël Coward songs, the critically-acclaimed The Grand Tour makes a long-overdue return to the stage.

 

 

FASTER

A ballet inspired by the Olympic motto, Faster, Higher, Stronger

A brand-new ballet from the award-winning team behind E=mc². After winning the last ever South Bank Show Dance award in 2010 with E=mc², Company Director David Bintley embarks on a second collaboration with renowned Australian composer Matthew Hindson. This ballet of speed, power and athleticism will be a fitting creation for the lead-up to London 2012.

 

'Bursts on us with tremendous excitement'

The Sunday Times on E=mc²

 

'Pins you to your seat'

The Independent on E=mc²

 

'This is a dance masterpiece'

The Stage on E=mc²

 

 

THE DREAM

The course of true love never did run smooth... certainly not if a group of mischievous fairies have anything to do with it!

 

In Frederick Ashton's The Dream, having argued with beautiful Titania, Oberon, king of the fairies, seeks a suitable revenge. He orders the fairy Puck to transform a dopey local peasant into a donkey and cause Titania to fall in love with it. This he does, but things soon get out of hand - over-use of the love potion pits friend against friend and hilariously embroils four poor mortals in the fairies' games.

 

Felix Mendelsson's tuneful and instantly recognisable music to A Midsummer Night's Dream becomes the basis for Ashton's elfin comedy, as he shows his mastery of dance, theatre and humour, weaving and unravelling an other-worldly web of mischief.

 

Edited to try and sort out formatting!

Edited by JMcN
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Two mixed bills for Sadler's Wells, when Birmingham only gets one all season? Interesting.

 

Edit: actually, that's a bit of a shame - I'd been looking forward to seeing their Swan Lake again, but I suppose ENB's major run during the summer has put the kybosh on that.

Edited by alison
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