Birmingham Royal Ballet
Spring season at The Lowry
Pomp and Circumstances: Tue 31 March & Wed 1 April
Sylvia: Thu 2 – Sat 4 April
Press nights
Tue 31 March, Pomp and Circumstances, 7.30pm
Thu 2 April, Sylvia, 7.30pm
Birmingham Royal Ballet, a world leader in classical ballet, present David Bintley’s reworked production of Sylvia and Pomp and Circumstances, a mixed programme consisting of Serenade, Enigma Variations and ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café.
In Sylvia, David Bintley has revisited his original 1993 production for the Company, offering a humorous trip through time to learn valuable lessons in love. When the marital strife between Count Guccioli and his wife threatens to disrupt their anniversary celebration, the count’s infidelities endanger the burgeoning love between Amynta and Sylvia, their servants. It is left to the God of Love, Eros (in disguise as a gardener) to reconcile their differences as he takes them, and us, back to the age of mythical Rome in order to teach them all a lesson about Love. Delibes’ delightful score and Sue Blane’s creative designs bring the colourful cast of Gods and Goddesses, slave girls and pirates to life.
Pomp and Circumstances features three very different ballets; pure dance, an Edwardian period piece and a perennially popular showstopper. Balanchine’s Serenade is beautiful abstract dance which originated as an exercise to show the difference between classroom work and performance. It heralded the beginning of a remarkable new cultural development and is now an internationally-known classic. Set to Tchaikovsky’s ‘Serenade for Strings’, Serenade is a pure dance work for an almost entirely female cast.
In Ashton’s Enigma Variations, Edward Elgar’s friends are brought to life in dance. Each variation is an affectionate portrayal of one of his circle of close acquaintances. The piece is Elgar’s best-known large-scale composition and secured his reputation as a composer of national, even international, standing.
David Bintley’s ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café has enchanted and thrilled audiences in London, Australia, Japan and the USA. First performed by the Royal Ballet in 1988, 'Still Life' is an ecological extravaganza with its morris dancing flea, dapper penguins and foot-tapping score by Simon Jeffes and designs by Hayden Griffin.
Posted on Monday, 02 March 2009 under Press Theatre Press