Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company was established in 1946 as a sister company to the earlier Sadler's Wells company, which moved to the Royal Opera House that same year, subsequently becoming known as The Royal Ballet.

The new company was formed under the direction of John Field and remained at Sadler's Wells for many years, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1977. It also toured the UK and abroad, before relocating to Birmingham in 1990, where it uses the Birmingham Hippodrome stage when performing in the city. Birmingham Royal Ballet has extensive custom-built facilities, including a suite of dance studios, the Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries and a studio theatre known as the Patrick Centre. In 1997, the Birmingham Royal Ballet became independent of The Royal Ballet in London.

History In 1926, the Irish-born dancer Ninette de Valois founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls. Her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres, and in 1925, she engaged de Valois to stage dance performances at both venues.

Sadler's Wells reopened in 1931, and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre. These would become the predecessors of today's Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School.

In 1939, the company lost its link with the Old Vic theatre, and in 1940, Sadler's Wells theatre was bombed during World War II. These events forced the company to begin touring the country, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet. The company did return to Sadler's Wells theatre, where it stayed until 1946, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company of the newly re-opened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. The company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946, with their first production at the venue being Ninette de Valois' staging of The Sleeping Beauty.

Following the relocation of the company, the school was relocated to its own premises in 1947, and a sister company was established to continue performances at Sadler's Wells, called Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet. This sister company would become the predecessor of today's Birmingham Royal Ballet. The first Artistic Director of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet was John Field, who was later made co-director of the Royal Ballet and also worked as artistic director of La Scala Theatre Ballet and English National Ballet.

In 1955, Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet temporarily lost its link with Sadler's Wells theatre and relocated to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company.

In 1956, a royal charter was granted for both companies and the school, and they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.

The Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadler's Wells theatre in 1970, whilst continuing to tour the country. The first indication that the company would leave London came in 1987, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre. Consequently, the company relocated to Birmingham in 1990, being given its current name Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Sir Peter Wright was the company's Artistic Director from 1977 until his retirement in 1995, when David Bintley was appointed Artistic Director. In 1997, Birmingham Royal Ballet was made independent of the Royal Ballet and ceased to be managed by the Royal Opera House. In January 2019 it was announced that acclaimed Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta would succeed Bintley as artistic director in January 2020.

Works performed Table of works performed by Birmingham Royal Ballet Title Running Time (mins) Choreographer Composer Agon 28 George Balanchine Igor Stravinsky All for a Kiss 5 Aonghus Hoole Igor Stravinsky Apollo 30 George Balanchine Igor Stravinsky Arthur pt I 60,45 David Bintley John McCabe Arthur pt II 58,65 David Bintley John McCabe Avec Moi Ce Soir Glyn Scott Igor Stravinsky Le Baiser de la fée 45 Michael Corder Igor Stravinsky Beauty and the Beast 50,50 David Bintley Glenn Buhr Black Sabbath - The Ballet 30, 30, 30 Pontus Lidberg, Raúl Reinoso & Cassi Abranches Black Sabbath, Christopher Austin, Marko Nyberg & Sun Keting Bright Young Things 30 Oliver Hindle George Gershwin Brouillards 37 John Cranko Claude Debussy Card Game 24 John Cranko Igor Stravinsky Carmina Burana 67 David Bintley Carl Orff Carnival of the Animals 25 David Justin, Toby Norman-Wright, Jonathan Payn, Nicole Tongue Camille Saint-Saëns Checkmate 46 Ninette de Valois Arthur Bliss Choros 30 David Bintley Aubrey Meyer Concert Fantasy 30 David Bintley Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Concerto 24 Kenneth MacMillan Dmitri Shostakovich Concerto Barocco 20 George Balanchine Johann Sebastian Bach Coppélia 35,28,38 Peter Wright after Marius Petipa & Enrico Cecchetti Léo Delibes Cyrano 53,33,41 David Bintley Carl Davis The Dance House 26 David Bintley Dmitri Shostakovich Danses Concertantes Kit Holder, Glyn Scott, Aonghus Hoole, Kosuke Yamamoto Igor Stravinsky Dante Sonata 17 Frederick Ashton Franz Liszt arr Constant Lambert Daphnis et Chloé 55 Frederick Ashton Maurice Ravel The Dream 54 Frederick Ashton Felix Mendelssohn Dumbarton Oaks 15 Michael Kopinski Igor Stravinsky Duo Concertant 17 George Balanchine Igor Stravinsky Ebony Concerto Samara Downs Igor Stravinsky Edward II 60,55 David Bintley John McCabe Elite Syncopations 38 Kenneth MacMillan Scott Joplin et al. The End of Winter Kosuke Yamamoto Igor Stravinsky Enigma Variations 34 Frederick Ashton Edward Elgar Façade 20 Frederick Ashton William Walton Fancy Free 31 Jerome Robbins Leonard Bernstein Far from the Madding Crowd 50,40,40 David Bintley Paul Reade La Fille Mal Gardée 28,34,38 Frederick Ashton Ferdinand Hérold The Firebird 47 Mikhail Fokine Igor Stravinsky Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan 8 Frederick Ashton Johannes Brahms Five Tangos 27 Hans van Manen Ástor Piazzolla Four Seasons 45 Oliver Hindle, Shimon Kalichman, Mikaela Polley, Samira Saidi, Asier Uriagereka, Richard Whistler, Yuri Zhukov Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons 46 Oliver Hindle Antonio Vivaldi The Four Temperaments 32 George Balanchine Paul Hindemith Giselle 55,46 Marius Petipa after Jean Coralli & Jules Perrot Adolphe Adam Grosse Fuge 27 Hans van Manen Ludwig van Beethoven Hobson's Choice 34,28,42 David Bintley Paul Reade In the Upper Room 40 Twyla Tharp Philip Glass Into the Ferment 25 Jonathan Payn James MacMillan Krishna 35 Nahid Siddiqui Hariprasad Chaurasia The Lady and the Fool 48 John Cranko Giuseppe Verdi arr Charles Mackerras Much A-Dance About Nothing Jenny Murphy Igor Stravinsky Nine Sinatra Songs 33 Twyla Tharp The Nutcracker 50,50 Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov, Vincent Redmon Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker Sweeties 35 David Bintley Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn (after Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) Orpheus 30 George Balanchine Igor Stravinsky The Orpheus Suite 45 David Bintley Colin Towns Paquita 28 Marius Petipa Ludwig Minkus Les Petits Riens 25 David Bintley Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Petrushka 38 Michel Fokine Igor Stravinsky Pictures at an Exhibition 35 Shimon Kalichman, Toby Norman-Wright, Annette Pain, Jonathan Payn, Mikaela Polley, Samira Saidi, Nicole Tongue, Richard Whistler, Asier Uriagereka, Yuri Zhukov Modest Mussorgsky arr Maurice Ravel Pineapple Poll 41 John Cranko Arthur Sullivan arr Charles Mackerras The Planets 53 Rosie Kay, David Bintley, Samara Downs, Lei Zhao, Michael Kopinski, Kit Holder, Jenny Murphy Gustav Holst Powder 33 Stanton Welch Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Prodigal Son 36 George Balanchine Sergey Prokofiev The Prospect Before Us 38 Ninette de Valois William Boyce arr Constant Lambert The Protecting Veil 43 David Bintley John Tavener Pulcinella 40 Kim Brandstrup Igor Stravinsky Raymonda Act III 34 Rudolf Nureyev Alexander Glazunov The Rite of Spring 35 Millicent Hodson after Vaslav Nijinsky Igor Stravinsky Romeo and Juliet 60,34,40 Kenneth MacMillan Sergey Prokofiev Sanctum 26 Lila York Maurice Ravel & Christopher Rouse Scènes de Ballet 22 Frederick Ashton Igor Stravinsky The Seasons 32 David Bintley Giuseppe Verdi Serenade 34 George Balanchine Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Shakespeare Suite 38 David Bintley Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn Slaughter on Tenth Avenue 25 George Balanchine Richard Rodgers The Sleeping Beauty 34,30,32,39 Marius Petipa, Peter Wright Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Small Worlds Kit Holder Igor Stravinsky Solitaire 27 Kenneth MacMillan Malcolm Arnold Song of the Earth 63 Kenneth MacMillan Gustav Mahler The Sons of Horus 30 David Bintley Peter McGowan 'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe 42 David Bintley Simon Jeffes Stravinsky Violin Concerto 20 George Balanchine Igor Stravinsky Swan Lake 32,32,44,20 Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov & Peter Wright Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphonic Variations 21 Frederick Ashton César Franck Symphony in Three Movements 24 George Balanchine Igor Stravinsky Take Five 25 David Bintley The Dave Brubeck Quartet transcribed by Colin Towns Tombeaux 25 David Bintley William Walton Tweedledum and Tweedledee 5 Frederick Ashton Percy Grainger The Two Pigeons 27,33 Frederick Ashton André Messager Unravelled Nathanael Skelton Igor Stravinsky Voice of Spring 4 Frederick Ashton Johann Strauss II The Walk to the Paradise Garden 9 Frederick Ashton Frederick Delius Western Symphony 30 George Balanchine trad American melodies arr by Hershy Kay

The company

The Birmingham Royal Ballet employs 63 dancers and a complete list as of 2026 is shown below.

The company also has an Executive, Artistic and Music staff, including the following:

Director – Carlos Acosta, a former dancer with The Royal Ballet and Director of both Birmingham Royal Ballet and Acosta Danza Music Director – Paul Murphy CEO – Paul James

Dancers Source

Principals Name Nationality Training Joined BRB Promoted to Principal Tzu-Chao Chou Australian Ballet School20112017 Mathias Dingman Kirov Academy of Ballet 2006 2015Céline GittensGoh Ballet Academy20062016Yu Kurihara Royal Ballet School20182025 Momoko Hirata Reiko Yamamoto Ballet SchoolRoyal Ballet School 2003 2013 Max Maslen Central School of Ballet 2012 2023 Miki Mitzutani English National Ballet School 2012 2022 Lachlan Monaghan Royal Ballet School 2012 2023 Beatrice Parma La Scala Theatre Ballet SchoolEnglish National Ballet School 2015 2024 Yaoqian Shang Royal Ballet School 2013 2022

Principal Character Artists Rory Mackay (Répétiteur) Jonathan Payn (Répétiteur) Daria Stanciulescu

First Soloists Enrique Bejarano Vidal Yasiel Hodelín Bello Riku Ito Katherine Ochoa

Soloists Karla Doorbar Rosanna Ely Haoliang Feng Reina Fuchigami Ryan Felix Mason King Sofia Liñares

First Artists

Gabriel Anderson Rachele Pizillo Eilis Small Yuki Sugiura Amelia Thompson Lucy Waine

Artists

Louis Andreasen Olivia Chang Clarke Ixan Ferrer Tori Forsyth-Hecken Alisa Garkavenko August Generalli Luciano Ghidoli Miles Gilliver Tom Hazelby Frieda Kaden Maïlène Katoch Airi Kobayashi Ava May Llewellyn Alexandra Manuel Hannah Martin Matilde Rodrigues Lynsey Sutherland Sophie Walters Gillian Whitall

BRB2

Mikel Arana Arzak Jacopo Biancucci Noah Campbell John Fontanini Alfie-Lee Hall Yasemin Kayabay Marlo Kempsy-Fagg Sophia Koo Yoli Meurisse Addison Partlow Samuel Pereira Martha Savin Denis Teixeira

Apprentices

Ted (Heng-Yu) Peng

See also The Royal Ballet, sister company of the Birmingham Royal Ballet Royal Ballet School, official ballet school of the company English National Ballet Elmhurst Ballet School

Footnotes

External links