Birmingham Royal Ballet's BRB 2 - Spring tour

Peter Anderson • May 08, 2024

CARLOS ACOSTA’S BRB2 BEGINS SECOND UK TOUR WITH A

NEW GLOBAL COHORT OF FIRST-CLASS

EMERGING BALLET DANCERS


In Spring 2023, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s (BRB) Director, the world-renowned Carlos Acosta, launched BRB2 - a new initiative through which BRB pro-actively seeks out some of the best young ballet graduates from across the globe. BRB2 features some of the brightest young stars in the ballet world, hailing from the UK, USA, Ukraine, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia, and offers a unique opportunity for audiences to be the first to see ballet’s elite rising stars on stage.


BRB2 is a magnet for the best UK and international talent, providing extensive training and professional experience, sending developed, professional dancers back into the dance sector and providing role models for the next generation. The two-year performance programme provides vital employment for the next generation of exceptional ballet dancers (aged 18-22) to transition from training into jobs at BRB or other leading ballet companies, impacting the dance sector worldwide.


Now, after a hugely successful inaugural tour in 2023, BRB2 hits the road again with further performances of Carlos Acosta’s Classical Selection, a mixed programme of balletic highlights chosen by Acosta himself, visiting some venues for the first time. Opening in Cheltenham, the tour then visits Poole, Northampton, Canterbury and Peterborough. BRB2’s visit to Canterbury will mark the first time Birmingham Royal Ballet has performed in the city.


Carlos Acosta said: “Everyone was so delighted with how the inaugural year of BRB2 went. It's been a great year, watching the inaugural group of dancers grow and develop, and to welcome the second intake join and quickly establish themselves as vital members of the Company. Many BRB2 artists are already taking important roles in the current The Sleeping Beauty tour (over 41 shows this Spring) and I cannot be more thrilled that all of the initial intake will be joining the Company full-time at the end of this season.


"It's not just about talent spotting though! My Classical Selection is a brilliant evening of ballet whether you are an established fan or looking for a way to discover what ballet is all about.” The music for End of Time and Dying Swans will be performed live by Jeanette Wong (Head of Piano) and Antonio Novais (Principal Cellist). Jeanette will also perform two solo piano pieces by Ravel to accompany a brand-new duet, titled Mirrored, choreographed especially for BRB2 this year by Will Tuckett.


The programme for the 2024 UK tour includes the world premiere of Mirrored, a wholly new duet created by William Tuckett for BRB2. Further pas de deux include Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody - premiered at The Royal Ballet in 1980 by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier; August Bournonville’s most famous ballet La Sylphide;


The love duet from Swan Lake - probably the most famous pas de deux in ballet; Carlos Acosta’s take on Fokine’s The Dying Swan which features two dancers instead of one (hence The Dying Swans plural) and is double the usual length; Marius Petipa’s Diana and Actaeon pas de deux; Ben Stevenson’s End of Time set to Rachmaninov's gloriously melancholic Sonata in G Minor (3rd movement).


In the second half Gustavo Mollajoli’s A Buenos Aires celebrates the spirit of tango to music by Astor Piazzolla; the iconic Edith Piaf’s Je ne regrette rien choreographed by Ben Van Cauwenbergh, whose Jacques Brel-inspired humorous gala piece Les Bourgeois will also feature. Acosta’s choreography for the Carmen pas de deux promises to raise the temperature with Bizet’s heat-seeking score. Will Tuckett’s new duet Mirrored will captivate audiences before Jorges Garcia’s Majisimo closes out the programme, performed to Massenet’s music from Le Cid.


Below Will Tuckett (c) Imogen Harvey

Beckett inspired May B comes to Sadler's Wells

By Peter Anderson • 19 May, 2024
Compagnie Maguy Marin presents May B by acclaimed French choreographer Maguy Marin , inspired by the works of Samuel Beckett, at Sadler’s Wells on Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 May. May B was created in 1981 and is based on the writings of celebrated Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, who unexpectedly offered his blessing to the then largely unknown choreographer to adapt his work. This haunting work features one single line from Beckett’s play Endgame: “Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished” which Marin uses to give a pulse to her choreography. Her arresting and powerfully theatrical production echoes the relentlessness of Beckettian characters. The 10 performers appear barely human – an ensemble of lost souls, their faces plastered in clay. Moving together and alone, their gestures are distilled to repetitive shuffles and their words garbled and replaced with rhythmic sighs and grunts. Maguy Marin said: “ When Beckett’s characters yearn for stillness, they cannot help moving; be it a little or a lot, they move. In this essentially theatrical work, the point, for us, was less to develop words and speech than a blown-up form of movement, thus seeking the meeting point between movement applied to theatre on the one hand, and dance and choreographic language on the other.” Born in Toulouse, dancer and choreographer Maguy Marin studied classical ballet at the Toulouse dance academy. She joined the Strasbourg Dance Company, then Mudra, Maurice Béjart’s multi-disciplinary school in Brussels. In 1978, with Daniel Ambash, she founded the Ballet-Théâtre de l’Arche, which become the Compagnie Maguy Marin in 1984. Compagnie Maguy Marin is based in the suburbs of Lyon, France. Sadler’s Wells Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive Sir Alistair Spalding CBE said: “ We’re delighted to introduce Sadler’s Wells audiences to the extraordinary work of French choreographer Maguy Marin. Created over 40 years ago, this is a rare opportunity to catch Maguy’s masterpiece. Based on the writings of Samuel Beckett, it’s an exploration of tenderness and humanity that emerges from a bleak and unsettling setting. It’s a remarkable piece of dance theatre, full of recognisable Beckettian characters and choreographic parades, that delves into the depths of our existence .” May B is set to the romantic music of Franz Schubert and Gavin Bryars’ contemporary musical genius. The sparse choreography in Marin’s intuitively potent and timeless work is mesmerising – the dancers journeying in stoic defiance of uncertainty towards a destination that will, quite possibly, always elude them. To make sure May B does not elude you, tickets may be purchased at www.sadlerswells.com or calling the ticket office on 020 7863 8000

Handheld release a new album "Live at 25"

By Peter Anderson • 18 May, 2024
" Short, to-the-point, poppy skate punk which" "has been refined to the purest form of the genre ."- Exclaim! In a landmark celebration of their 25th anniversary, Ontario Canada's Handheld , the dynamic fast melodic punk band that might have escaped your radar, have released 'Live at 25,' an extraordinary live album. Captured in a jammed packed small sold-out club, this record is a journey through their discography, brimming with energy. Celebrating a quarter-century, Handheld’s performance showcases their passion and evolution, delivering an unforgettable experience for fans and new listeners alike. If you are fans of Fast Punk with Lots of Melody, Face To Face, Bad Religion, NOFX, Rise Against, and Millencolin. Well then, I really think you would be missing out if having some how missed Handheld over the last twenty-five years you did not put yourselves into the new listener category. Here’s what Andy Dietrich of Handheld has to say:" I guess this was one of the 'hits' from the early 2000s, I guess it's about being in a band. Our singer hates the lyrics but people seem to like it. We've probably played this song more than any other. It was also around the time that song titles had to make no sense. Thanks Moneen! So we’ve renamed it to what we’ve been calling it in our setlist the last 20+ years, simply just “Lightbulbs”, always a fun one and favourite live, hope you enjoy! " Sure, it's been an incredible 25 years of Handheld, playing fast, melodic punk rock (some even call it skatepunk). Surprisingly, half of the band members don't seem to have aged a day since they first formed in 1998. As for the other half? Well, let's just say they're living the good life. From 1998 to 2008, Handheld tore up stages all across North America. Then, they took a 14-year hiatus, only to return with their most powerful album to date, "A Canadian Tragedy." The boys are back to their old tricks again, this time recording a high-production, top-notch full-length live record during a sold-out, intimate club show for all of us to enjoy. Now that they're back, there's no stopping them at this point; they might as well play until they're dead. Expect more new records and more shows on the horizon. Keep it fast, play power chords with your pinky, and unleash forbidden beats with a single kick pedal.
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