SECTOR FOCUS: ARTS & CULTURE
Ballet celebrates Birmingham links
commissioning an unusual photographic series. It features the ballet’s 13 principal
B
irmingham Royal Ballet has celebrated 21 years in the city by
‘The 13 dancers were photographed during three days in and around Birmingham’
dancers and senior management team pictured at locations in Birmingham that have special significance to them. The photographs were taken by Birmingham photographer Richard
Battye, and among the locations used were Villa Park, The White Swan pub in Edgbaston, the Botanical Gardens, Stonebridge Golf Club, Urban Coffee, Mailbox and Birmingham Airport. The 13 dancers, plus company director David Bintley, assistant director Marion Tait and chief executive Christopher Barron were photographed during three days in and around Birmingham. Aimed at spreading the word about the city of Birmingham and the
Royal Ballet, the photography and text to go with it will travel with the company as it tours throughout the UK and overseas. MR Barron said: “Birmingham Royal Ballet is running this campaign to highlight some of the great landmarks and businesses in the city, places that make this city tick and places that members of the company find special and enjoy visiting.” And Mr Battye said: “It was especially interesting photographing the
dancers and staff in their chosen Birmingham locations celebrating the city and all it has to offer. “There is a wealth of culture and creativity within the city which is why I
have based myself here. Birmingham Royal Ballet is known internationally and the city's name goes with them as they tour.”
Rep brings productions to factory and castle
Birmingham Rep is continuing its temporary nomadic existence while its home in Centenary Square is being refurbished.
‘The theatre will be staging its productions at different venues around the city’
Leading Ladies’ star role
The forthcoming ‘Leading Ladies’ event promises to be a real cracker – or, more correctly, a ‘Nutcracker’. That’s because the event will be hosted at Birmingham Hippodrome, and will feature a performance of the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s famous work. Prior to that, there will be a chance to hear from Jessica Ward, principal of one of the country’s leading dance schools, Elmhurst. Elmhurst School for Dance is based in Edgbaston, and offers ballet
training for 11 – 19 year olds. Jessica – a ballet dancer herself, whose career began at the tender age of two – will provide an insight into life at a dance school. The Leading Ladies event takes place on 29 November at the Hippodrome and tickets are priced at £55.
46 CHAMBERLINK NOVEMBER 2011
During spring and summer next year the theatre will be staging its productions at different city venues, ranging from Midlands Arts Centre (mac) at Cannon Hill Park and the Old Rep in Station Street, to rather more unusual locations, including the AE Harris factory in Northwood Street and the medieval ruins of Weoley Castle. At AE Harris, the Rep Theatre
Company will be performing ‘The Just Price of Flowers’, on 15-30 June 2012. This is a play about the 2008 financial collapse, although it is set in 17th century Netherlands. The play tells how tulips became much sought after items at that time, and as their price went up, it created the possibility of making profit through speculative buying. For a brief time certain tulip bulbs were sold for prices equivalent to
those of a house, or three years of a craftsman’s wage. In 1637 this particular financial bubble burst. ‘The Just Price of Flowers’ finds
the Van Leasings buying a tulip from Van Eek, using money borrowed from Van Hire. It follows them as they chase
their dream of wealth through the growing complexities of futures trading, credit ratings, sub-primes, credit default swaps, and the horror of short selling. At Weoley Castle, the theatre
company will be performing ‘The Witches Promise’ during July 2012. ‘The Witches Promise’ is described as a ‘large-scale site- specific play’, inspired by the history of the 13th century ruins. Among other productions next
year is ‘Waiting For Godot’ by Samuel Beckett. The play is about two homeless
men, Vladimir and Estragon, who wait on a bare road with a single tree. Over two days they argue, get bored, clown around, repeat themselves, contemplate death and wait. They are waiting for the one who never comes. They are waiting for Godot. The play is one of the most significant English language plays of the 20th Century, and is essentially about what it is to be human.
David Bintley at Villa Park
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