Beauty and The Beast, Hobson's Choice, La Fille Mal Gardée and more: Birmingham Royal Ballet bringing variety of shows to Midland fans

The city-based company, which was established in 1946, will perform a total of 11 different shows for fans between June 2018 and 2019 at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Among these are Romeo and Juliet, Fire and Fury, The Nutcracker, and Beauty and The Beast.

Studio to Stage

Taking place on June 5 will be the Studio to Stage show, designed to be an introduction to ballet. The hour-long performance will feature two dancers, accompanied by a pianist and a speaker.

The dancers will show the audience how they prepare for a show, from class to rehearsal, right through to a performance of a pas de deux. Ballet Master Dominic Antonucci will be on-hand to guide fans through the evening and tell more about the art of ballet.

For more on this show, click here

Polarity and Proximity

Next up between June 20 and 23 is Polarity and Proximity, a triple bill consisting of Alexander Whitley’s Kin, In the Upper Room, and a new work which is part of Ballet Now, supported by the Oak Foundation.

There will also be a free pre-show talk for audience members on June 22 at 6.30pm explaining the ideas, thoughts and work which goes into making a Birmingham Royal Ballet production.

For more on this show, click here

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet takes place from June 26 to 30, telling the classic Shakespeare tale of love, forbidden passions, dangerous secrets and star-crossed fate through dance.

Audience members can attend a free 30-minute pre-performance talk on June 29 at 6.30pm explaining the ideas, thoughts and work behind a Birmingham Royal Ballet show.

There will also be a free audience open day on June 30 between 12 and 2.30pm to give fans a behind-the-scenes peek into the company. The open day is free to all matinee ticket holders.

For more on this show, click here

Class on Stage

Birmingham Royal Ballet will host five Class on Stage shows for fans this year and next.

The on-stage experiences give audiences a chance to watch Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dancers in their final preparations for a performance.

They will take place on June 30, September 29, and November 24 this year and February 24 and June 22 next year.

For more on the June show this year, click here

For more on the other Class on Stage shows, click here

La Fille Mal Gardée

This comedy ballet - the title of which translates as The Wayward Daughter - tells the tale of Lise, who is faced with the choice of a 'loaded country bumpkin or penniless, hunky farmhand'. She has one idea, her mother has another. Heels are dug in and sparks fly, as a mother-daughter battle of wills ensues.

It will run between September 26 and 29.

Tickets for La Fille Mal Gardée go on sale on April 19 at 11am.

There will be a free pre-show talk for audience members on September 28 at 6.30pm explaining the ideas, thoughts and work which goes into making a Birmingham Royal Ballet production.

A free audience open day will also take place on September 29 between 12 and 2.30pm to give fans a behind-the-scenes peek into the company. The open day is free to all matinee ticket holders.

For more information, click here

A First Steps performance of La Fille Mal Gardée - specifically designed to introduce children to ballet - will take place on September 28. For more on this, click here

Fire and Fury

Fire and Fury will feature two ballets one from established choreographer, director David Bintley, and one from a choreographer working on this scale for the first time, Juanjo Arqués.

The first is The King Dances, in which David Bintley casts a modern eye on the very beginnings of ballet, when men were kings of dance.

Juanjo Arqués’s Ignite, meanwhile, inspired by Turner’s painting The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, will receive its world premiere in Birmingham.

The show will run from October 3 to 6.

Tickets for Fire and Fury go on sale on April 19 at 11am.

For more, click here

The Nutcracker

This classic Christmas tale will return to Birmingham Hippodrome from November 23 to December 13.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s evergreen production of The Nutcracker has been part of the city’s Christmas tradition for more than 27 years.

The world-famous production by Sir Peter Wright, with designs by John Macfarlane, is set to feature huge sets, 60 dancers and a full orchestra.

For more on this show, click here

Beauty and The Beast

The fantastical fairytale of Beauty and The Beast will be brought to life by Birmingham Royal Ballet between February 19 and March 2 next year.

All performances feature live music from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Paul Murphy, Koen Kessels and Philip Ellis.

Tickets for the shows go on sale on April 19 at 11am.

There will be a free pre-show talk for audience members on March 1 at 6.30pm explaining the ideas, thoughts and work which goes into making a Birmingham Royal Ballet production.

A free audience open day will also take place on February 20 and 23 from 12 till 2.30pm to give fans a behind-the-scenes peek into the company. The open day is free to all matinee ticket holders.

For more, click here

A First Steps performance of Beauty and The Beast - specifically designed to introduce children to ballet - will take place on March 1. For more on this, click here

[Un]leashed

Birmingham Royal Ballet will present three shows by female choreographers.

This will include the world premiere of the third Ballet Now commission by Didy Veldman, with a score by Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of Sergei Prokofiev, the composer of Romeo and Juliet.

Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces, created for the company as part of International Dance Festival Birmingham 2012, and the first main-stage performances of Petra and the Wolf, an innovative contemporary view of Sergei Prokofiev’s famous suite, Peter and the Wolf, choreographed by the Company’s Ruth Brill will also be presented.

There will be a free pre-show talk for audience members on June 14 at 6.30pm explaining the ideas, thoughts and work which goes into making a Birmingham Royal Ballet production.

For more information, click here

Hobson's Choice

Join feisty Maggie as she puts the world to rights, outsmarts her inebriated father, bags herself the perfect man and starts up her own business to boot.

When Hobson’s Choice was premiered at the Royal Opera House in 1989, David Bintley’s earthy comedy after Harold Brighouse’s play received a standing ovation the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the premiere of Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardée in 1960.

There will be a free pre-show talk for audience members on June 21 at 6.30pm explaining the ideas, thoughts and work which goes into making a Birmingham Royal Ballet production.

A free audience open day will also take place on June 22 from 12 till 2.30pm to give fans a behind-the-scenes peek into the company. The open day is free to all matinee ticket holders.

For more on the show, click here