Love and Loss by Birmingham Royal Ballet at The Lowry 1st – 2nd July

Birmingham Royal Ballet performs three pieces in the first part of a seasonal double bill at The Lowry this July.

Birmingham Royal Ballet is a company who can sell out theatres by their name alone. Established first as the Royal Ballet and then as Birmingham Royal Ballet following a move to the city in 1990, they are synonymous with high quality ballet, inventive choreography and technical prowess.

This summer Birmingham Royal Ballet will return to The Lowry in a new double bill over four nights. Paired with sister show Sir Fred and Mr. B, Love and Loss is a programme of three dances – The Dream, The Dance House and Galanteries - that shows Birmingham Royal Ballet at its very best.

The Dream is a classical ballet choreographed in 1964 by influential choreographer Frederick Ashton. Based on a score adapted from Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the interpretation concentrates on Titania, Oberon, Puck and the four lovers. Both the music and the ballet hums with gentle humour (not least with Puck's merry antics and the return of the Wedding March time and time again), while the technically demanding choreography showcases the extraordinary skill of the dancers.

The Dance House is a much darker affair, choreographed by David Bintley, the Birmingham Royal Ballet's artistic director to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1. Inspired by Liszt's “death dance” Totentanz, the video for Michael Jackson's Thriller and the death of a close friend and fellow dancer, Bintley's choreography is a personal and unpredictable exploration of death as a dance.

Galanteries is a celebration of dance in its pure artistic form, set to Mozart and created by Bintley as one of the first pieces performed to mark his engagement as resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet. Drawing inspiration from Frederick Ashton and George Balanchine, the piece is performed by 12 dancers in various formations including an energetic allegro, a stunning pas de trois, a demanding pas de deux and a glittering finale that moves from a solo ballerina to a stage full of exuberant dancers.