Birmingham debut will see host of young talent performing.
For its thirtieth anniversary season, the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain will present Time in Motion, a mixed programme of ballets choreographed by some of the UK’s most eminent professionals and rising talents, performed by a company of young dancers aged 8-18 from across the UK.
The NYB will bring its season to Birmingham for the first time this year, with four performances taking place at the Crescent Theatre on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th August, following a summer school at Elmhurst Ballet School in Edgbaston.
Time in Motion will encompass seven short ballets that together will make a compelling journey through time. Highlights include Scottish Ballet Artistic Director Christopher Hampson’s abstract ballet Carnival set to Saint-Saëns’s humorous score; Birmingham Royal Ballet soloist Jonathan Payn’s beautiful IKEN, inspired by the Suffolk landscape; a new narrative work by New Adventures Associate Director Etta Murfitt, inspired by the Dream Ballet from Oklahoma; and Aspirations, a piece by English National Ballet School’s Director of Dance Samira Saidi.
The Beyond Ballet platform also returns, offering emerging choreographers the opportunity to devise, develop and showcase new works at professional level. This year three female choreographers will create new works. Birmingham Royal Ballet First Artist and choreographer Ruth Brill will present a new work with music by Raymond Fol; Rambert graduate Arielle Smith will present a bold new contemporary piece T-Symmetry, and Louise Bennett will create a new work for the Junior Company set to the wonderful Coppelia score by Leo Delibes.
Beyond Ballet also offers training opportunities in other areas of the industry, with several students this year developing skills as rehearsal directors, projection designers and theatre administrators.
The NYB has also announced that patron David Bintley CBE, director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, will be the guest Judge for the in-house choreographic competition which will take place at Summer School. The winning piece will be showcased within the Time in Motion Season.
The season is led by Mikah Smillie, who last year was appointed as the new Artistic Director of the NYB. Mikah said today: “The 2017 NYB Season has seen many exciting new opportunities for the company, in the first steps of our new initiatives to bring NYB to an even greater audience of young dancers. The excitement created by working professionals, emerging artists and young dance students creating and being inspired by each other is so incredibly exciting.
“It not only provides our young dancers with a snapshot into how company life works but it also develops important learning skills, creative partnerships and most importantly, lifelong friendships which are at the beating heart of every dancer’s life. The team at the NYB look forward to nurturing and developing these alliances, providing performance opportunities for a greater number of young people across the whole of Great Britain.”
The NYB perform on Friday 25–Saturday 26 August at the Crescent Theatre, Sheepcote Street, Birmingham, B16 8AE. Performances: 2.30pm and 7.30pm Tickets Adult: £20, Under 16s: £18. Box Office: 0121 643 5858 or crescent-theatre.co.uk
Pics : Tim Cross