Birmingham Royal Ballet

Three ballets spanning nearly a century of US creativity, from George Balanchine’s earliest American creation to one of the Company’s most recent commissions.

Serenade is a stunning piece of pure dance from master choreographer George Balanchine, performed to the glorious music of Tchaikovsky. Wearing romantic costumes in shades of blue, dancers move elegantly on a bare stage, set against a midnight blue background. A milestone in the history of dance, Serenade is the first original ballet Balanchine created in America.

Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces, commissioned for International Dance Festival Birmingham 2012, was one of the highlights of that season and makes a welcome return. For her first piece for a major European company, award-winning American choreographer Lang used the romantic musical miniatures by Norwegian master Edvard Grieg and complemented them with a hand-picked design team, creating a ballet which The Stage described as ‘A ballet of dreams and romantic moods which succeeds beautifully’.

In the Upper Room features dancers in trainers and striking red pointe shoes who dominate the stage with energy, flair and finesse in this exhilarating, athletic ballet by American dance phenomenon Twyla Tharp. Philip Glass’s score builds to an emotional peak with dancing that the press described as ‘quick-witted and even quicker footed’. A high-octane, all-American evening!