Birmingham Royal Ballet - Into The Music Review

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Fri 21 Oct 2022 - Sat 05 Nov 2022

Carlos Acosta has waited since 2019 for Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) to put on an exciting new dance production Hotel. The BRB director never gave up, despite the Covid pandemic, and now it features as part of the triple bill Into The Music.



Into The Music is part of BRB's Autumn Season at Birmingham Hippodrome from October 21 and then goes on tour to London's Sadler's Wells in November.The world premiere of Hotel is the middle of the three performances and worth the three year wait. It's an atmospheric multi-media production that has many dimensions on stage, beautifully choreographed by Morgann Runacre-Temple.

HotelSet in an eerie hotel, one of the dancers is a videographer projecting images on the set's grey walls from the thick of the action. It's like Big Brother meets The Shining.At the helm is a pair of sinister hotel staff, made even more haunting by their close-ups to camera. Dancers Tzu-Chao Chou and Beatrice Parma seem to relish their macabre roles.



The guests flow between their rooms to being drugged at dinner through a series of emphatic series of inventive group routines. The most impressive sees them dance with their own video projections. It's clever, mind-blowing dance at its best. Stealing the show is Matilde Rodrigues as 'Arm Head' - one of the most glorious characters in Birmingham Royal Ballet's back catalogue. I won't spoil the fun of what it is all about but 'Arm Head' is such a simple yet memorable idea that energises the audience from its first steps on stage.Throughout this innovative performance, there's so much to look at. I could see it all over again and notice new things. Hotel is so refreshing and filled with new ideas that it feels like Acosta's new age at BRB is finally coming to the fore. This is the kind of new approach and exciting dance we've been waiting for.Into The Music goes beyond Hotel as it is sandwiched between opener Forgotten Land and a finale of Beethoven's The Seventh Symphony. All emphasise the talent of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, providing an excellent soundtrack.

Forgotten LandAccompanied by Benjamin Britten's majestic Sinfonia da requiem, Forgotten Land has less of a storyline and more emphasis on symbolism.



Depicting the ebb and flow of life and love, like the waves of the ocean, various couples dance in front of a stunning set. As beautiful as a painting, the set is a nod to the work of artist Edvard Munch who inspired it.You'll feel swept away by the perfect combination of enticing music and pas de deux. Each of the movements of Britten's Sinfonia are well cast with six dancing couples creating emotions connected to different points in life. There's plenty of BRB's most popular personalities making an appearance too from Cesar Morales to Momoko Hirata and Mathias Dingman.

The Seventh SymphonyAlthough the finale has classic, timeless music from Beethoven, the production still manages to feel fresh. Dancers wear simple white leotards with a stripe of colour but the effect is anything but plain.



Through four orchestral movements, synchronised leaps and lines of immaculate pointe work show the skills of the talented cast in a production referred to as being a "festival of dance".So there's no better to inspire the joy of dance than principals Momoko Hirata and Celine Gittens, whose precise and delicate movements confirming their exceptional talents. Joining them in the impressive line-up are Tyrone Singleton, Tzu Chao Chou and Brandon Lawrence to name a few.It's a large scale, frenzy of activity that takes the audience to a high point to end the Into The Music evening. Exciting and fresh, this trio of delights sends a warning shot to the dance world that Birmingham Royal Ballet is a breathtaking force to be reckoned with.
RATING: & #9733 ;& #9733 ;& #9733 ;& #9733 ;& #9734 ;
Running time: 2 hours 35 minutes

Into The Music continues on tour to London's Sadler's Wells Theatre from November 2 - 5, 2022.

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!date 21/10/2022 -- 05/11/2022
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