BRB2 Carlos Acosta's Ballet Celebration UK Tour - Review

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Tue 06 May 2025 - Sat 17 May 2025

A chance to see rising talent in the ballet world seems too good a chance to miss, but added to that is the overseeing hand of famed dancer Carlos Acosta.

Acosta has been whipping Birmingham Royal Ballet(BRB) into shape under his directorship and is now showing off the junior members of the company, under the guise of BRB2 for its new graduates. The Cuban ballet maestro has created this gala programme that is themed on a group of artists who fled Russia and gave "birth to modern ballet".

Over one hour and 40 minutes, audiences at BRB2 Carlos Acosta's Ballet Celebration get to see a series of routines that hark back to Sergei Diaghilev and his famous Ballets Russes at the beginning of the 20th Century.



I caught the first performance at Birmingham Hippodrome and the tour now continues to Sadler's Wells East in London, Poole's The Lighthouse and Northampton Royal & Derngate until May 17.

It opens with the short ballet of Les Sylphides, pictured above, and the scene is set with dancers elegantly placed in long traditional tutus looking as beautiful as a painting, as shown above. Chopin's delicate soundtrack is provided by Jeanette Wong, Head of Piano at Birmingham Conservatoire, which makes it even easier to be drawn into the intricate dancing.

Although there are initially some nerves, the young dancers leading this section of Tom Hazelby, Alisa Garkavenko, Alexandra Manuel and Maïlène Katoch prove there's plenty of talent being nurtured in BRB. These faces will no doubt be leading the major ballets in a few years to come.

It's an elegant, traditional piece but Acosta will shake things up after the interval. That's when the renowned Royal Ballet Sinfonia orchestra take their place to provide the soundtrack for a series of shorter pas de deux performances. It's not just about the ballet as the live classical music performed is also a highlight of this show.



The first dance is from Sheherazade, shown above, a racy tale that was first performed by the Ballets Russes at Paris Opera in 1910. It brings a flavour of Arabia to the stage as based on a story from The Thousand and One Nights and its warm colours and emotions are in stark contrast to the black and white set for Les Sylphides.

The pas de deux is the passionate entanglement of Zobeide from the harem with the Golden Slave while the Shah is away. I saw Andrea Riolo and Ixan Llorca Ferrer perform with zest.

That was followed by my personal favourite, Le Spectre de la rose, pictured below. This joyous piece was exuberant and delightful that can't help but make you smile.



It was made all the better for a striking and energetic performance by Jack Easton, who beautifully haunts dancer Ariana Allen. They made an enchanting pair, especially when they moving together.

Next up was a brief, fun number of Les Biches. It opens with a solo Rag Mazurka dance by the hostess, played by Sophie Walters. She has plenty of confidence in the role in yet another glorious costume, but is on stage all too briefly.

She makes way for a rather fun pas de deux by Ellyne Knol and Noah Cosgrif that's full of charm. It's worth nothing that among BRB2's artistic team behind the scenes are former BRB regulars Kit Holder and Dominic Antonucci, who were well-known for their character-led performances and comic roles as dancers. It feels like they are passing on their experience and expertise to the next generation.

Then it's time for The Firebird, pictured below, to bring a burst of colour and character-filled enjoyment ahead of the finale. Stravinsky's music echoes atmospherically as Alexandra Manuel personalises the bird through her exquisite movements. She is well-matched with Marlo Kempsey-Fagg as the hunter who has her in his grasp.



It's an astute, carefully thought out gala programme that allows the junior members to take the spotlight. Don't be put off by them being the younger, under 21s, as this is still first-rate dancing from a company led by a man who wouldn't settle for anything less.

Carlos Acosta's Ballet Celebration with BRB2 is an enchanting evening of music and dance.

Running time: 1 hour 40 mins including an interval

UK Tour Dates

For information and tickets, see the Birmingham Royal Ballet website here

Birmingham Hippodrome -May 6
Sadler's Wells East - May 9 - 10
The Lighthouse in Poole - May 13 - 14
Northampton Royal & Derngate - May 17

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