Luna - Birmingham Royal Ballet

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Thu 03 Oct 2024 - Sat 05 Oct 2024

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s new production Luna, which premieres at Birmingham Hippodrome this autumn, highlights the role of women in the life of the city - in its past, present and future.

A two-act ballet, Luna is inspired by Louise Palfreyman’s book Once Upon a Time in Birmingham: Women Who Dare to Dream and features an all-female creative team including five global choreographers.

Premiered on October 3, Luna forms part of a Birmingham-inspired trilogy conceived by BRB’s director Carlos Acosta which has already featured City of a Thousand Trades and the international hit Black Sabbath - The Ballet.

Luna is also inspired by Birmingham’s historic Lunar Society – a group of leading male Enlightenment intellectuals, industrialists and philosophers who met regularly in the city in the 18th and 19th centuries.



Producer Caroline Davis explains: “The idea was - what does a contemporary female Lunar Society look like in our city? It was at that point that I was reminded of Louise Palfreyman’s book which is on my daughter’s bookshelf and handed that to Carlos and said ‘why don’t we think about this in this respect?’ and that is how everything evolved. That book was crowdsourced by the people of Birmingham and it was put together by a young panel of women who then chose 30 women for the book. Those are the women that we’ve then put in front of the creative team we are working with, and they have interpreted that in their own manner. I find that element of it a really nice way to think about making work here in the city. It doesn’t all need to be about the bull!”

Each of the choreographers has responded in their own way to those stories, highlighting themes of community, strength and overcoming difficulties rather than focusing on individual women’s experiences.

Wubkje Kuinderserma from the Netherlands has created the first piece Terra which features a chorus of local children alongside the dancers and looks towards the future. British choreographer Seeta Patel’s Daring to Dream Big looks at how women have harnessed education to foster progress. Overcoming Adversity by Thais Suárez from Cuba is a pas de deux which explores how women cross barriers to move forwards.

The production also includes British choreographer Arielle Smith’s Empowerment in which a group of women support and lift each other. In Spanish choreographer Iratxe Ansas Into The Light, a single woman battles against a group of faceless dancers to rise above the crowd.

And by the finale, Luna created by Wubkje, the moon and the themes have come full circle and return to the ideal of a future full of hope for the women and children of tomorrow. “What Carlos is doing is a really interesting approach, so bringing a two-act ballet and combining the benefit of a narrative arc with bringing in that kind of variety that you get with a triple bill,” says Caroline. “In a triple bill, you get that mix of contemporary, classical and usually a slightly quirky piece and in Luna there is all of that but with a depth from our five individual choreographic voices. What Carlos wanted to do with this new commission was bring through the individual voices of all these brilliant female choreographers from across the world. And the result is a really interesting, slightly complex piece. It gives a lot of variety in an evening.”

Luna also features a new score by British composer Kate Whitley which includes songs to be performed by a chorus of 30 local children which has been created specifically for the work.

Following an open call earlier in the year, the children have been working with the education team of Birmingham’s Ex Cathedra choir and BRB’s Learning, Engagement, Access and Participation department for the past few months. In Luna, they will take to the stage with songs including I Am I Say and There is Silence.

Kate’s score brings together original vocal and instrumental composition with arrangements of tracks including Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and work by Italian composer Ezio Bosso. “Kate has been looking at how she knits together the music using both her own music arrangements and new music because the challenge is to maintain that creative direction whilst allowing these individual component parts to speak,” explains Caroline.



The set is being designed with projection by Hayley Egan, costumes by Imaan Ashraf and lighting by Emma Jones. And they will bring the different pieces together into a coherent story arc. “Consistently throughout the piece the audience will see how we go on a full lunar cycle,” says Caroline. “It’s a very monochromatic set and much of the storytelling will be through the video design. This will ensure some really powerful moments, particularly with the chorus as we see their ideas for the future on this vast stage.”

Bringing together such a diverse team from across the continents has been a massive creative project and Caroline says the results will be a special production to be premiered in Birmingham and then London. “We have been working across multiple time zones and different places with these very in-demand choreographers, composers and designers. But what I like about this is you’re going to get a piece where you see the dreams being played out next to a piece about a woman being an activist and then another piece in which you’re going to see the struggles of that lead female.”

And, Caroline says, the show forms part of BRB’s commitment to Birmingham. “City of a Thousand Trades and Black Sabbath – The Ballet already highlight the cultural and artistic diversity of our amazing city, Luna shows yet another different side to Birmingham's story. I hope people will find the work really interesting and I hope they will get a really brilliant night of dance at Birmingham Hippodrome and Sadler’s Wells.”

Caroline believes the project has the potential to leave a legacy for female artists in the city. “I hope that we get really positive responses from audiences and we do inspire the next creative generation in the city, that they can see how work like this can be made. Birmingham Royal Ballet has been part of the city for more than 30 years and they’ve brought the highest level of dance that you can see across the world, taking the city’s name to America, the Far East and Europe and places like Glastonbury Festival. It feels really positive that Luna can sit alongside all of those highlights.”

BRB perform Luna on October 3-5 at Birmingham Hippodrome, see here.

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