On Your Marks! - Birmingham Royal Ballet Review

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Thu 23 Jun 2022 - Sat 25 Jun 2022

With a triple bill featuring two premieres and the return of a work created during Covid, On Your Marks! clearly has the stamp of BRB director Carlos Acosta's new direction for the company.

The triple bill programme performed at Birmingham Hippodrome is bold and surprising while ensuring the dancers are giving it all they've got whether they are dancing en pointe or throwing around bottles.



Forming part of the city's celebration of the Commonwealth Games, the production forms part of both the Birmingham 2022 Festival and Birmingham International Dance Festival. And it is certainly international with new works created by Brazilian choreographer Juliano Nunes and Spanish choreographer George Crecis.

It is also the first time the two companies directed by Carlos Acosta have come together. Crecis has re-worked 12, a piece performed by Havana-based Acosta Danza, into a larger version, now called 24 and featuring dancers from BRB alongside those from Acosta Danza.

The piece is arguably more circus than dance as the 24 performers throw and catch water bottles, spinning and turning as they do so. With every throw and catch depending on dexterity there is a constant element of chance and tension – with audience members cheering whether the catch is successful or on the rare occasions of a miss.

Nunes' work, Interlinked, sees the company in a more classical mode – but with a modern twist. Set to music by Luke Howard, Interlinked explores trust and respect, with all the dancers initially appearing equal. Male and female are dressed in Tutu-inspired skirts and muted tones and as they move, they blend and interchange. There are break-out moments including a pas de deux between two male dancers, Brandon Lawrence and Tzu-Chao Chou, in which there is a real sense of connection and of trust as each depends on the other to ensure balance.

Sandwiched in-between is the return of Lazuli Sky, which the company premiered after the first lockdown in October 2020. Created by Birmingham-born choreographer Will Tuckett, Lazuli Sky is inspired by lapiz lazuli, a gemstone that formed the basis of the most expensive paint pigment and which created the blue skies famous in Renaissance art.



The work uses a digital design by Nina Dunn both before and behind the dancers, framing them onto the stage and highlighting them as they move en masse and break away. It also features giant 'skirts' that open and close to create their own tableau, reminiscent of both whirling Dervishes and fans.

On Your Marks! shows Acosta is prepared to experiment, bringing in choreographers new to the company to create works that may not traditionally be expected of a classical ballet company. It will be interesting to see where the company goes next.

BRB perform On Your Marks! until June 25, see www.brb.org.uk for ticket information.

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!date 23/06/2022 -- 25/06/2022
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