China Tour of
Birmingham Royal Ballet Britain
and Royal Ballet Sinfonia

Touring time: 2-25 January 2009
Touring Cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou
Repertoire: Sleeping Beauty, Beauty & Beast
People on Tour：150
Presented by Milky Way Arts & Communications Co. Ltd

Birmingham Royal Ballet
http://www.brb.org.uk/
Patron Her Majesty the Queen
President HRH The Prince of Wales
Vice-President The Lady Sarah Chatto

'I came to Birmingham with the view to being creative, and today I believe we have not only successfully secured the future of the Company, but the whole dance culture in the city of Birmingham. We are geared for great things.'
David Bintley, BRB Director
A brief history of Birmingham Royal Ballet

50 years since the Royal Charter was first bestowed, BRB is looking forward with renewed vigour and security. Following ten years of applause for David Bintley's creative leadership, the Company now has a wonderful home in the acclaimed new Hippodrome complex, which includes a state-of-the-art theatre, the Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries, and the Patrick Centre, a studio theatre for new work. The Company can also boast a new Chief Executive, Christopher Barron, who is presiding over a company now in a renewed position of important financial security.

Birmingham Royal Ballet was formed in 1990, when Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet moved to Birmingham. Everyone connected with the Company proudly celebrates the versatility and flexibility of an organisation that creates challenging new work alongside the classics.

For Bintley, it is standing on the shoulders of giants that allows a view into the future: 'The hallmark of the Royal Ballet Companies has always been a mixing of classical and more avant garde work. I feel very influenced by The Royal Ballet of the 1950s and 60s under Ninette de Valois; she said we must have one foot in the future and one in the past. Today this is crucially important, both nationally and internationally.'

BRB is welcomed enthusiastically around the world. The Company has recently completed successful tours to the USA, Hong Kong and South Africa, and plans to increase its international profile. Barron believes audiences, both at home and overseas, hunger after the classical history of the Company, the startling energy of its new work, and the unique pool of talent it contains, on stage, in the orchestra pit and behind the scenes. The arrival of Elmhurst School for Dance in Edgbaston in 2004 is another crucial plank in the Company’s determination to nurture and retain the best young dancers in the world.

BRB certainly has a devoted and growing audience in Birmingham and beyond

Royal Ballet Sinfonia

As the most regularly contracted ballet orchestra in the country, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia enjoys a very busy schedule, appearing with Birmingham Royal Ballet in its home town, in London and around the UK, and frequently with The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Overseas touring has taken the orchestra to Greece, India, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Hong Kong and the USA.

The Royal Ballet Sinfonia has appeared with many of the world's other leading ballet companies, including Paris Opéra Ballet, New York City Ballet, Australian Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Kirov, Norwegian Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Royal Flanders Ballet, Harlem Dance Theatre and Winnepeg Ballet. The orchestra's opera performances include The Royal Opera's acclaimed production of Turandot at Wembley Arena

Concert performances at the Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Birmingham's Symphony Hall and other major British venues also form a regular part of the Sinfonia's work. Regular concerts are given around the UK ranging from chamber music evenings, to popular classics, and to Last Night at the Proms type performances with fireworks in the grounds of glorious stately homes. Every year the Orchestra takes the stage at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, in a' An Evening of Music and Dance.' These sell-out performances are presented by famous television and radio celebrities such as Alan Titchmarsh and Brian Kay.

Recording has become a regular feature of the orchestra's life for which they have received much critical acclaim. The Royal Ballet Sinfonia's recordings include video soundtracks to Birmingham Royal Ballet's Nutcracker, Coppélia and Hobson's Choice and CDs of English string music, the Sullivan overtures, the film scores of Richard Addinsell, Far from the Madding Crowd and the Ealing Comedies, which won the 1998 Gramophone Award for best film music.

The number of musicians in the Royal Ballet Sinfonia is often increased to meet the requirements of the score and the theatre in which the performance is taking place.