Birmingham Royal Ballet has today announced that Royal Ballet Principal Dancer, Matthew Ball will guest star with the Company for the first time in The Sleeping Beauty alongside BRB principal dancer Céline Gittens at Birmingham Hippodrome on Saturday 24 February, 7.30pm and Thursday 29 February, 7.30pm.
Born in Liverpool, Matthew Ball trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined The Royal Ballet during the 2013/14 Season, promoted to First Artist in 2015, Soloist in 2016, First Soloist in 2017 and Principal dancer in 2018.
Ball’s roles with The Royal Ballet include Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Apollo, Armand, Prince Florimund and Bluebird (The Sleeping Beauty), Prince (The Nutcracker), Crown Prince Rudolf (Mayerling), Des Grieux (Manon). In 2016 he was named Best Emerging Artist at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. He also performed the role of The Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake.
Matthew Ball said: “I am thrilled to be offered the chance to perform as a guest principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet this coming week in The Sleeping Beauty. Peter Wright’s wonderful productions have formed an integral part of my career in The Royal Ballet and I can’t wait to appear in his sumptuous interpretation of this classic! It will be my pleasure to dance alongside the fantastic Céline Gittens and the entire BRB company for the first time.”
Following a sell-out success with one of the most talked about theatrical events of 2023 with Black Sabbath – The Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet has returned to the stage with one of the Company’s most beloved classics, Sir Peter Wright’s sumptuous staging of The Sleeping Beauty.
Marking the production’s 40th anniversary year, the 2024 UK tour opened last week at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton where the production played until Saturday 10 February. The tour then continues to Birmingham Hippodrome (21 Feb-2 Mar), The Lowry, Salford (7-9 Mar), Sunderland Empire (14-16 Mar), Theatre Royal, Plymouth (20-23 Mar), Bristol Hippodrome (18-20 Apr) and London’s Sadler’s Wells (24-27 Apr).
The 2024 tour of The Sleeping Beauty follows on from the 2023 UK tour of Sir Peter Wright’s Swan Lake – BRB’s most successful spring tour to date, having been seen by over 53,000 people.
Last seen on UK stages over six years ago, The Sleeping Beauty continues Birmingham Royal Ballet’s legacy of presenting the acclaimed heritage classics and celebrating the beloved work of its founder, Sir Peter Wright. The Sleeping Beauty is the fourth of Sir Peter Wright’s productions to be presented by the company since autumn 2022, following Coppélia, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. The acclaimed Royal Ballet Sinfonia performs Tchaikovsky’s glorious score live, with designs by Philip Prowse and lighting design by Mark Jonathan.
Listings:
Birmingham Hippodrome
21 February–2 March 2024
The Lowry, Salford
7–9 March 2024
Sunderland Empire
14–16 March 2024
Theatre Royal Plymouth
20–23 March 2024
Bristol Hippodrome
18 – 20 April 2024
Sadler’s Wells, London
24 – 27 April 2024
Choreography: Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Production: Peter Wright
Designs: Philip Prowse
Lighting: Mark Jonathan