Birmingham Repertory Theatre reopens its doors as Birmingham Royal Ballet returns to the stage with a World Premiere.

On 22nd October, the Repertory Theatre became the first major venue in the city of Birmingham to host a live performance in front of a socially distanced audience as Birmingham Royal Ballet returned to the stage for the first time since March with the world premiere of Lazuli Sky. Each of the five performances sold out within 24 hours of being on sale.  

Performances of Lazuli Sky are the first in a brand-new partnership between Birmingham Royal Ballet and The REP, which will see the two established companies combine creative ingenuity to stage new dance works in the heart of Birmingham city centre. 

Sean Foley, Artistic Director at The REP said; “It is a real thrill to be welcoming audiences back to The REP for live performances. We have been working behind the scenes for this moment for over seven months now, and we are honoured to be the first major venue in Birmingham to welcome back live theatre. Whilst still far from being back to normal, with strict social distancing and health and safety measures in place, we are confident that we can welcome audiences safely to these World Premiere performances.  

“It is also a great pleasure that these performances are by one of our city’s other great companies, Birmingham Royal Ballet – the first in a series of new commissions as part of a new ongoing partnership between The REP and BRB. 

“A huge thank you goes to all of our audiences who have bought tickets for this coming weekend and further upcoming shows here at The REP, as well as those individuals who have supported our theatre during these unprecedented and challenging times.” 

Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, Carlos Acosta added: “The entire Birmingham Royal Ballet company, on and off stage, is thrilled to finally be performing live for audiences in our home city with a brand new commissioned work inspired by our experiences during the pandemic. What better way to begin our partnership with The REP than with these five sold out shows marking this major moment in history. We look forward to future collaboration, bringing more exciting new ballets to The REP and entertaining audiences. It’s going to be a fantastic experience for all of us.”

Lazuli Sky is the first one-act ballet to be commissioned and presented by Carlos Acosta as Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, a role that he started in January 2020 shortly before the COVID-19 crisis hit. At the beginning of lockdown, Carlos turned to British choreographer Will Tuckett and asked him to create a new work for Birmingham Royal Ballet that is inspired by, and utilises, ‘social distancing’. 

In response to the evolving way in which dance and live performance can once again be staged, Tuckett and his fully collaborative team, including designer Samuel Wyer and projection designer Nina Dunn, have created a unique piece set to Shaker Loops composed by John Adams, which will be performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Paul Murphy. The ballet is performed within a projected environment and will use architectural forms as part of the costuming that will help ‘socially distance’ the 12 dancers. In addition, an augmented reality experience is being created in collaboration with James Simpson to provide an alternate to the ‘live’ experience, using elements of volumetric capture and a digitally altered version of sections of the choreography. 

As well as Lazuli Sky, the programme includes Our Waltzes, choreographed by Vicente Nebrada, and Liebestod, choreographed by Valery Panov. 

For audiences unable to attend performances of Lazuli Sky in person at The REP, an online streaming of the production will be available on a pay per view basis from 1 Nov, see listings information for full details.  

The REP will also be hosting two further world premieres to socially distanced audiences this winter with Rosie Kay Dance Company’s Absolute Solo II on 21 November and Constructed from 3-5 December. Both productions are currently sold out. 

Lazuli Sky transfers to London’s Sadler’s Wells from 29-31 October.

In line with current Government regulations, The REP has taken a number of carefully managed steps and precautions to help audiences feel safe and enjoy their chosen performance. The theatre has introduced a series of new safety measures such as socially distanced seating within household bubbles only, hand sanitising stations, temperature checks and additional cleaning.

The REP will be monitoring the situation closely regarding government advice around performances in outdoor and indoor venues, with a number of contingencies in place. The priority, as always, will be the safety of audiences, performers and staff.