To celebrate the newly formed Midlands Dance Hub, Birmingham Royal Ballet hosted an inaugural event on Friday 15th January that brought together varied selection of Midlands based dance practitioners and creators into its home studios for a day of combined classes and workshops focused on the creation and presentation of new works.
The first part of the day, labelled a “class mash” featured a mix of dancers sharing their daily classes; there were ballet exercises led by Birmingham Royal Ballet assistant director Marion Tait, a Kathak routine from Sonia Sabri which challenged dancers with a completely different style of dance, and a contemporary floor routine led by Junior Cunningham of Motionhouse.
The dancers seemed to have great fun, and were open to experiencing different styles of dance that were perhaps outside their comfort zones. Despite their exquisitely chiselled physiques, seemingly effortless talent and almost regal air of self-assurance it seems dancers might be mere mortals like the rest of us – who knew?
The second part of the day was a sharing of work created by eight different choreographers from the region, including company members of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. A piece inspired by John Harle’s Arcadia, a narrative piece set to jazz music by David Austin Grey, Wolves (which premiere’s in April) choreographed by Birmingham Royal Ballet soloist Kit Holder, and a Rosie Kay piece based on conspiracy theories showed particular promise.
It is apparent that there is a lot of dance and choreographic talent waiting to be nurtured in the region. An event like this gives artists a chance to collaborate and experiment in an unpressurised environment: a real coming together and celebration of creativity.
Watch out for some of the emerging dance work that the Midlands Dance Hub promotes and celebrate their creativity and artistry, and of course Birmingham Royal Ballet’s season which pays tribute to William Shakespeare this centenary year of his death. Sam Chipman
