Express & Star

Dancers ready to hit big stage for classic production

For more than 30 years now, Midlands audiences have flocked to our second city, where the Birmingham Royal Ballet has chosen to make its home, and now, a derivative of the main company, BRB2, is heading to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre later this month, with a new classical selection chosen by the company’s internationally renowned director, Carlos Acosta.

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The programme will help dancers to find roles in productions across the country. Credit: Johan Persson

The magic of the ballet is almost indescribable, but I will say this, it is spellbinding, unique and awe inspiring and you can use the same adjectives to describe the dancers at Birmingham Royal Ballet, so succession planning for the company cannot be easy.

However, the company now has a new initiative entitled BRB2, where they actively seek out the best young dancers from across the globe to enrol in a two-year programme, offering training and performance. The programme then eases the dancers into roles within BRB and other major dance companies, while at the same time presenting exceptional entertainment for audiences up and down the country.

Kit Holder, who is not only a first soloist at BRB, but also the Artistic Co-Ordinator for BRB2, discussed the programme and in particular, their forthcoming performance at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on June 24.

Kit, who grew up in Solihull told me how he became a dancer. “I had two older brothers who were dancing. Then I was fortunate, as Sadlers Wells started a weekly junior association programme on Saturday afternoons in the company’s studios. It was perfect timing for me. I had a fabulous ballet teacher in Sutton Coldfield called Audrey Roper, who encouraged me to join these classes. I did, and it meant that when Christmas came around and Sir Peter Wright was creating his production of The Nutcracker, I was chosen to be one of the children involved in the ballet. This was my first taste of performance. I loved everything about it and because I was young, I was able to dance in The Nutcracker for three consecutive years,” Kit told me.

He continued, “I was lucky enough to get a place at the Royal Ballet School and then at the age of 17, I came back to do some extra work with the company and did a UK tour, got my dream job and have been at BRB for the last 23 years.”

“The Nutcracker is probably the ballet I have done the most,” Kit continued. “I have done a whole host of roles, from dancing as a child, to Drosselmeyer the magician.”

The new initiative will seek out the best young dancers from across the globe to enrol in a two-year programme, offering training and performance.

Kit was keen to tell me more about BRB2.

“BRB2 is for consistent dancers who are at the very beginning of their careers, from across the world. None of them have had jobs elsewhere, they have come straight from school,” he said.

“We have an intake of dancers at the start of each season, and we don’t yet have a full cohort, so on this tour, we have BRB2 dancers supplemented by other dancers who are also very near the beginning of their careers with the company. We also have a couple of special guests. This is nice because you see young professionals who are at the start of the journey and then dancers who are the target of that journey. “

Kit told me, “We currently have five BRB2 dancers, from Paris, Berlin, Miami, New Zealand and from Kings Heath!”

“These dancers are part of the corps de ballet in the main company, and additionally they have their own performances, so they get the experience that all dancers have but they are able to present their own work doing virtuoso, top-level principal roles and being coached on it by top people.”

“It is hard work, but across the board they have all risen to the challenge and surpassed it,” he said.

“It is an unfortunate phenomenon in dance that even the best dance graduates, who are very capable of performing these principal level roles, find that the continuity of their experience gets disrupted when they join a major ballet company, because they will be doing corps de ballet work and they may lose the skill aspects, for example, some of the partnering work, because they are not doing the same level of technical challenge that that work entails. “

Kit continued, “BRB2 will help to keep that work going and of course they are continuing to improve, moving from a school environment to real performance. It is a win, win situation as they have the chance to prove themselves, as a company we are seeing what they can do, and then when opportunities do arise within the main company, we know these guys are ready to just step in.”

Kit Holder is not a first soloist at BRB and also the Artistic Co-Ordinator for BRB2. Photo: Johan Persson

The Birmingham Royal Ballet prides itself on having a superb repertoire and part of the challenge Carlos Acosta faces is to find dance to add and complement that existing programme.

This latest performance is a gala format with a variety of work, including some of the hits of classic ballet; a Swan Lake pas de deux, Fredrick Ashton’s Rhapsody pas de deux, a piece from La Sylphide and Carolos Acosta’s take on The Dying Swan, but performed by two dancers rather than one, which is double the length of the original.

Act two will see the spirit of tango in Gustavo Mollajoli’s piece, A Buenos Aires, a duet from Bizet’s Carmen and then after the fiery heat of these performances, a sense of calm in Nisi Dominus, which incidentally is choreographed by Will Tuckett, who is also from the Midlands, before a finale performed to the music from Le Cid.

“This varied programme allows the dancers to show their versatility,” said Kit. “To see them dance a 19th century, lyrical pas de deux and then come back on stage for another piece as a completely different dancer, is really special.”

Dancers face all manner of challenges, but the stage at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre is raked. How will this affect their performances?

“If I am honest, I try not to get them to think about it and dancing on a raked stage is just another example of the experience that BRB2 is giving these young dancers,” said Kit.

“In terms of physics, if you think about the amount of your body weight that is in contact with the floor, it is very little, but obviously we have to accommodate that into the dynamics of the movement.

As a dancer, most of that is addressed in where your eyeline is. Turning could be a problem as there are a couple of very tricky pirouette sections in this show, but I did catch a couple of dancers saying that the rake actually helped them” he laughed!

The performances at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre are the last on the current tour and Kit said, “There is always something very special about the performances you give at the end of the tour. You will be seeing people at their absolute best, giving it their all. The tour has been a really huge success and a thrill to be involved in, so we will be eking it out until we must sadly put it to bed.”

At the end of September, the Birmingham Royal Ballet will perform Black Sabbath the Ballet, something uniquely unusual and ground-breaking. “I love music across the board, but metal is my thing, so I can’t wait to perform in it,” Kit admitted.

Watch this space for more, but for now, head for the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on June 24 for some outstanding, dazzling performances from some of the most talented young dancers in the world.

For tickets, call 01902 429212 or visit grandtheatre.co.uk to book.

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