Birmingham Royal Ballet, On tour
Every year, BRB divides and takes mid-scale works to more intimate theatres. The triple bill designated for the north tour (Nottingham, Sat; Shrewsbury, Tue & Wed; Durham, Fri to 30 May) features the early Ashton ballet Les Rendezvous, Kenneth MacMillan’s ragtime-inspired Elite Syncopations and new ballet Kin, by rising young talent Alexander Whitley. Another quartet of works heads south (Poole, Sat; Cheltenham, Tue & Wed; High Wycombe, Fri to 30 May), with Ashton’s droll Façade, Kit Holder’s tango-spirited Quatrain, new work Matryoshka from Ruth Brill and a pair of short extracts from Swan Lake and David Bintley’s Beauty And The Beast.
Sylvie Guillem, London
After nearly 35 years, Sylvie Guillem bids farewell to a career that’s seen her star on ballet stages worldwide. For this final programme – titled Life In Progress – she pays tribute to the choreographers who’ve influenced the last phase of her dancing life. Two new works have been created by Akram Khan and Russell Maliphant: the former a solo called Techne exploring the influence of technology, and the latter a duet called Here And After, featuring Emanuela Montanari. The evening also includes William Forsythe’s Duo – danced by Brigel Gjoka and Riley Watts – and a likely poignant reprise of Mats Ek’s solo for Guillem, simply titled Bye.
