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For the second time in a week, Birmingham Royal Ballet celebrate Shakespeare with a wonderful evening of dance.

It can’t be easy to programme a Shakespeare season that has something new to say about this giant figure in a year of excellent productions up and down the country, but this programme achieves it. 

An enchanting Ashton double bill in Birmingham comprising The Dream, to mark Shakespeare400, and A Month in the Country. 

Celebrating 20 years as Artistic Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, David Bintley brings the company to London, where Balanchine’s Serenade acts as a delicate sorbet before the excesses of Bintley’s own Carmina burana.  

Birmingham Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker, with choreography by Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov and Vincent Redmon, was a magical evening of pure nostalgia.

Frederick Ashton used to say it was like a lesson in choreography every time he watched The Sleeping Beauty. For Kenneth MacMillan too, the ballet was the pinnacle of classicism and technique and a great test of any company’s skills.

The evening was a step back into childhood nostalgia, of getting on the hired coach with my brother and neighbours from our cul-de-sac, to drive up to London for the traditional Christmas pantomime. And, of course, Aladdin with all that mystical eastern magic was always a favourite with us kids.

War on a chess board; simplicity and purity of line; and a rollicking Victorian nonsense musical—all rolled into one evening in London this week. Autumn Glory was a true mixed bag of styles and tempos, and recalled Birmingham Royal Ballet’s heritage that had its beginnings at Sadlers Wells Theatre.

The story of Cinderella needs no introduction but the inherent challenge for any new production of this well known fairy tale is to offer an experience that contrasts rather than compares with the much-loved Ashton production that has dominated above all others for over 30 years.This new production by David Bintley in celebration of 20 years of Birmingham Royal Ballet is an absolute delight.