Birmingham Royal Ballet: Black Sabbath – The Ballet A hit or a miss?

Birmingham Royal Ballet in Black Sabbath - The Ballet

Javier Rojas and Yaoqian Shang in Black Sabbath - The Ballet

Riku Ito in Black Sabbath - The Ballet

Tzu-Chao Chou in Black Sabbath - The Ballet

Regan Hutsell in Black Sabbath - The Ballet

Marc Hayward and Birmingham Royal Ballet in Black Sabbath - The Ballet

By Graham Watts, 28 September 2023

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“each dancer was let loose to perform their best tricks in a frenzied fiesta”

Reviewed at Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham on 27 September 2023

Black Sabbath – The Ballet (Pontus Lidberg, Cassi Abranches, Raúl Reinoso)

Birmingham Royal Ballet

Christopher Austin, Conductor

Carlos Acosta, Director

Alexandre Arrechea, Set Designer

Kieron Johnson, Lighting Designer

Black Sabbath – The Ballet: right balance between ballet and rock

Graham Watts, 22nd October

The choreography, music and performance made this an impressive event, but Iommi’s cameo was an emphatic cherry on the top that sent the crowd home with an enthusiastic spring in their step.

****1

Acosta Danza: dazzling dancing

Deborah Weiss, 15th February

Acosta Danza, always compelling, deliver a triple bill in the Linbury Theatre that shows off their plentiful attributes.

****1

Black Sabbath – The Ballet: hard rock with a soft centre

Vikki Jane Vile, 19th June

Birmingham Royal Ballet and Black Sabbath are two of Birmingham’s greatest cultural exports and now they are on a European tour together before heading to the US next year.

***11

A surreal memoir: Pontus Lidberg's On the Nature of Rabbits

Carla Escoda, 6th March

Inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the AIDS crisis, Pontus Lidberg's On the Nature of Rabbits comes to New York's Joyce Theater.

**111

100% Cuban as Acosta Danza returns to the UK

Graham Watts, 9th February

After a two-year interregnum, Acosta Danza are back at Sadler's Wells with an updated programme of five short works.

****1

Acosta Danza thrills Madrid in “Evolution”

Cristina de Lucas, 22nd October

The spirit of Cuba visits Madrid as Carlos Acosta's dance troupe performs a mixed at the Teatro Real, including Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Mermaid.

****1

More reviews...

Graham Watts

Graham Watts is a freelance dance writer and critic writing regularly for Dancing Times, Dance Europe, Danza Europa, and many more publications. He regularly writes features for Sadler’s Wells, London Coliseum and La Scala. Chairman of the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle in the United Kingdom and of the UK National Dance Awards he has interviewed many of the greatest names in dance including Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Boris Eifman, Alexei Ratmansky, Andris Liepa, Sir Peter Wright, David Bintley and Dame Gillian Lynne. When not involved in dance Graham is a keen fencer, and has captained the British Sabre team.