Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is presenting an exciting experience – ballet, art, live classical music and socialising - at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on Thursday 27 June, 6.30pm – 9pm.

Aimed at both ballet and art fans and those looking for a fun and relaxed introduction to ballet, this will be the perfect ballet taster, friends night out or date. Join BRB in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery’s Waterhall where audiences will see the company’s professional dancers and their intricate costumes.

Watch them up-close as they perform highlights from some of the most famous classical ballets - Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker*. The evening will include the world premiere of a new ballet choreographed by BRB dancer and choreographer, Olivia Chang Clarke.

The new work will be accompanied by live music played by a quartet of young musicians from Birmingham Conservatoire and violinist Joana Valentinaviciute, the Co-Leader of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia BRB’s professional orchestra. This new ballet, titled Melody in Three, has been specially commissioned for the event by the London Ballet Circle.

Audiences can enjoy a glass of wine and take a stroll around the Victorian Radicals exhibition in the Gas Hall where you can see some of the world’s most famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings, exquisite drawings, jewellery, glass, textiles and metalwork.

In the exhibition rooms there will be a performance installation demonstrating the latest in digital creativity.

This is part of BRB’s Virtual Stage project, and showcases the motion capture work Birmingham Royal Ballet has been doing with experts in the field, Holosphere, whose interactive motion tracking system captures human movement and transforms it into real-time digital art. The evening will also feature 223 pointes a stunning new sculpture by Birmingham based artist Clare Elisabeth. 

The sculpture, a collaboration with BRB, was sewn entirely by hand over several months from over 200 satin pointe shoes previously used in performances by dancers from BRB. Swan Lake's Odette emerges majestically from a tower of pointe shoes, a phoenix rising from the ashes of discarded footwear.


Through this artwork, the artist pays homage to the dedication, artistry and journey shared by shoemakers, dancers and sculptors. From every stitch and step of their creation, through performance and reinvention.

Cast*:

  • Swan Lake Act II pas de deux - Alexandra Manuel/ Mason King
  • The Nutcracker Act II pas de deux - Lucy Waine/ Haoliang Feng
  • The Sleeping Beauty fairy solos: Song - Olivia Chang Clarke; Beauty - tba ; Joy - Lucy Waine 
  • Melody in Three (world premiere), choreographed by Olivia Chang Clarke. Dancers: Alfie Shacklock, Oscar Kempsey-Fagg, Gus Payne, Ryan Felix, Shuailun Wu, Tessa Hogge, Rosanna Ely, Alexandra Manuel, Ava-May Llewellyn, Reina Fuchigami

*BRB reserves the right to change the programme and casting as necessary

The event is part of BRB’s first residency at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery’s Waterhall from 26 June – 2 July. BRB return to perform at Birmingham Hippodrome later this year with ‘La Fille mal gardée’ (25-26 September) and the world premiere of ‘Luna’ (3-5 October) Carlos Acosta’s final part of his Birmingham Trilogy.