UK Tour of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty Begins

Following a sell-out success with one of the most talked about theatrical events of 2023 with Black Sabbath – The Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet has returned to the stage with one of the Company’s most beloved classics, Sir Peter Wright’s sumptuous staging of The Sleeping Beauty.

Marking the production’s 40th anniversary year, the 2024 UK tour opened at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton where the production played until Saturday 10 February. The tour then continues to Birmingham Hippodrome (21 Feb-2 Mar), The Lowry, Salford (7-9 Mar), Sunderland Empire (14-16 Mar), Theatre Royal, Plymouth (20-23 Mar), Bristol Hippodrome (18-20 Apr) and London’s Sadler’s Wells (24-27 Apr).

At select performances on the tour, the role of the villainous Carabosse will be danced by Gabriel Anderson, marking the first time a male dancer has debuted in the role of Carabosse with BRB for 34 years. Other notable male dancers who have danced the role in the Company’s history include previous BRB Director, Sir David Bintley back in 1986.

Dame Darcey Bussell DBE has been joining BRB in the studio during the rehearsal process, coaching dancers who will be taking on some of the ballet’s most iconic roles such as Princess Aurora – following in the footsteps of Dame Darcey herself. Coached by Dame Darcey, Yu Kurihara and Beatrice Parma will make their debuts as Princess Aurora during the UK tour. 

For full casting information and performance dates visit brb.org.uk/castsheets.

The acclaimed Royal Ballet and English National Ballet Principal, Alina Cojocaru will return to the London stage for special guest star performances at Sadler’s Wells at evening performances on both Thursday 25 April and Saturday 27 April 2023. Throughout her illustrious career, Alina Cojocaru has received acclaim for her performances in classic roles such as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Giselle and, perhaps most famously, Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty – for which she won the Critics’ Circle Dance Award for Outstanding Female Classical Performance in 2017. Alina is a regular guest artist with the Hamburg Ballet as well as appearing with companies across the globe. In 2020, she presented her own programme “Alina at the Wells” at Sadler’s Wells. Alina Cojocaru presented and performed in La Strada, a new ballet based on Fellini’s cinematic masterpiece, at Sadler’s Wells in January this year.

The 2024 tour of The Sleeping Beauty follows on from the 2023 UK tour of Sir Peter Wright’s Swan Lake -BRB’s most successful spring tour to date, having been seen by over 53,000 people.

Last seen on UK stages over six years ago, The Sleeping Beauty continues Birmingham Royal Ballet’s legacy of presenting the acclaimed heritage classics and celebrating the beloved work of its founder, Sir Peter Wright. The Sleeping Beauty is the fourth of Sir Peter Wright’s productions to be presented by the company since autumn 2022, following Coppélia, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. The acclaimed Royal Ballet Sinfonia performs Tchaikovsky’s glorious score live, with designs by Philip Prowse and lighting design by Mark Jonathan. 

Sir Peter Wright said: “I find it hard to believe that this tour marks the 40th Anniversary of The Sleeping Beauty. This has always been the most opulent of ballets, but Philip Prowse’s incredible design created a unique fairy tale world (with almost 30 fairy character tutus alone!) that allows dancers to really inhabit some of classical ballet’s most famous roles.”

Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet Carlos Acosta said: “I am thrilled to be reviving Sir Peter Wright’s production of The Sleeping Beauty in the Spring of 2024.  The Company is excited to be delighting audiences once more with this definitive version of one of the great classical ballets, welcoming people of all ages to our performances throughout the UK.

“I am also honoured that the acclaimed Principal Ballerina, Alina Cojocaru, will be joining the Company for selected performances at London’s Sadler’s Wells, sharing her celebrated interpretation of the role of Princess Aurora.”

For all the latest Birmingham Royal Ballet news, visit brb.org.uk

Momoko Hirata as Princess Aurora and Max Maslen as Prince Florimund, credit Tristram Kenton