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| Robert Parker as Captan Belaye in Birmingham Royal Ballets Pineapple Poll
Photo Roy Smiljanic
© 2017 Birmingham Royal Ballet: all rights reserved Reproduced with kind permission of the company |
I reviewed the Birmingham Royal Ballet's performance of Solitaire, 5 Tangos and Pineapple Poll at York on 12 May 2017 in Birmingham Royal Ballet's Northern Tour 2017 13 May 2017. I now have some lovely photos of scenes from the triple bill which I am delighted to share with you thanks to Mr Lee Armstrong. the company's design executive. I should stress that the photos were not taken at the performance that I reviewed but they will give you a good idea of the costumes, scenery and choreography.
The artist who danced Captain Belaye in York was Matthias Dingman. The artist in the photograph above is Robert Parker who is the Artistic Director of Elmhurst Ballet School. Parker would be very well cast for the role of a sea captain as he is qualified in real life to be an airline captain. According to his biography, he acquired a commercial pilot's qualification in 2008. Last week Northern Ballet and Phoenix hosted a dancers' career development workshop at Quarry Hill helping dancers explore their career options when they retire from the stage (see Evolve in Leeds 4 May 2017). Even though he has returned to dance as Artistic Director of a leading ballet school, his qualification shows that dancers really can do anything. I would quite happily board a 747 in the knowledge that its captain has reliably supported high flying and fast moving ballerinas through countless fish dives. Incidentally, I last saw Parker at the 25th anniversary of the Birmingham Royal Ballet's move to the Hippodrome and David Bintley's 20th anniversary as the company's Artistic Director (see In Praise of Bintley 21 June 2015).
In my review of Solitaire I mentioned how much I enjoyed "Desmond Heeley's gorgeous costumes - especially the red bodice of Baselga's tutu - and his draping golden sun backcloth design" which you can see in the photo below
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| Miki Mizutani in Solitaire
Photo Bill Cooper
r© 2017 Birmingham Royal Ballet: all rights reserved Reproduced with kind permission of the company |
Readers will recall that Dame Ninette de Valois asked Sir Kenneth MacMillan to create Solitaire at very short notice using sets and costumes that had been designed for The Angels by Cranko.
Finally, two glorious shots from 5 Tangos also taken by Bill Cooper:
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| Birmingham Royal Ballet 5 Tangos
Photo Bill Cooper
r© 2017 Birmingham Royal Ballet: all rights reserved Reproduced with kind permission of the company |
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| Birmingham Royal Ballet 5 Tangos
Photo Bill Cooper
r© 2017 Birmingham Royal Ballet: all rights reserved Reproduced with kind permission of the company |
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