Female empowerment is at the heart of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Luna, which premieres in the city next month. The final installment in Carlos Acosta’s trilogy of ballets paying homage to Birmingham, the production comprises six scenes created by five internationally renowned choreographers. Producer Caroline Davis recently spoke to What’s On about the forthcoming show... 

Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) will next month premiere Luna, a production which turns the spotlight on the role of women as creators, innovators and activists, both in the history of Birmingham and in a global context.

The work has been inspired by Louise Palfreyman’s critically acclaimed book, Once Upon A Time In Birmingham: Women Who Dare To Dream, and has been created by an all-female team featuring choreographers, designers, a composer and a producer. 

Comprising six scenes created by five internationally renowned choreographers, Luna aims to give a sense of the experience of all women in overcoming barriers and driving forward positive change, rather than simply picking out individual stories.

Showing at Birmingham Hippodrome in early October, the production forms part of a trilogy of Birmingham-inspired ballets conceived by BRB’s director, Carlos Acosta, as a homage to the city. The other two productions in the trilogy are City Of A Thousand Trades and the box-office smash, Black Sabbath - The Ballet.

Luna is a two-hour ballet, with each of its scenes approximately 15 minutes long and based around the theme of female empowerment.

“Louise Palfreyman’s book was very much the start of the idea,” says the show’s producer, Caroline Davis. “It allowed us to look at a rich picture of what brilliant things women are doing in the city, and to look at it with a much more female lens. What you end up with is something really exciting. 
“It’s an opportunity to think about a different side of the city, about people who are empowering other women, overcoming adversity, dreaming about educating themselves here for a better life and for children and the future.”

Luna begins with Terra. Created by Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma, the work features the song I Am I Say, performed by a group of local children who were recruited through an open call earlier in the year. 

Over the past few months, 30 young people have worked with composer Kate Whitley and received training from BRB’s Learning, Engagement, Access & Participation department and the education team at Birmingham choir Ex Cathedra. They will take to the stage at various points throughout the work, acting as a Greek chorus and bringing together some of the themes.

“It’s been a huge opportunity for these children,” says Caroline. “This element is about including children who are representative of the city. It’s about their natural voice coming through, so they are singing about the future and climate change.”

The second piece, Daring To Dream Big, has been created by British choreographer Seeta Patel and looks at education as a force for positive change.

“What’s really interesting,” says Caroline, “is that having given the book to them all as a creative stimulus, Seeta has very much focused on the power of education. It’s about what education unlocks in terms of emancipation and dreams and hopes.

“We have something very different in this piece with Seeta because of her Bharatanatyam artform approach. She’s not trying to choreograph in that style on a classical ballet company, but her approach is very different, and she has pulled out this idea of how books and studying can unlock you to become a teacher, a conductor, a doctor and an activist.

“And the really lovely part of it is that the book has beautiful illustrations in it, and what Seeta wanted us to do was to involve schoolchildren and some of the Luna children in collecting some of their drawings, which will feature as part of the animation. So there has been a lovely way for us to involve, as part of Carlos’ trilogy, the city’s children in the production of the piece.”

The final scene before the interval, Overcoming Adversity, has been choreographed by Cuba’s Thais Suárez and features a pas de deux set to a new arrangement of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. 

“In Thais’ piece there’s a father figure, and it’s about the role of the community and the responsibility of supporting women to go out there and make their lives. 

“So choreographically she has divided the stage into three with lines. The choreography will begin at the back. One dancer moves forwards, and there is a point where she has to cross the threshold without that familial support. So it’s about overcoming adversity and memory and the support of family and broader community in doing that.”

After the interval, the audience will see British choreographer Arielle Smith’s Empowerment. Featuring eight female dancers, the work is preceded by the children performing another new song, created by Kate, called There Is Silence.

“Arielle is much in demand as a choreographer. She’s just been working with San Francisco Ballet and the London City Ballet, and is choreographing English National Ballet’s Nutcracker. Her piece is all about empowerment; about how women can lift women up. 

“Then we’re into Act Two Scene Two, which has been choreographed by Iratxe Ansa, who is a Spanish choreographer. Her work is exceptional - it’s a good challenge to the company. It’s very contemporary movement. So it’s one female, the same lead as in Thais’ piece, returning with the eight corps de ballet, and she struggles against dancers in masks. So we really see the struggles of a lone woman played out in a patriarchal society.”

The finale, Luna, again created by Wubkje Kuindersma, features the children and dancers reunited in a positive future.

“The finale is dreaming about a better life, and for the future for these children, and this idea that we are now on the moon. We haven’t yet had a woman on the moon and hopefully that might change.”

All of the pieces are set against a waxing and waning moon in a design which features costumes by Imaan Ashraf, projection by Hayley Egan and lighting by Emma Jones. One of the aims of the project has been to bring together and foster a female team of creators.

“It is really important that we ensure we give women representation in the arts. The fact that BRB has said ‘We are going to put this commissioning and production money into an all-female creative team’ is hugely important. We need to make sure we develop that pipeline, and that people get the opportunity to have their interpretations told on these fantastic stages that we’ve got, both in Birmingham and London.

“And the result will be a really special production. I hope that, particularly for female audiences, they can see elements of their personal lives, hopes, dreams and struggles played out on the stage. And that people also go away thinking about the feminine identity of the city and the female population, who are working to keep the city going and to provide a better life for the children. And I hope they will also go away thinking that they have seen something rather spellbinding and beautiful.”

Feature by Diane Parkes

BRB present Luna at Birmingham Hippodrome from Thursday 3 to Friday 5 October. The company will also perform La Fille mal gardée at the venue from Wednesday 25 to Saturday 28 September.