Passion and Ecstasy

Two ballets by Birmingham Royal Ballet's Director, David Bintley, round off the 2010-11 season.

Full of quivering jumps and turns, dance phrases that freeze into glitteringly unpredictable poses, and speeds that reach apparently impossible highs, Allegri diversi is a sparklingly energetic classical ballet to Rossini's bubbly score. It will leave you breathless.

In Carmina burana, an encounter with the mindblowing Goddess Fortuna deals three seminarians a major lesson in the fickle nature of fate. Compelled to abandon their sacred studies to pursue a more sensual approach to life, forbidden pleasures and physical temptations quickly become the young men's most eager areas of revision. Soon the young celebrants are soaring with passion, love and alcohol.

Carmina burana is a thrilling, large-scale production, made to Carl Orff's rousing and emotionally charged choral tour de force – a feast in its own right. Bintley's breathtaking choreography for both ballets ensures an unforgettable experience.

'Bintley rewrites his own dazzling rules'
The Guardian on Allegri diversi

'A piece to bring a smile to the face of any dance lover'
The Sunday Express on Carmina burana