Ballet for a modern city
Birmingham Royal Ballet's COO, Anna Williams will be speaking at Future Cities Forum's 'Art Investment and Cities' event at RIBA, London this month.
Anna joined the ballet company in March 1997 as Finance Director and is also a Trustee of Bath Festivals. The company was originally based in London but now operates as the most significant ballet offering outside the Capital.
She agrees with the assertion of the real estate advisor, GVA, that Birmingham is becoming a much more vibrant and livable city, and the public realm, compared to some decades ago, has been transformed - particularly for night time entertainment.
'Birmingham is one of the most diverse cities in the UK, so we are always trying to adapt our programme to be relevant to the widest audience and of course we tour regularly to make ballet accessible to all', she comments.
Anna says that the company produces extraordinary work - including over five new pieces each year - and feels extremely proud of the performance of The Nutcracker that was put on at the Albert Hall in London over Christmas.
'It is 125 years since the original production of The Nutcracker debuted at the Marinsky Theatre, Russia and after a shaky start back in the 1890's, the show has gone on to become a classic and we are so thrilled to have brought a new version of it to the stage'.
Birmingham Royal Ballet will be performing Coppelia in April at Sunderland's Empire and Anna joins Rebecca Ball who has just led the cultural bid for the UK City of Culture for Sunderland - at our forum later this month.