Ballet favourites mark anniversary.

BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet celebrates the 20th anniversary of its move to Birmingham with a series of special performances.

The company, which moved from London to the city's Hippodrome Theatre in 1990, will hold three galas of favourites from their repertoire on March 9 and 10 next year.

The galas form part of the new 2009/10 season just announced by the company which also sees new works sitting side-by-side with old favourites.

BRB director David Bintley will premiere a new production E=mc set to music by Australian composer Matthew Hindson while Australian Dance Theatre artistic director Garry Stewart has also created a new piece The Centre and It's Opposite.

These two will form part of the triple bill Quantum Leaps with Stanton Welch's Powder, performed to Mozart's clarinet concerto on September 23-26.

David's full length ballet Cyrano, which premiered to critical acclaim two years ago, will also be back on September 30 - October 3.

And the company is not forgetting the Tchaikovsky classics.

Christmas favourite The Nutcracker has a run of more than two weeks between November 27 and December 13..

The company's Sir Peter Wright production of Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty returns to the theatre on March 3-6 and 11-13. And BRB perform Swan Lake on June 23-26. The season also includes a spring triple bill - On Their Toes! on June 16-19 with Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Grosse Fuge and Theme and Variations.

BRB chief executive Christopher Barron says this season is a special celebration for BRB.

"In the 20 years since it arrived in Birmingham, the company has gone from strength to strength and is now rightly recognised as a major international force in the world of classical dance." Friends bookings and subscription packages are now available and general booking opens on May 22 with all details on the www.brb.org.uk website..

CAPTION(S):

The Nutcracker Ballet. Cyrano and The Sleeping Beauty.