Birmingham Royal Ballet announces major funding award from Jerwood Foundation in support of BRB2

Birmingham Royal Ballet today announces that Jerwood Foundation has generously awarded BRB a £100k grant split over 2 years (£50k per year). The multi-year grant will provide vital support for BRB2 for the 24/25 and 25/26 seasons. The Foundation will support a total of 15 dancers (BRB2 cohort 2, 3 & 4), and the delivery of 2 regional tours of a new ballet programme to 8-10 venues.

Carlos Acosta, CBE, Director, Birmingham Royal Ballet said: ‘We are so grateful to Jerwood Foundation for its declaration of confidence in Birmingham Royal Ballet through its transformative support for our junior company, BRB2.

BRB2 is at the heart of our mission to develop emerging talent and serves as a vital bridge enabling young dancers to make the important transition from training to commencing their careers as professional dancers.

The programme offers specialist mentoring and performance opportunities that are rare for young dancers starting out in their careers.

Since its launch in 2022, BRB2 has presented two extensive tours, enriching the experience of audiences with BRB2's ballet stars of tomorrow. Notably, these performances took place in towns and cities with limited access to world-class dance.

Thank you to the Foundation for helping us to realise our vision to create an environment where the next generation of ballet dancers can truly thrive.’

Lara Wardle, Executive Director and Trustee, Jerwood Foundation said: ‘This major grant of £100,000 reaffirms Jerwood Foundation’s long-standing relationship with Birmingham Royal Ballet and underlines Jerwood’s commitment to supporting excellence in the arts. I am therefore delighted that Jerwood will be supporting BRB2, a unique talent development programme for the very best ballet graduates from around the world, which enables the next generation of exceptional dancers to realise their creative potential and forge careers as professional dancers.’

BRB2’s third UK tour in May 2025 features an all new programme Carlos Acosta’s Ballet Celebration. Described as 'pinsharp and personality laden', BRB2 brings together some of the world's very best young dancers, the international stars of the future, to share their
incredible talent.

Carlos Acosta has created a brand-new gala production for this year, featuring highlights from the repertory of Serge Diaghilev's troupe of rebel dancers, musicians and designers who fled Russia to set a new standard in creativity that inspires and resonates across the world of dance to this day.

The repertoire of this next generation of ballet includes The Firebird, Spectre de la Rose, Les Sylphides and Scheherazade.

The work will pay tribute to Mikhail Fokine and the seminal works he created at the beginning of the last century. The choreography, sets and costumes will remain faithful to Fokine’s original vision but will be adapted to fit smaller stages. As with last season’s ‘Classical Selection,’ the repertoire will showcase and develop emerging talent and present important repertoire in venues around the UK that don’t always have access to classical ballet. The music will be a recording made by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia exclusively for this tour, presented in theatre with live piano.

The company will make its Birmingham Hippodrome debut before travelling to Sadler’s Wells East where it will be the first ballet company to perform in its inaugural season. The tour then moves on to Poole Lighthouse before culminating with a return to the Royal and
Derngate in Northampton.

BRB2 puts the spotlight on some of the best ballet dancers from across the globe aged 18–22. The original cohort of BRB2 dancers Maïlène Katoch, Jack Easton Frieda Kaden, Oscar Kempsey-Fagg and Mason King all completed the two year programme in BRB’s
junior company last season and have now joined the main company as Artists.

The new BRB2 cohort: Charlotte Cohen (Royal Ballet School), Andrea Riolo (Royal Ballet School), Noah Cosgriff (Australian Academy of Classical Ballet), Ellyne Knol (Royal Conservatoire in The Hague) and Ixan Llorca Ferrer (Escuela Nacional de Ballet Fernando Alonso) have all joined BRB2 this season. Sophie Walters, who trained at Elmhurst Ballet School, completed her apprenticeship and will also join BRB2. They will join the second cohort of Ariana Allen (UK / Royal Ballet School), Alisa Garkavenko (Ukraine / Princess Grace Academy), Thomas Hazelby (UK / Royal Ballet School) and Alexandra Manuel
(USA / Royal Ballet School).

Also dancing with BRB2 is Marlo Kempsey-Fagg (brother of BRB Artist Oscar) who joins the company as Apprentice Dancer from Elmhurst Ballet School. Marlo started dancing at the age of 6 when his talent was identified in a local Birmingham Primary School and he joined BRB’s Dance Track programme.