Birmingham Royal Ballet returns to Sadler's Wells in June 2018 with a mixed programme that includes In the Upper Room, one of American dance phenomenon Twyla Tharp's most iconic ballets, Kin., created for the company by former member Alexander Whitley, and a new ballet commissioned from choreographer George Williamson as part of Ballet Now.

Quick-witted and even quicker footed, In the Upper Room is an exhilarating, athletic ballet in which dancers in sneakers and striking red pointe shoes dominate the stage with energy, flair and finesse. Alexander Whitley’s Kin. is an athletic, abstract piece danced to a pulsing, hypnotic score by Phil Kline, played live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Kin. celebrates the raw kinetics of dance, the virtuosity of ballet technique and the potential for movement to bring us together in different ways.

Ballet Now is a unique five-year programme, run in conjunction with Sadler's Wells and a consortium of industry leaders, that will develop choreographers, composers and designers to create new and innovative works for the world stage.

Ballet Now is generously supported by Oak Foundation’s Special Interest Programme, which provided major funding for the project, Anthony Coombs and The Keith Coombs Trust, The Big Give 2017, The John Feeney Charitable Trust, The John S Cohen Foundation, The H Steven and PE Wood Charitable Trust, The W and M Morris Charitable Trust, the estate of Judith and John Percival, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s New Work Syndicate 2017 and Director’s Appeal 2017.