Reviews

• MacMillan's Solitaire was created in 1956 for Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, an offshoot of the Royal Ballet which later moved north and became Birmingham Royal Ballet. A champion of narrative ballet, MacMillan knew how to tell a tale without over-egging the pudding. There are no exaggerated facial expressions, no melodrama, just a simple tale of a young girl desperate for company. Malcolm Arnold's beautiful score played by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia was worth the ticket alone.
  
  
  Kelly Apter, The Scotsman, 10/11/2005
• Anyone interested in the early years of British ballet will want to see Birmingham Royal Ballet’s “English” mixed bill. Three enduring ballets by three important choreographers showcase the vitality and imagination of an era that defined our national ballet. For the heritage hungry this touring triple bill is tailor made.
  
  We start with Solitaire (1956), Kenneth MacMillan’s “kind of game for one”. Malcolm Arnold’s wonderful English Dances encourage the insouciance of MacMillan’s snappy choreographic frolic, and every child who has ever been left out on the playground or had an imaginary friend will be able to identify with its portrait of the young outsider.
  Debra Craine, The Times, 27/10/2005