Birmingham Royal Ballet

Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the four major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet and the Scottish Ballet. Founded in 1946 as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company was established under the direction of John Field, as a sister company to the earlier Sadler's Wells company, which moved to the Royal Opera House. The new company remained at Sadler's Wells for many years, becoming known as the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. It also toured the UK and abroad, before relocating to Birmingham in 1990, as the resident ballet company of the Birmingham Hippodrome. In 1997, the Birmingham Royal Ballet became independent of the Royal Ballet in London. As a resident company, Birmingham Royal Ballet has extensive custom-built facilities, including a suite of dance studios, the Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries and a studio theatre known as the Patrick Centre. In 2002, the need for Birmingham Royal Ballet to have its own school led to a new association with Elmhurst School for Dance, which is now its official ballet school.