Birmingham Royal Ballet announces 2026-2027 season, no Royal Albert Hall run

Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) announced its 2026-2027 season programmes on 29th January 2026.

The next season opens with Sir Peter Wright and Galina Samsova’s Swan Lake, one of several celebrations in his 100th year. Swan Lake runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from 23rd September to 3rd October and at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre 28th – 31st October.

BRB hosts the Sir Peter Wright Centenary event on 18 June.

The Nutcracker will run at Birmingham Hippodrome from 20th November to 12th December only. There will be no The Nutcracker show at the Royal Albert Hall this year. Instead, BRB will shift focus entirely to the premiere of The Maiden of Venice in the spring 2027.

BRB announced the creation of The Maiden of Venice, a reinterpretation of La Bayadère by Carlos Acosta, in May 2025. Instead of the originally announced September 2026 premiere, it will world-premiere later in the season, February 2027, in Birmingham. It will then tour to Theatre Royal Plymouth, Sunderland Empire, The Lowry, Salford, and Southampton Mayflower in March and April.