Birmingham Royal Ballet Soloist William Bracewell this week won the Outstanding Male Performance (Classical) award in the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards 2015. William was nominated for his role as King Louis XIV of France in David Bintley’s new one-act ballet The King Dances, which received its world premiere at Birmingham Hippodrome in June 2015. Bintley created the role of King Louis XIV on William, a role which saw him take on the character of the 14-year-old King of France.
The winners of the National Dance Awards were announcedon Monday at a ceremony in central London. Other nominees in the same category were Matthew Ball (The Royal Ballet), Erik Cavallari (Scottish Ballet), Kimin Kim (St Petersburg Ballet Theatre) and Vadim Muntagirov (The Royal Ballet).
William, 24, has been performing with Birmingham Royal Ballet since 2010 and in that time has danced lead roles throughout the UK and abroad in ballets such as The Dream, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Prince of the Pagodas. He is currently rehearsing for the role of Romeo in Kenneth Macmillan’s production of Romeo and Juliet, which opens at Birmingham Hippodrome on Wednesday 24 February before embarking on a UK tour.
Birmingham Royal Ballet has received a number of nominations and awards from the Critic’s Circle over the years. Assistant Director Marion Tait and former Assistant Director Desmond Kelly won the coveted Outstanding Achievement Award in 2008 for their contribution to Ballet Changed My Life: Ballet Hoo!. Birmingham Royal Ballet also won the Company Prize for Outstanding Repertoire in 2002, and in 2011 Director David Bintley won the National Dance Award in the category of Best Classical Choreography for his creation of Cinderella.
The Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards celebrate the vigour and variety of Britain’s thriving dance culture. They are the only professional awards in the UK dedicated to dance and are presented by the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle, which brings together more than 50 dance writers. The National Dance Awards were established by the Critics’ Circle in 2000 to highlight the astonishing range of dance on offer in the UK.
