When Black Sabbath – The Ballet made its Birmingham debut in 2023, it rocked the world of dance with its genre-breaking production that critics called “a headbanging triumph.”
Black Sabbath – The Ballet runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from 18th to 27th September 2025
Now, following a sold-out season across Europe and the United States – including performances at Rotterdam’s Luxor Theatre, Virginia Arts Festival and Washington’s Kennedy Centre – this Birmingham Royal Ballet spectacular is returning home. Black Sabbath – The Ballet will open at Birmingham Hippodrome this September, before heading off on a much-anticipated UK tour.
Created by an international team of choreographers, designers and composers, it transforms the raw power of Black Sabbath’s music into a mesmerising three-act stage experience. It’s both a celebration and a reimagining, as it melds the pulse of heavy rock with the poise of dance in a way that has never been seen before.
Black Sabbath – The Ballet: A groundbreaking fusion of metal and ballet, defying expectations from the start.
It’s also part of a wider creative vision from BRB’s Artistic Director Carlos Acosta, whose bold programming has repeatedly pushed the boundaries of classical ballet. “I hate to be predictable, I hate for the company to be taken for granted,” Acosta explained in an interview with The Guardian.
At the centre of this trailblazing performance is a very Birmingham story, of four working-class lads – Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) – who formed Black Sabbath in 1968. Eight of the band’s most iconic songs – including Paranoid, War Pigs, and Orchid – have been re-orchestrated by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. For the UK’s busiest ballet orchestra, performing Sabbath live has been as much a thrill as a challenge, reimagining metal’s thunderous power into sweeping orchestral arrangements.
Carlos Acosta’s vision transforms tradition, celebrating Birmingham’s spirit through fearless innovation.
Wrapped around the iconic tracks is an original three-act structure led by renowned choreographer Pontus Lidberg, working alongside composer Chris Austin, award-winning writer Richard Thomas and Cuban designer Alexandre Arrechea.
From its very first performance, Black Sabbath – The Ballet defied expectations. For many metal fans, it was their first experience of ballet; while dance audiences saw a whole new world of sound and symbolism. Sharon Osbourne described it as “wonderful”, saying: “When I first heard that Birmingham Royal Ballet was putting on a ballet to Black Sabbath music, I just thought, this is so left field. It’s so not expected. Who would have ever thought the combination? And I just thought, brilliant. This is just so out there that it’s wonderful.”
BRB Creative Director Carlos Acosta with Black Sabbath lead guitarist Tony Iommi.
And yet, for all the fire and spectacle, this ballet is, at its core, about transformation. It marks a pivotal moment in Carlos Acosta’s wider vision for BRB – one that champions bold new work rooted in the city’s identity. Since joining as Director in 2020, he has made it a priority to celebrate the city as a place of innovation and resilience – where old forms find new expression, and where art can constantly reinvent itself.
His original productions have included Interlinked, created as part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival to explore themes of unity and human connection, and Luna, inspired by diversity and multiculturalism. Together with Black Sabbath – The Ballet, this trilogy of work reflects Acosta’s ambition to not only honour the region’s past and present, but to position Birmingham Royal Ballet as a fearless, relevant and world-class creative force.
