DAVID BINTLEY CBE

A Yorkshireman, David Bintley was born 17 September 1957 in Huddersfield and decided to dance and choreograph from an early age, training at the Royal Ballet School before joining Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in 1976, where he swiftly made his mark as a character dancer of exceptional talent, in such roles as Petrushka, Alain and Widow Simone (Ashton's La Fille mal Gardée), Bottom (Ashton's The Dream) and many other major ballets.

Bintley's first ballet (to Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale) was created at the age of 16 and two years afterwards, he created The Outsider, before taking a 1982 sabbatical to study ballet in Germany and the USA. 1986 to 1993, Bintley worked as resident choreographer with Sadler's Wells' "elder sister" The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, leaving in 1993 to work as an international freelance, before accepting in 1995 his current role of Artistic Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet (formerly Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet).

Bintley's range is impressive, moving with ease from short 'mood' ballets such as Consort Lessons (1983), Galanteries (1986), Allegri Diversi (1987) or Tombeaux (1993) to ambitious full-length narrative works such as Swan of Tuonela (1982), The Snow Queen (1986), Hobson's Choice (1989), Cyrano (1991), Edward II (1985), Far from the Madding Crowd (1996) and so on.

A confident story-teller in dance, Bintley demonstrates a happy facility for the unexpected or challenging while remaining true to the English ballet tradition of de Valois, Ashton and MacMillan, with its emphasis on character, narrative and psychological or emotional fidelity. With his shorter repertoire works, he slips easily into such unexpected areas as Flowers of the Forest (1985), 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café; (1988), or The Nutcracker Sweeties (1992) - opting for Duke Ellington's jazz version of the familiar Tchaikovsky score.

He also braves the familiar in original ways, as attested by his well-received ballet versions of such popular works as Carmina Burana.

Among his well-earned awards and honours, David Bintley counts a 2001 Birthday Honours CBE (Commander of the British Empire), while the company he directs (Birmingham Royal Ballet) goes from strength to strength.

©Tim Tubbs