Birmingham Royal Ballet are set to launch performances of Black Sabbath: The Ballet, at three UK venues this month.

The eight Black Sabbath tracks that will feature in the ballet are: "Paranoid" (Paranoid, 1970);  "Iron Man" (Paranoid, 1970); "War Pigs" (Paranoid, 1970); "Black Sabbath" (Black Sabbath, 1970); "Solitude" (Master of Reality, 1971); "Orchid" (Master of Reality, 1971); "Laguna Sunrise" (Vol 4, 1972) and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1973). The music will be re-orchestrated for the Royal Ballet Sinfonia with new compositions inspired by Black Sabbath also performed live by the orchestra. On the stage guitars and drums will be integrated into the performance.

Tony Iommi, who was present at some rehearsals and was visited in his studio by Black Sabbath Ballet composer, Christoper Austin, spoke to The Guardian, and reveals that he's been happy with what he’s heard.

“Chris came over to my house and played me his ideas. It was great to see someone else’s impression of what we did. I was wondering how they would do it - would they just play our songs as we did them? And of course they don’t. There are little parts of us, then an interlude, then back in with another riff. I’ve heard loads of different versions of our music - accordions, everything. You name it, I’ve heard it. But this is really great.”

It sounds as though it was more of a challenge for choreographer Pontus Lidberg and his team.

“I grew up with classical music,” says Lidberg. “Heavy metal was not the soundtrack of my life. But I think any meeting between seemingly very disparate things is a good idea.”

Lidberg didn’t want simply to slap classical choreography on top of rock music. But nor did he simply want to recreate the cliches of rock music in ballet form. He has worked with the dances to make them “more like a dialogue, where I give an impetus and see what happens. I don’t give super-specific movements, I give ideas and let the dancers respond. I see how it resonates in their bodies and from there give further instructions.”

Read more at theguardian.com

For tickets and more details on Black Sabbath: The Ballet, head here

(Photo - Perou)