Sir David Julian Bintley (born 17 September 1957) is an English former ballet dancer, the artistic director of the

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the co ...

, and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.

Early life

Bintley was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into t ...

, England. He trained professionally in classical ballet at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especial ...

in London. While training at the school, some of his choreography was seen by Sir Frederick Ashton, founder choreographer and artistic director of

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

Career

In 1976, Bintley was offered a contract to dance with the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, now the

(BRB). He received his first commission as a choreographer in 1978, creating the ballet ''The Outsider'' for that company. Later in 1985, he was appointed resident choreographer of

at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. He has subsequently created numerous works for the Royal Ballet, the BRB and as an international guest choreographer. In 1995, he succeeded

Sir Peter Wright Sir Peter Wright CBE (born 25 November 1926) is a British ballet teacher, choreographer, director and former professional dancer. He worked as a choreographer and as the artistic director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, a classical ballet company b ...

as artistic director of the BRB. In March 2018 he announced his plan to retire from the BRB at the end of July 2019. In his time he choreographed at least ten full-length and 12 one-act ballets for the BRB and commissioned a further 21 ballets by other choreographers. He is succeeded by Carlos Acosta.

Honours and awards

Bintley was appointed Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2001 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2001 was announced on 16 June 2001 for the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), New Zealand (4 June), Australia (11 June), Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sai ...

and was knighted in the 2020 New Year Honours, both for services to dance. In January 2015, he received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (202 ...

Major productions

* ''

Still Life at the Penguin Cafe ''Still Life at the Penguin Cafe'' is a ballet choreographed by David Bintley and featuring music composed by Simon Jeffes, founder of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. It is also the title of the accompanying album. Geoffrey Richardson co-wrote ...

'' (1988) * ''

Hobson's Choice A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that multiple choices are available. The most well known Hobson's choice is "I'll give you a choice: take it or leave ...

'' (1989) * ''

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...

'' (1995) * ''Carmina Burana'' (1995) * ''Far from the Madding Crowd'' (1997) * ''Beauty and the Beast'' (2003) * ''Cyrano'' (2007) * ''E=mc²'' (2009) * ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' (2010) * ''Aladdin'' (2012) * ''Faster'' (2012) * ''Prince of the Pagodas'' (2014) * ''The King Dances'' (2015) * ''The Tempest'' (2016) * ''A Comedy of Errors'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bintley, David Choreographers of The Royal Ballet Administrators of the Birmingham Royal Ballet Living people 1957 births English male ballet dancers Dancers of The Royal Ballet People educated at the Royal Ballet School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire National Dance Award winners English choreographers David Bintley People from Huddersfield Knights Bachelor