Black Sabbath The Ballet – The Lowry

When you think about a rock band to soundtrack a ballet it’s probable rock gods Black Sabbath wouldn’t be the first name that comes to mind.

But when Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Director Carlos Acosta was looking for inspiration to commission locally based work, he was drawn to the doomy riffs created by four working class lads from the Black Country who basically invented Heavy Metal as a genre. Acsota clearly felt their huge riffs not only captured the long gone industrial might of Brum, where Sabbath members spent their teens, but also offered the dancers a broad palate to work with.

Backed by the Birmingham Sinfonia this three-act show tries to encapsulate the band’s tempestuous five decade long career, and is a million miles away from the lighter music ballets are often performed to. Judging by the numerous metal t-shirts on display tonight using Sabbath anthems like Paranoid, Iron Man and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath does bring in a different audience to ballet, which is all too often wrongly portrayed as inaccessible and elitist.    

The first two acts are devised by up and coming choreographers overseen by Artistic Director Pontus Linberg and Lead Composer Christopher Austin, who worked closely on the orchestration of the Sabbath classics with guitarist Tony Iommi keeping to the spirit of the band’s work. This collaborative approach offers both choreographers and dancers space to interpret some of the greatest rock songs ever written. 

Cuban Raul Reinnso’s opening act dubbed ‘Heavy Metal Ballet’ has 16 dancers slowly prowling on to the grinding riff of war Pigs and a snatch of Ozzy Osbourne’s distinctive wail. They’re joined by a live guitarist representing Iommi as he shreds away on a Gibson SG, and there’s a lovely moment of communion as this Guitar Spirit is hoisted onto  the dancer’s shoulders as they carry him round Alexandre’ Arrechea ‘s stark set moodily lit by K.J. Sabbath’s punchy music is perfect for the company’s big kicks, leaps  and lifts before the relative quiet of Solitude as two dancers lock lips throughout a long and  technically difficult pas de deux creating something incredibly intimate and moving. Guitar Spirit is back for a burst of the bands biggest hit Paranoid which sparked some pretty feeble headbanging and air guitar.

Cassi Abranhes has a bigger challenge in ‘The Band’ trying to meld spoken word recordings and movement as band members reminisce, including the workplace accident that chopped off the tips of Iommi’s fingers which meant he had to develop a unique style of playing. The second act is less dramatic with the company dressed in seventies rock attire as it has more of a freer contemporary dance feel, with one sensitive duet as the band recall firing Ozzy, which on the whole works as Sabbath were the epitome of the devil may care excesses of seventies rock ….and then some. 

Austin and Lidberg take charge for the final act, ‘Everybody Is A Fan’, as ten dancers on a stripped back stage move together during a pounding seven beat rhythmic version of Iron Man. The dancers also wheel on a spectacularly kitschy sliver demon atop a wrecked 70s car, which is a wonderful metaphor for the always over the top imagery of Heavy Metal. Guitar Spirit pops back for a slightly awkward duet with one of the dancers before the whole company solo and moves in lovely synchronicity to Austin’s powerful orchestrations of War Pigs and Paranoid. You can see the joy on each dancer’s face in this loose finale that seems to have Transported them back to their first steps when ballet was just fun. 

Sabbath’s much loved frontman Ozzy passed away in July, so what better tribute to one of rock’s most hyperactive showmen than through the medium of a ballet that celebrates the legacy of Birmingham’s greatest band.   

Black Sabbath – The Ballet is The Lowry until Saturday 11th October and then touring.  To book https://tickets.thelowry.com

Reviewer: Paul Clarke

Reviewed: 8th October 2025

North West End UK Rating: