Birmingham Royal Ballet and Canon present: The Silence After Applause

The Silence After Applause is a photographic exploration by Canon Ambassador Clive Booth of the medical advancements being made to support dancers’ relentless pursuit of perfection. 

Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) has partnered with Canon and Canon Ambassador, photographer, Clive Booth on a compelling photographic project supporting groundbreaking research into Relative Energy Deficiency in Dance (RED-D). Led by BRB’s Clinical Director, Dr Nick Allen, this pioneering study explores a condition that critically affects the physical and mental health of dancers by disrupting the body’s energy balance, a serious issue when energy intake fails to meet the extreme demands of elite performance. 

Captured throughout BRB’s 2024/25 season, Clive Booth’s intimate photography offers a rare glimpse behind the curtain, portraying dancers in the quiet moments before, during, and after performance. These images reveal both the discipline and vulnerability of life on stage, asking a powerful question: ‘What happens once the applause fades?’ 

As part of the RED-D research, BRB has developed a “biological health passport” for each dancer; a personalised health profile that tracks physiological changes. This innovative approach aims to help better understand performance risks, and to safeguard long-term wellbeing, ensuring that decisions made in the present are made with the future in mind.  

Canon Ambassador, filmaker and photographer Clive Booth said: ‘I’ve long been fascinated by ballet, for me the ultimate art form. From the perspective of an audience dance can appear effortless, perfect, beautiful, magical, moving and mesmerizing. But stand in the wings and there’s another story to be told. Thanks to Birmingham Royal Ballet I’ve been given unique access to shoot the portraits of dancers just seconds off stage. ‘The Silence After Applause’ is helping raise awareness to the company’s world-first research into the physical and mental wellbeing of their dancers. 

UK Commissioner General for Expo 2025 Carolyn Davidson said: ‘I am delighted that the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Canon are bringing ‘The Silence After The Applause’ exhibition and a special performance to the UK Pavilion at Expo 2025, showcasing the innovation and imagination at the heart of the UK’s creative industries through a fusion of art, science, and technology.’

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Clinical Director, Dr Nick Allen said: ‘The Birmingham Royal Ballet Company places dancer health and wellbeing at the core of their principals. The philosophy of the medical team is to “support artistic ambition and build for the future”. To do this we need to examine the building blocks of performance and understand the impact of elite dance. The Biological Health Passports is a profiling system that enables the medical team and dancers to build a better understanding and become the foundation for a healthier future.’ 

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s participation at the Osaka Expo begins on 25 June with a special event introducing the project held at the UK Pavilion. The event will feature a presentation by Dr Nick Allen and Clive Booth, followed by a live performance by BRB dancers on the Outer Stage East at 2pm. The programme includes classics from the English ballet repertoire including Rhapsody Pas De Deux by Sir Frederick Ashton (BRB’s founding choreographer), Aurora Act2 solo from Sleeping Beauty by Sir Peter Wright (Founding Director Laureate), Summer and Winter solos from Cinderella by Sir David Bintley (former Artistic Director); plus a new work, Capriccio, from BRB2’s Artistic Co-ordinator Kit Holder.

Prior to the participation in Osaka Expo, Birmingham Royal Ballet begins its Japanese tour with The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya from 20 June - 5 July, presented by Japan Performing Arts Foundation (NBS). Tour and ticket information here:

https://www.brb.org.uk/shows/the-sleeping-beauty

English page https://www.nbs.or.jp/english/stages/2025/brb/top.html

Japanese page https://www.nbs.or.jp/stages/2025/birmingham/