‘How are they going to do that?’ Ballet mixing Black Sabbath’s heavy metal music and classical dance intrigues the group’s guitarist, Tony Iommi

Black Sabbath – The Ballet, which has the blessing of heavy rock group’s co-founder and longest serving member, guitarist Tony Iommi, celebrates their story

Rehearsals have begun for the three-act ballet by Cuba’s Carlos Acosta which opens in Birmingham – Black Sabbath’s home city – in September before going on tour

Reading Time:3 minutes

Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers in rehearsal for “Black Sabbath – The Ballet”, a celebration of the heavy metal pioneers’ story and music conceived by the troupe’s artistic director, Cuban superstar Carlos Acosta. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:15pm, 3 May 2023Updated: 5:50pm, 3 May 2023

Pirouette, leap, air guitar, stomp. In a practice room in central England, dancers move gracefully in unison, combining classical ballet with new, heavy metal-inspired steps.

Welcome to Black Sabbath – The Ballet, the brainchild of Cuban dance superstar Carlos Acosta, artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Determined to celebrate the cultural treasures of the UK’s second city since his arrival in 2020, Acosta took his idea to Black Sabbath co-founder and guitarist Tony Iommi, who gave it his blessing, along with the group’s original vocalist, Ozzy Osbourne.

“I was fascinated with the idea. I thought ‘How are they going to do that?’,” says 75-year-old Iommi.

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi watches a rehearsal for “Black Sabbath – the Ballet”. Photo: AFP

“I just couldn’t imagine how they’d do ballet to Black Sabbath and then I thought, well maybe they’re going to use the … softer tracks, but no, they went for ‘Black Sabbath’, ‘War Pigs’, ‘Iron Man’,” he says.