1977 – The Royal Ballet New Group becomes Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet with Peter Wright as director

Peter Wright studied ballet with Kurt Jooss, Vera Volkova and Peggy van Praagh. After dancing with several companies, including Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet, he became director of the Sadler’s Wells Opera Ballet in 1955. He later trained to become a television director at the BBC before being appointed by John Cranko as ballet master at Stuttgart Ballet in 1961. Wright then returned to The Royal Ballet and was made an associate director to Kenneth MacMillan in 1970. Wright worked closely with MacMillan, leading The Royal Ballet New Group, and was appointed director of Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1977 when the company moved back to Sadler’s Wells. It marked the beginning of a shift in the company’s identity, making it an independent entity from The Royal Ballet. The company moved to Birmingham in 1990, changing its name again, this time to Birmingham Royal Ballet.