Rehearsals for Black Sabbath The Ballet have begun in Birmingham.

Eight classic tracks including Paranoid, Iron Man, War Pigs and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath have been re-arranged, while new songs inspired by the band will also be performed live by the orchestra.

Artistic Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet Carlos Acosta said: “One of the things I wanted to do when I joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet was to tell the story of the treasure this city has given to the world and Black Sabbath is perfect for that. .

“It’s a topic that creates curiosity because we come from the world of ballet and then from the world of heavy metal – what will be the negotiations, what will be the result at the end, and that excites me.”

The idea for the project came to the Cuban-born dancer when he flew to Havana about 10 years ago.

“I ended up with Jimmy Page and my actor friend Clive Owen, and then I started toying with the idea of ​​doing ballet with rock music.

“At the time, the more I thought about it, Black Sabbath was the right choice.”

He added that the band’s music has “a lot of melodic feeling” and there are plenty to choose from.