David Bintley hopes to attract the masses to the cultured world of ballet as a major dance contest is staged in Birmingham for the first time. As Birmingham Royal Ballet's artistic director, he would like to see more people taking an interest in what is seen by many as being an inaccessible art form. So in a bid to get the public interested, they are being invited to watch students, aged between 15 and 19, compete in the Genee International Ballet Competition finals at the Birmingham Hippodrome on September 28. Hundreds of dancers from around the globe will take part in a week of classes, workshops and competition heats, which begin on September 20, before the finalists battle it out for the 'Oscars' of the ballet world. Mr Bintley will sit on a Pop Idol-style panel with former prima ballerina Dame Antoinette Sibley and the Royal Ballet's director Monica Mason. "If people who watch programmes like Pop Idol come along to the finals, I think they will enjoy themselves, because the audience get right behind the dancers. Any event like this will help dispel the myth that ballet is closed off and inaccessible to most people, we're working very hard to take it to as many people as possible. "If we find the next Darcy Bussell or Billy Elliot then it will be a very special event." Former winners include Birmingham Royal Ballet's ballet master Alain Dubreuil. Mr Bintley joined Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet) in 1976 as a character dancer and has jetted up the ranks to become resident choreographer in 1982 before being appointed artistic director in 1995. He received a CBE for his services to ballet in 2001. The Genees were first held in London in 1931 and were staged in the capital until last year, when the competition moved to Sydney. Birmingham is the first British city outside London chosen to host the dance showcase. The Royal Academy of Dance will also be staging a weekend of workshops and seminars from September 26-28 at the Birmingham Hippodrome, which is also open to the public. Mr Bintley said: "The combination of both the Genee International Ballet Competition and the Academy's workshops will hopefully open up opportunities for some of our most talented young dancers. "When I last judged this competition, at the London Palladium in 1994, we awarded the top prize to a 14-year-old Australian girl, and I told her to call me if she was ever in Birmingham and wanted a job. She contact me earlier this year and finally joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in May." **For tickets to the Genee International Ballet Competition finals on September 28, telephone 0870 730 1234 or e-mail tickets@bhip.ws. For information and tickets for the RAD Conference, September 26-28, telephone 0207 326 8051 or log on to www.rad.org.uk/conference | 
