The New "La Sylphide"

[Anne]

I think it is a great strength of a staging that each cast is allowed to have its own take at the roles. I would love to see some of the other casts, as it sounds like they are all adding new nuances t the story. I'm especially happy to hear from Jane that Gregory Dean made a fine James. I think he is going to be a fine asset to the group of soloist/principals, not only because he is a fine dancer but because he fills out a gap. He has a natural gift for lyricism, that is one of his most obvious qualities, but he can do more than that and has already shown his versatilty: he can do the princely, noble type, the young and boyish type (Romeo/Lysander) and the macho type as last seen in Come Fly Away. And now comes his James who requires a bit of it all.

Gregory Dean has not had much to do since he was promoted a principal last December, but who has? With only 20-25 ordinary performances during the whole spring season this year, many dancers didn't set foot on stage at all. One of the rarely seen dancers is Gudrun Bojesen, who has almost disappeared during last season. The same seems to happen this season (apart from her appearances in The Lady of the Camellias), unless Hübbe plans to cast her as Odette/Odile, which I doubt. It can almost make me cry (if it didn't at the same time make me so absolutely furious!), as she is now 38 and hasn't many years left as an active dancer (they leave by 40 in the RDB). The same happened to another star dancer of the company, Thomas Lund, who were equally seldom seen during the last precious years of his career as a dancer. Dancers who have passed the age of 35 don't seem to have many chances with Hübbe. It is fantastic to see young, talented dancers, no doubt about that, but a company is also characterized by its mature artists, who bring something unique to a performance and to a company as such. Just think of former star dancers like Silja Schandorff, Heidi Ryom and Kenneth Greve – and Hübbe himself – who were allowed to bloom until the very end of their career. For the younger dancers, too, it is an inspiration to be able to work with these experienced dancers, and furthermore it is a way of securing continuity and character of the company – but maybe that is exactly what Hübbe doesn't want!

But back to La Sylphide and its dancers:
It sounds interesting with the three very different Madges. I saw Hübbe, and though it was great to see him on stage again (I missed out on his Germont Père in The Lady of the Camellias) and once more feel his immense stage presence, he didn't really convince me. In the interview in the programme he says, that when he gives James the death kiss, it is also his own private farewell to James, with whom he has lived and fought ever since his early youth. He admits that by doing so he gives way to a kind of personal egomania. The question is whether this is interesting to anybody but himself, and hopefully there has been more to his interpretation than this very private aspect.

Ulrik Birkkjær was the great surprise that night, at least to me. He danced with an unbelievable elegance and an airborne quality which I haven't seen to that extent in his dancing before. His movements were precise and with a clear direction without being restricted. Only in the last variation in act 2 he couldn't add that extra volume and power needed to make it a culmination of the former two, but that doesn't diminish the exquisiteness of his performance as a whole. Also his acting has grown more subtle and natural, since I saw him last in "The Lady of the Camellias" two years ago. His rendering of James' initial fear when finding himself in the strange white world of act 2, was genuine and really moving. A pity they have left out his "invisible" gesture towards the end.

Susanne Grinder has also grown as the Sylph, since I saw her back in 2010, and her Sylph is more a character now than it was then (she is one of the few lucky dancers whom Hübbe gives more than a couple of performances and more than one season to develope a role on stage). She has also worked succesfully on the expression of weightlessness, especially in the way she floats across the floor like a piece of fluff, though I think she takes it a bit too far in the way she carries her arms – at times they look more limp than weightless. When she dies, though, she makes an amazing transformation from airborn sylph to a completely limp and graceless creature, freak-like almost. Grinder has an intelligent approach to the role, and in general to everything she does, but still it is difficult for me to see what exactly it is that distinguishes her from many other talented dancers in the company. When you see her close up, her acting can actually be quite convincing and full of charm and well worked out details (one could see that in the live stream of a public rehearsal session a month ago), but from afar she somehow fades into insignificance, and so does much of her dancing, too.

Kizzy Matiakis was a fine Effy, despairing at James at a rather early stage. I was happy that she wasn't made into a monster like the rest of the family, because that would have made the over all interpretation of the story even more black and white than it already is. Apart from being a very strong technician, Matiakis is one of the best character dancers in the RDB at the moment. She can be a great comedienne, too, as we saw in her Birthe in A Folk Tale.

Also Alexander Stæger made a fine impression as Gurn. He is a very reliable dancer who is always able to establish a convincing character. He can be "the boy next door" without being boring. As Gurn he was able to communicate the ambiguity of the character, which is highlighted more in this staging.

[sandik]

Gregory Dean has not had much to do since he was promoted a principal last December, but who has? With only 20-25 ordinary performances during the whole spring season this year, many dancers didn't set foot on stage at all. ... It is fantastic to see young, talented dancers, no doubt about that, but a company is also characterized by its mature artists, who bring something unique to a performance and to a company as such. Just think of former star dancers like Silja Schandorff, Heidi Ryom and Kenneth Greve – and Hübbe himself – who were allowed to bloom until the very end of their career. For the younger dancers, too, it is an inspiration to be able to work with these experienced dancers, and furthermore it is a way of securing continuity and character of the company – but maybe that is exactly what Hübbe doesn't want!

I've been thinking about this aspect of running a company -- PNB started its season this year with several of its principal and soloist dancers missing, for various reasons, and it seemed that AD Peter Boal decided to make a virtue of necessity and had a significant number of younger dancers step up into significant roles. In seven performances of Jewels (over two weeks) there were over 25 debuts. I was disappointed to miss several experienced dancers in favorite roles, but I can see why he would want to keep moving young dancers into roles, to grow their experience and help maintain an active transition over time.

The key here in both places is the small number of available performances -- with so few opportunities, it's tricky to distribute them thoughtfully.

[Anne]

I agree with you, Sandik, and your words are exactly the ones I have told myself during the last couple of years, every time I got frustrated about missing dancers in the rep. But a ballet master has to realize, that there is a limit to how much talenthe is able to nurture. The RDB is brimming with talent at the moment, and I fully understand Hübbe's dilemma, but if you try and feed them all, no one is getting satisfied in the end. I don't argue that older dancers should automatically have priority - that would block a natural "transition over time", as you put it. But on the other hand, if a company is dominated too strongly by its young talent, you risk that the "transition over time" breaks from within.

I think a ballet master has to acknowledge when he has dancers in the company who are a class above all the others, not just technically but in this over all "mix" that defines a star, like Bojesen, like Lund, like Schandorff, to mention some of the recent ones. The ballet master has an obligation towards their extraordinary talent and also towards the audience, who, I think, has a right to see them. Especially in an art form like dance where the live performance can never be matched by any electronic reproduction (apart from that, the RDB don't produce dvd's so you don't even have that opportunty).

[sandik]

But on the other hand, if a company is dominated too strongly by its young talent, you risk that the "transition over time" breaks from within.

And you've put your finger on the fundamental issue here. Dancers are experiential learners, and the repertory is passed from person to person in a very specific and fragile way -- it's the continuity that is the crucial element, and that requires people from all parts of the spectrum, from the very young to the highly experienced. And the Danish heritage repertory should help facilitate that, with its really deep collection of character/mime roles.

I think a ballet master has to acknowledge when he has dancers in the company who are a class above all the others, not just technically but in this over all "mix" that defines a star, like Bojesen, like Lund, like Schandorff, to mention some of the recent ones. The ballet master has an obligation towards their extraordinary talent and also towards the audience, who, I think, has a right to see them.

Another tricky issue! I agree that, with an extraordinary artist in the mix, the already difficult task of nurturing a group of dancers becomes just that much more complex. And while I'm like everyone else and want to see the stars of the day, I'm also concerned and curious about the other dancers working in their orbit. Looking back on the Royal Ballet during the Fonteyn/Nureyev era, or at NYCB during Suzanne Farrell's tenure, I think the companies were at their strongest when there were several other dancers striving to match some of those transcendent skills.

[Alexandra]

I fear that "continuity" in Denmark is linked to the "bad old days" (the 90s and 00s) and not seen as a good thing, whether in casting or in repertory.

[sandik]

I fear that "continuity" in Denmark is linked to the "bad old days" (the 90s and 00s) and not seen as a good thing, whether in casting or in repertory.

Oh, that makes me so sad.

[Alexandra]

Here's a link to an article by Alexander Meinertz about the new production, and more:

http://www.magasinetdoxa.dk/slagtebaenk-sylfiden.html

And here's a link (courtesy of Helene) to a rough Google translation:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=da&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.magasinetdoxa.dk%2Fslagtebaenk-sylfiden.html%23.VH2V2956V2U.facebook&edit-text

[Anne]

Alexander Meinertz hits the bull's eye in many aspects of his review. It is a harsh but also a very refreshing view on Hübbe's take on La Sylphide. As he rightly points out it dimineshes the ballet's rich and open scope of interpretations. Unfortunately the google translation is bad, close to incomprehensible. If I get the time maybe I will try and translate bits of it myself - it might not be flawless but probably more understandable.

[Alexandra]

Here's a link to Alexander Meinertz's piece (slightly amended) in English:

The Sylphide Abattoir

[sandik]

Oh, thanks so much for hosting this on your website!

[Drew]

Here's a link to Alexander Meinertz's piece (slightly amended) in English:

The Sylphide Abattoir

Oooh Wow! Thank you.

[Alexandra]

Thanks for reading it! I should have said that this is Meinertz's own writing -- the English as well as the Danish versions.

[Anne]

It is great to have Meinertz' own translation - thank you!