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Dans2Go


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Dans2Go premiering tonight on Gamle Scene. Anybody going tonight or at some other point during the run? I'll be seeing this mixed bill on the 18th of next month and I just can't wait.

 

It'll be my first introduction to Konservatoriet (in part) by Bournonville, but I do look forward to seeing some of his choreography brought back this season and casting looks really interesting. Victorine is danced by Lena-Maria Gruber tonight and Caroline Baldwin in second cast. Eliza is danced by Camilla Ruelykke tonight and by Holly Dorger in second cast. The ballet master is Alexander Stæger and Ulrik Birkkjær.

 

Other Dances is something I'm rather excited about, because ballet to Chopin is always a good thing. Casting hasn't gone up for all performances yet, but so far the two casts are J'aime Crandall and Gregory Dean in first cast with Ida Praetorius and Marcin Kupinski in second cast.

 

Finally, Dans2Go will also be the world premiere of corps dancer Oliver Starpov's stunning-looking choreography Beginning and Ending which is probably the highlight for me. Photos look incredibly beautiful and the dancers seem very excited for it on Instagram, so I'm really looking forward to I get to see it in February. The cast tonight when it premieres features Andreas Kaas, Wilma Giglio, Kizzy Matiakis and Alba Nadal. Second cast features Sebastian Haynes, Elenora Morris, Stephanie Chen Gundorph and Heather Dunn.

 

If anybody is going, let us know how it was!

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When I saw the trailer for this show I was a bit surprised that the Konservatoriet section seemed to be filmed in rehearsal clothes - but apparently those are actually the costumes for this short run, intended for people new to ballet. Interesting...

 

Oliver Starpov's new piece seems to be getting a very good reception on Facebook - there's also a formal review in Berlinske but you can't read beyond the first paragraph without a subscription - overall rating is 4 stars out of 6.

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I really look forward to catching this programme and am kind of crossing my fingers that I'll be seeing the first cast in Other Dances, Crandall especially looked absolutely stunning in the trailer.

 

I'm curious about the choice of costume for Konservatoriet and although I can understand the critique it's earned (that the clothes don't lend to the dance style, etc.), I personally find the idea of updating the dance school setting to modern day with everything it entails very unique and interesting. Whether it works on stage, I suppose I'll get to see.

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I watched Dans2Go last night and had a very enjoyable evening all-together.

 

The highlight of the evening was definitely Starpov's Beginning and Ending which I loved almost everything about. I thought it was a moving story that the choreographer had wrapped in great costumes and embraced with lovely music, his pas de deux's especially were sublime, both the PDD between the fiancee and the writer and later, the PDD between the writer and the guardian figure. Sebastian Haynes as the writer was a sight for sore eyes, the elements of dancing that the writer had were wonderfully executed and the sheer emotion that he poured into the character was palpable, visible, too, when at one point he seemed to be truly crying on stage. As the fiancee I thought Elenora Morris made a commanding, dramatic presence and as the guardian angel, Stephanie Chen Gundorph was just so amazingly beautiful and striking, especially in the mentioned PDD. I was personally in love with Heather Dunn as the forest queen who was so lovely and gentle to watch as well as the three deers, Silvia Selvini, Caroline Betancourt and Matteo Di Loreto that made an interesting and entertaining trio amidst the many formations and pairs. The ghost couple that seemed to mirror the writer and the fiancee was wonderfully danced by Viktoria Falck-Schmidt and Jon Axel Fransson. Although some of the scenes dragged on a little too long for my taste, mostly Starpov succeeded through his ability to move his formations around the stage in a very interesting and unique way. Only a few times did it seem too crowded, mostly - as in the final scene where the writer takes command over his many creations - the formations were precise and made sense, as well as how they were moving and beautiful to look at, though I myself found that I enjoyed how he worked with the pairs more than with the groups. The ghost couple, the writer and the fiancee and the writer and the guardian had incredibly poignant and forceful choreography to work with, not only step-wise, but in the sheer emotion that was required to show the characters fully, something everybody did to the fullest. As well as the PDD between the writer and the guardian angel, the scene where the writer sees all his creation march out in line in front of the backdrop like silhouettes was amazingly striking to look at as well as the final moment of that same scene where everybody strikes a still pose and fade into black silhouettes before the audience's eyes - that was just goosebumps-worthy! Starpov is undeniably a new big name on the RDB stage when it comes to choreography and as far as firsts go, this was a very solid, well-thought out and well-performed one, everyone gave it their very best and it fully deserved the standing ovation it got afterwards. My only regret was the cluster of colors, with both the costumes and the lighting being in bright and vivid color, I would maybe have preferred for the backdrop to be either in white or black to not confuse my eyes quite so much - but I'm sure there's a reason it was in color and it was definitely not so hard on the eyes that I couldn't concentrate on the rest of it, the beauty and the drama. Everything had a clear red line running through it.

 

The first part of the evening was more good than great. Mostly I had a very tall man sitting right in front of me, blocking my view of centre stage pretty much constantly, so that took some of the joy out of it for me, but what I could see was good and entertaining. I don't personally think that the idea of updating Conservatoire is a bad one, the concept is interesting and very now, but the dancing wasn't the finest I've seen from the RDB, I think it might have been an off day. Neither Camilla Ruelykke Holst or Lena-Maria Gruber truly seemed to command the stage for me as Elisa and Victorine, though I thought Gruber's choreography was the more interesting one to watch in general. Alexander Stæger as the balletmaster was great to watch, but I only caught about half his dancing due to the big head in front of me. What I did see, though, I liked. All in all, I thought the men did really well with some great dancing from Eliabe D'Abadia, Tobias Praetorius and Liam Redhead - and especially from Alexander Bozinoff who had a solo that took my breath away at the end, it was amazing! For once, I also really enjoyed the ballet children on stage and there was one girl in particular, at the front row, that did so well, I was really impressed. So, all in all, Conservatoire yesterday was a day for the men and the children in particular and although it wasn't the best I've seen the RDB dance, it was interesting and the concept did work for me which was a relief.

 

Last, but not least, I saw Ida Praetorius and Marcin Kupinski in Other Dances and although this choreography will never become a favourite of mine, I enjoyed the music and I thought both dancers did very well where especially Kupinski managed to bring out the spontaneity and the aspect of making it seem like he was "making up steps as he goes along", whereas Praetorius brought a lightness and a playfulness to the choreography that made up for how she didn't always seem as spontaneous as Kupinski. They both especially aced their first solos, Kupinskis first solo was a masterpiece, a masterful show of power and play with Praetorius' first solo ending on the most brilliant and the fastest note imaginable. Along the way after this point, they lost some steam and although they danced really well all way through, most of the true force and bravur feeling happened throughout the first half of the choreography. All in all, it was a very, very good piece to get to see, even if I won't go out of the way to see it again, and both Kupinski and Praetorius looked amazing in their costumes.

 

There was only one major glitch throughout this evening where each section was introduced in interviews on a big screen - when Beginning and Ending was up, the technology had a mishap that caused the audience to sit in darkness for some time, but fortunately it was fixed at the end and we got to see interviews with Starpov himself as well as with the two main role dancers, Andreas Kaas and Sebastian Haynes. 

 

A great evening!

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