KNA

Unfortunately, according to the RDB website, Alban Lendorf is currently out with an injury - in Denmark, he's been replaced for performances up through November. I feel so bad for him. :-( Wish him a speedy recovery.

Ooh, Rachmaninov! Nicely played. :-) I think I read somewhere that Alban Lendorf was once taught by the great Anne Øland - the way I remember her, she only took the best.

Interpassivities just received 6 stars from POV International. There was also a great article in Borsen the other day about the performance and the reviews and audience reactions I've found so far are predominantly positive. Personally, I think it's so well-deserved; the experience was one of the most powerful ones I've had as an audience member. Well-done, Corpus!

Agree with everything Syrene wrote - additionally, I want to praise the orchestra. That partiture must be equal parts amazing and nerve-wrecking and to me, they nailed it tonight. Beautiful, atmospheric and emotional at the right times.

And I am as well, seeing as I've watched them all. I understand now that you were talking about casts, not premieres - however, from the beginning you confused me by bringing up the wrong date (the Saturday premiere which was not broadcast - the cinemacasts are live, meaning that Giselle for instance was the premiere cast, dancing for the fourth or fifth time). So no problem at all - hope you've managed to catch some of them! :-)

Cast lists are up on the homepage! We're catching Ida Praetorius as Alice and Marcin Kupinski as the White Rabbit with Kizzy Matiakis as the Red Queen - awesome!

The recent Swan Lake? As in this season's run? We've seen the cinema broadcasts for all three shows, but the premieres haven't been broadcasted to cinemas. Or maybe we're talking about different things, haha!

I agree with you completely! I went about it in a clumsy way, I think, but I mostly wanted to note that though I'm a Dane myself, story-telling isn't more important to me than other aspects of ballet. I definitely don't think Crandall would have gotten the response she did if she'd been flat in terms of acting, pyrotechnics or not. As for Rees' pop-up, he tackled the issues of foreign influences on traditions in the RDB and what it meant to Danish and foreign dancers, respectively! It brought forward some really interesting angles, I think. Also, this has gone completely off topic now - sorry! I'll stop talking and read Syrene's review instead, though I think we agree on pretty much every point. We did discuss it until after midnight, after all. ;)

Thanks so much for your interesting perspective on my thoughts regarding reviewer focus, Anne! I think this part especially rings true to me: Being a part of 'the new' audience who haven't been quite so attuned to the traditional Danish style probably means that I'm not completely in the category of 'Danes' you describe. I want more than good story telling! I'm in love with the more experimental setups and with dancers like Holly Dorger and J'aime Crandall who take my breath away with speed and pyrotechnics. Going by audience's response to for example J'aime Crandall's Kitri earlier this year, I'd say I'm not alone, either. This doesn't mean that I don't like traditions, I wish we could focus on both aspects, I guess. I can definitely appreciate the points you made, though, it might just be the way of things! Did you ever see Samuel Rees' pop-up? It was apropos this discussion, I think.

While I'm glad I'll get to see both first and second cast, I'm still so, so sad that I'll miss Holly Dorger and Ulrik Birkkjær. Sounds like they created a beautiful performance. Thanks for getting into both dancing and acting, Syrene. Aside from JP, by the way, reviewers in Denmark generally give Giselle stellar reviews, typically 5/6 stars. There seems to be a consensus regarding Ida Praetorius' dramatic talent in particular, though I wish they'd tell me more about the dancing (generally speaking, not just regarding Praetorius). It's a mystery to me, why with so many previous ballets, both technique and acting seemed important to Danish reviewers where as with Giselle, all they really seem to notice in terms of the actual dancing is the corps whenever anyone's out of sync.

BT's Vibeke Wern was a lot more positive about the performance and gave it 5/6 stars with plenty of praise for everyone. http://www.b.dk/scene/kaerligheden-der-tilgiver-alt

The premiere wasn't broadcast and reviews so far are, unfortunately, hard to come by. Eva Kistrup posted hers quickly after: http://danceviewtimes.typepad.com/eva_kistrup/2016/10/quality-time.html The performance got a very mixed reception from Jyllandsposten with three stars out of six. Can't wait to read other reports on it...

Wow. Mind's too blown right now for any real coherency but can I just say - this is one of the most personal, honest and touching glimpses into the dancers' world that I've ever seen. I loved hearing, seeing and feeling their stories. There were moments when it felt like this show truly brought down the fourth wall and let us know the reality behind all the polished beauty that we enjoy as a ballet audience. I loved that. I even feel kind of privileged! Wish I had time (and tickets) to go again tomorrow afternoon.

Pretty pictures. Would have dearly liked a broader representation of the three casts but hey, everyone looks fantastic. Mia Steensgaard's costumes are gorgeous - visually, this is just beautiful. Happy to see a lot of Sebastian Haynes there - and Kizzy Matiakis looks awesome as Myrtha! I'm so ready to watch this!

Thank you so much for your well-written account of Gudrun's evening, Anne. Unfortunately, we weren't there to experience it, but Instagram definitely came alive the whole weekend with praise and love for her from the dancers, in particular. It was wonderful to see what an incredible source of inspiration she's been for them all (and her fans alike).