autodidacte

I don’t understand Eva Kistrup’s criticism of Cavallo. Last evening I sat next to an elder German balletomane who, with tears in his eyes, told me that she is the most touching sylph he has seen so far … and he has seen La Sylphide many times at the RDB and around the world! I too couldn’t help shedding a tear – and I am not the sentimental type! - during her death scene, especially when she goes blind. Well, that just shows that opinions are diverse and indeed subjective. So dear audience, there is no reason to think that the opinions of the self-proclaimed critics and experts are better and more objective than yours. The reason why I write this now is that I have spoken with some foreigners during this festival who have enjoyed - notably foreign – dancers and then got confused by hearing these dancers being pulled to pieces by Danes. They get insecure and begin to doubt there initial intuition. I just hate when so-called experts ruin people’s joy of going to the theatre. That’s maybe why ballet is regarded as an elitist art. So let me just make something clear: no, the foreign dancers are not worse than the Danish dancers. Why else are so many of them getting soloist parts and being promoted instead of the Danes (and yes, there are still plenty of Danes in the company)? The Bournonville style is a difficult style but it’s not rocket science! Everybody with the talent and dedication can learn it (the Queen is quoted as saying after a performance that Nina Ananiashvili was one the best sylphs she had ever seen). I think in order to understand the Danes’ unfounded criticism of foreign dancers, one has to be aware of the fact that the Danes are the most xenophobic people in Europe (as documented twice in reports from the European Union) who can’t stand seeing foreigners being successful. So dear foreign guests, bear that in mind the next time you have your positive theatre experience ruined by a grumpy Dane. And please keep coming back to the RDB.

here is what the festival site says about the poster: "Making August Bournonville the focal point of the design was a natural choice for Peter Bonde. He has chosen an image of Bournonville as an elderly man, since it was in his mature age that he created most of his ballets and reached the pinnacle of his illustrious career. Peter Bonde depicts Bournonville as being carried by dancing feet. It is, after all, his emphasis on feet and step design that colours his ballet style. These two central elements have been framed in Peter Bonde’s characteristic manner with the faint images of a leg, an arm and a face from Bournonville’s ballets."

A few minutes ago Cecilie Lassen received the Reumert Talent Award. As far as I know, she has been regarded a talent for many years, also by knowledgeable people outside the RDB. Is she just one of those dancers that will never get the chance to get on the train?

Princesses, ok that makes more sense, hi hi. I've only seen Susanne Grinder in Bournonville soloist parts so I'm excited to see how she will do in a leading part. Another person that I miss on the list is Sokolowska, hopefully a future star of the company. I guess opinions of dancers are very subjective. Every time I go to a performance, I try to keep an open mind - also regarding M-P Greve. But I must say that I so far havn't seen her show more than one facial expression. It's like seeing somebody dance with a mask on. Some coaching would do her good.

RDB has announced the following cast for the new Neumeier ballet “The Little Mermaid”: The mermaid: Marie-Pierre Greve/ Susanne Grinder/ Yao Wei Prince Edward: Kenneth Greve/ Mads Blangstrup/ Kristoffer Sakurai The mermaid’s sisters: Cecilie Lassen, Susanne Grinder, Femke Mølback Slot, Mie Fjelstrup, Yao Wei The sea witch: Gudrun Bojesen/ Amy Watson Hans Christian Andersen: Mogens Boesen/ Erling Eliassen Any comments, anybody? I’m disappointed that Schandorff (would be the perfect mermaid ) once again is passed by given the fact that she is RDB’s biggest star and we don’t have many years left to enjoy her dancing. I also miss my other favorite dancer, Cavallo, on that list. And what’s the deal with M-P Greve? She is in my opinion the least charismatic dancer of that company and should never have been made a principal On the other hand, it’s good that a young generation of dancers like Wei, Sakurai etc. are getting their chances. Bojesen and Watson as witches? Hard to imagine but let’s wait and see. Neumeier rarely disappoints me.

I am going to London 24th-28th of February and have looked forward to watching the Royal Ballet perform. I’m used to the Royal Danish Ballet where you can always get tickets so I was surprised to find out that at RB everything is sold out months in advance. My only chance is something called “day seats”. Does anybody know how early you have to show up (because I'm sure there will be a queue) to be sure to get a day seat? And are they also available on Sundays? Other tips?

Very good news! I wonder if Rose Gad will be back in shape in time to be Manon.

Shouldn’t there be a forum for these kinds of questions? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not interested in gossip but it is always fun and interesting to find out how dancers are related to each other. My favourite Anna is Caroline Cavallo. She seems like the only one who has worked with the character. I’m looking forward to seing her being partnered by Kenneth Greve this season. I have not yet seen them dance together.

Yesterday evening a new John Neumeier ballet was transmitted from the Royal Theater performed by Kenneth and Marie-Pierre Greve. Unfortunately the camera focused on everything else than the two dancers so I can’t say anything about the choreography. Did anybody see it, perhaps at some rehearsals?

This evening Thomas Lund received the Reumert Dancer of the Year award for his parts as James in The Sylph and Gennaro in Napoli. This was Thomas’ second nomination. Yao Wei received the Reumert talent award for her parts in The Nutcracker and Peter Martins Octet.

I had looked much forward to seeing Nina Ananiashvili as Anna Karenina since I have heard much about her but never seen her dance. She had beautiful arms and all in all a very expressive body language but I don’t think Kenneth Greve was the right partner for her. I don’t know how tall she is but she looked tiny next to him. I recognize that I as a Dane being accustomed to RDB’s great miming can sometimes be harsh towards foreign dancers who have not been taught in the same tradition. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask for that a dancer’s dance and acting make up a whole. After having been enchanted by Caroline Cavallo’s perfect performance yesterday, I must admit that I was a little bit disappointed by Ananiashvili. She didn’t have as good stage presence as Cavallo. But then again, I may be a little harsh. I would like to hear from others who have seen her as Karenina. I know that she is returning in the part later in this season. I have also been informed that she has had leading parts in Bournonville ballets at the RDB earlier in her career, and I’m eager to hear from people who have seen her in those parts. Was she good and did the Danish audience like her? Unfortunately Jean-Lucien Massot is injured and will be out the rest of the season. But Gitte Lindstrøm will be partnered by Andrew Bowman later this season (why don’t they let her dance with Kenneth Greve since he apparently doesn’t have a partner?)

Kenneth Greve is going to dance the 26th of April together with M-P Greve. I too find it strange that he apparently functions as a spare partner in this production.

Those who have been criticizing Caroline Cavallo on this forum should see her in Anna Karenina or forever hold their peace!!! She is absolutely lovely in this part! As I wrote earlier, M-P Greve surprised me positively yesterday and showed new sides of herself but that’s nothing compared to Cavallo. You could actually read the whole story in her face. The ballet is a little too short and moves along too fast, so it requires a great ballerina to bind together the many scenes and bring life to Ratmansky’s sometimes (I agree with kaydenmark) monotonous steps. Cavallo managed it brilliantly. Everything she did was motivated and you really felt with her. Her dancing and facial expressions made up a whole, and suddenly scenes that had seemed superfluous yesterday made sense. I have till now been neutral towards Cavallo but after the performance today I have fallen in love with her as a ballerina. Andrew Bowman is a very strong dancer (some of his jumps really impressed me) but unfortunately he is a bit weak in dramatic parts. However, you shouldn’t underestimate a good partner. Cavallo and Bowman were a perfect match, completed each other and really seemed in love. They are used to dancing together, and Cavallo obviously had confidence in him, which showed in her performance. Also Cavallo and Mogens Boesen were a good match. They had that connection that I missed between Peter Bo Bendixen and M-P Greve. As to the supporting cast which I tried to study closer today (even though it was hard to take one’s eyes off Cavallo), Tatiana Ratmanska as Betsy had already grown since yesterday. Even though I think that her role as the aristocrat hypocrite, Anna’s tempter and at the end her betrayer should have been elaborated, she made the best of her time on the stage. Gudrun Bojesen was a natural-born Kitty but her part in the libretto doesn’t make sense. In the novel she and Ljovin represent the opposite of both Anna’s world of reckless passion and Betsy’s poisonous aristocracy. Her admiration for Anna as a role model at first and her dissociating herself from Anna after the affair with Vronsky illustrates how deep Anna has fallen. Ratmansky has chosen only to include the first part. But the part being as it is in the libretto, it’s too small for Bojesen, and I think it’s a shame that some of the younger dancers from the corps didn’t get a shot at it. Re. Schandorff as Anna Karenina, I asked Ratmansky during the intermission if she is going to join the production. It turns out that she was never supposed to be in the production – injured or not – and that M-P Greve was cast for the opening night from the beginning (I thought that Greve/Blangstrup got it because Kenneth Greve didn’t have a partner for the opening night). I would have chosen differently but after all I’m not Ratmansky. One day, I would like to sit down with one of these choreographers and find out what’s going on in their heads when picking a cast. Sometimes their choices just don’t make sense to me.

Yesterday I went to the opening night of Anna Karenina with Marie-Pierre Greve as Anna Karenina and Mads Blangstrup as Vronsky. As much as I was disappointed that Silja Schandorff wasn't doing the part as Anna Karenina I was also excited to see how Marie-Pierre Greve would manage this diffucult part which is, I believe, her first major one in in some years. She has not yet been very convincing in dramatic roles. However, she didn't disappoint me this time, and the audience was thrilled (which it, admittedly, always is at opening performances). She had obviously put a lot of work into the part, and she succeeded in showing new sides of herself. She is a technically gifted dancer, and last night she was bursting with confidence. Maybe this part will be a new breakthrough for her. Mads Blangstrup was absolutely wonderful! He is undoubtedly one of the most dramatically gifted dancers of the company, and I just can't imagine anybody else doing the part better - not even Kenneth Greve. Unfortunately, even though M-P Greve and Blangstrup each were good in their parts, they just didn't match. You never really understood why they had fallen in love with each other. The scenography may have had something to do with it. I have never been an admirer of Mikael Melbye (in Sylfiden you had too sit precisely in the middle of the audience to bee able to see what was happening on the stage) but talking with other people during the intermission, I got the impression that his projections were a hit. Personally I think that there were too many of them, and they took away the attention from the story and the beautiful pas de deuxs. All in all, there were too many scenes. It seemed to me that there were people walking in and out of the stage all the time which was quite annoying. At an introduction that I attended a week ago, Melbye made a great fuss about the costumes which were supposed to be transparent in order to show the souls of the dancers. Well, they didn't seem specially transparent to me, and I was sitting in the second row orchestra! Due to the problems mentioned above, the other dancers didn't really get the chance to do an impression on me. But I have tickets for both today and tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to abstracting from the many projections and focusing on the dancing the second and third time. By the way Silja Schandorff told me during the intermission that she probably will not join the production - not even next season. That's a shame; she would have added a whole new level to Anna Karenina.