Syrene Hvid

This production has an official tumblr account called svanesoen. They've just uploaded a couple of pictures of various sets for the ballet! For some reason, I can't seem to link to it?

I went on premiere night. I can't talk about this production in terms of technicality, tradition or ballet history - and it seems so far I'm in minority, but the La Sylphide I saw last Saturday must definitely count as my ultimate Sylphide and as one of the most moving ballet performances I've seen. I'm already looking forward to revisiting the grey walls of act 1 and the white room of act 2 again come February next year. Everything just worked for me. I think I understood Hübbe's vision, with said vision being executed in a way that I really felt, too. Suddenly James, as a character, made sense to me. Birkkjær completely sold me on him (not to mention, his jumps were fantastic) and this is after I wasn't smitten with him as Armand in Lady of the Camellias. Kizzy Matiakis was superb as Effy. I've read really harsh reviews of her portrayal, but she fit the milieu and her Effy was both sympathetic and grounded. I'm not sure she'd necessarily have fit into any other version of the ballet, but she fit like a hand in a glove into this one and she and Birkkjær had good interaction. Well, as good of an interaction as you can get when your fiance is a repressed gay man. Hübbe as Madge... It seemed like a very personal part for him to take on. Personally, I'd love to see Haynes' or Bernholdt's interpretations, but Hübbe was intense and especially in the second act, he left me breathless. Maybe the white room as a background just suited him better, instead of the grey in grey (which I otherwise had no problem with at all). Finally, Grinder as the Sylph... Let it be said, I'm biased. I chose to attend premiere night mainly to see her reprise her role as the Sylph. I saw her dance it twice back in 2011 and already back then, Grinder was the epitome of a conceptual Sylph which I liked, but a lot of critics didn't. This time, the Sylph was a concept and in turn, Grinder looked and danced like air incarnate. She has really grown since I saw her in 2011. It was a joy to watch. The whole thing just came together beautifully. Like I said, I'm probably in the minority, but I loved this take on La Sylphide and although there are things that could be improved upon, I hope it isn't short-lived. It's great now, it has so much potential. With a little work and allowed the time to mature, it could be perfect.

I don't know how many of you watch the Danish version of "Dancing With the Stars" on which Hübbe is a judge, but last Friday (Oct 24) they did a special episode to support the fight against cancer and all four judges had to present a choreography to raise money for the cause. Hübbe had chosen "The Dying Swan" (danced by Grinder), but added a second person into the choreography, a male dancer in a black tutu (Haynes). The clip is available online, on TV2's website and can be found here (a short commercial will play first) to those who are curious: http://vmd.tv2.dk/2014-10-24-se-nikolaj-hubbes-dans-i-dommerdysten-0 Personally, I was delighted to see Grinder dance this part, since I've been dreaming of seeing her dance it ever since I missed her performance of it in "M/K Ballerina" some years back. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of her and seeing her in full swan mode actually moved me more than words can describe. I saw Haynes as Des Grieux in "Lady of the Camellias" earlier this season and was smitten by him right away and I truly think the two mirror each other very well. All in all, I was positively surprised by the changes to the choreography and happy to see it presented to Denmark at large as an example of what ballet can be. Any thoughts?

I've already decided I won't be watching this movie. I'm not into thrillers generally and from what I have gathered so far about Black Swan, it would just make me pointlessly annoyed about its use of ballet and Swan Lake motifs. I do like Natalie Portman, but this film bugs me on every essential level, especially if people who have watched it begin showing an interest in ballet and then get disappointed by the original work's lack of psychotic lesbianism etc. However, I also just wanted to point out that the Danish Royal Ballet has arranged a competition where participants can win two tickets for the preview of the movie in Denmark here at the end of January. At this preview, several dancers, former dancers and directors from the company will attend. This I found pretty interesting and hope they gather for a talk about it afterwards - or at least mention it on the official homepage. I would be really interested in hearing what the company as a whole made of the movie or what individual dancers thought of it. Especially since they staged Swan Lake autumn last year.

Hello there. I was so delighted to find this forum! My ballet interest is relatively new (about a year old), but having someone to spar and discuss with is always a very rewarding experience to add on top of the ballet itself. I'm currently living in Aarhus, Denmark, where I study theology on a half-time basis (due to illness), though I'm originally from a town called Holstebro. As such I've grown up with the Peter Schaufuss ballet and ballet school (although I didn't attend myself, I had several friends who did) and seen multiple of his company's performances while growing up. Not anything that I really took to heart until spring last year. Having suffered from a severe depression since summer 2009, I found my way into the beauty of ballet through my interaction with the Takarazuka Revue fandom. For those who are not acquainted with the Takarazuka Revue, it is a Japanese all-female revue that stage about ten-twelve different productions (musicals and dance shows) each year. All the actresses who are accepted into Takarazuka Music School have some degree of ballet training, some being more skilled than others and since the actress whom I love most, Rira Maikaze, is a famously skilled ballet dancer, I soon found myself attracted to the art form in its more pure embodiment. Because of this fascination, I was given tickets to last year's M/K Ballerina for me and my girlfriend and after a wonderful weekend in Copenhagen, I was completely smitten. Since then, I have acquired several ballet DVDs and educated myself in some of the most famous ballets. I had planned to go see Swan Lake when it was put on stage this autumn (especially since I'm a great fan of Susanne Grinder), but my admittance to hospital unfortunately got prolonged and I wasn't able to go. Instead I gave myself the New Year present of planning a small trip to Zealand (staying with some family) here in January to watch A Midsummer Night's Dream and the guest performance of Serenade/The Proposition. Seeing that Serenade was one of the choreographies included in M/K Ballerina and the one I was especially taken with, I look very much forward to watching it again - performed by heirs of the American ballet tradition it was born from. Conclusively, I will say that ballet has become a sort of medication for me. Something beautiful and moving to look at when my mood is horrible or my depression is making itself known in other ways. Watching a performance always makes me feel less sad, if not exactly happy. The act of focusing on the motions of skilled dancers takes my mind off the destructive thoughts and helps me return to real life. It is proving just as theraupeutic as light therapy and my pre-scribed drugs! To sum up some of my likes, I will say that I have taken a special shine to newly announced solo dancer, Susanne Grinder. Although I have yet to see her perform (unfortunately she didn't dance the night I watched M/K Ballerina), ballet master Hübbe's description of her style and personality made me fall for her immediately, and I look forward to see her as Hippolyta/Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (I bought tickets for the opening night, because I was told that it was when she would most likely be performing) and follow her career as it progresses and develops. I am a great admirer of Polina Semionova and Shoko Nakamura of Berlin Staatsballett and former prima ballerina, Agnés Letestu - with the Paris Ballet's performance of La Dame Aux Camélias being one of my favourite ballets. When it comes to male dancers, I love both Nikolaj Hübbe and Thomas Lund of the Royal Danish Ballet, but sport lots of warm feelings for José Martinez whose expressive face always gives me goose bumps. Although a Dane, I'm not an uncritical lover of the Bournonville tradition. For Christmas, I was given DVDs of 80s performances of both Napoli and La Sylphide and they made me feel very conflicted about this very Danish style of story telling. I fell immediately in love with La Sylphide and hope to soon be able to watch it on stage, if Hübbe has any intentions of setting up a performance later this year. Napoli didn't entirely win me over, although I was very impressed by the beautiful second act. I plan to go see March's performance of A Folk Tale - to see if perhaps I simply need to stick to the Bournonville stories of elves and fairies. ;) I absolutely love Balanchine's more abstract choreography and John Neumeier's beautiful, dramatic ballets. Although I have not had much introduction to the Russian schools as of yet, that which I have seen hasn't been my thing at all, so I look forward to learning more about it and see if it's simply where my enthusiastic love stops. I look very much forward to participate in the forum, so please treat me kindly and let me learn from everybody here. - S.

I look forward to seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream, definitely. I'll see if I can't make a couple of notes on my trips to the Old Stage.

Back when the announcement was still brand new, I read Hübbe's description of Susanne as a dancer in Politiken. I have yet to see her perform, but when he used words such as delicately feminine and "almost transparent" in her elegance, I just knew that I would have to follow her as closely as I could. Fortunately I will get to watch her in A Midsummer Night's Dream when it re-opens in January. And if I can at all afford it, I will also be watching her in A Folk's Tale in March - it would be a perfect birthday gift to give myself. ;)