Jane Simpson

Yes, it's Daphnis and Chloe, but unfortunately I think it's Michael Somes and Violetta Elvin rather than Grant and Fonteyn. (It's miscaptioned on the Getty site)

A friend has bravely ordered both books so we shall see...

I just found these two books about the RDB on Google - so far as I understand you order them and they make a copy specially for you - which is presumably why they are so very expensive.

Has anyone tried this sort of thing and can give some idea of what quality to expect?

You can look at some of the pages online and there are some wonderful photographs in the first one. Click on PREVIEW BOOK.

The Royal Danish Ballet in Photographs

Interviews with 10 RDB dancers

I didn't recognise that tunic either - but having searched quite hard, I guess it's because there are so few photos of the last scene of the original production. I did find a couple, though, and it's interesting that in one of them, and in an accompanying sketch of the costume, the Prince wears a very large white collar over the tunic - he looks much better without it, if you ask me!

(If you have Covent Garden Book #3 you'll find the pictures in there.)

jane, i thought she had also danced ondine? but i don't recall that she was a regular member of the company.

MH, I can't find any reference to her doing Ondine, or - so far - anyone who can remember her doing it. Of course that doesn't mean it didn't happen, so I'll keep asking, but I'd be surprised if such a potentially memorable piece of casting had made so little impact!

Simon, I entirely share your admiration for Sevillano but I was surprised about what you say about her connection with the Royal Ballet: she danced a few performances of Chloe as a late substitute for the injured Sarah Wildor but so far as I remember she never danced anything else and never joined the company - much to my regret at the time. But perhaps there was more going on behind the scenes than the general audience knew?

The RDB website has recently been updated to show the company list for 2011/12.

Checking against last year's list, it looks as if only one dancer - Maria Stokholm (corps de ballet) - has left the company.

Two new aspirants have been taken on to join the existing 11 - Louise Brorsen and Sebastian Haynes, who had the leading roles in the RDB School's Nijinsky show last season.

And one new dancer has joined the corps de ballet: Alexander Bozinoff, a Canadian who trained at the NBoC school and in Stuttgart and last season was an apprentice with the Stuttgart Ballet. There's an enthusiastic mention of him, dancing James in a school performance, here.

The same company now shows, under 'coming soon', a Cranko double bill on DVD:

The Lady and the Fool with Svetlana Beriosova

and

Pineapple Poll with Merle Park, David Blair and Stanley Holden

I really hope these sell well enough to encourage them to keep doing it...

Did we really expect much more?

Actually I expected rather less!

I just got back from tonight's performance - it's a very odd mixture - worth it for Lendorf in the first part and Osipova in the second - and Ashton when they give him his due.

Do you mean 'the excellent Alban Lendorf' as Mercutio, Leonid?

Tobi Tobias has added a long review of the NY season to her blog. I'm very glad to see her praise for Gudrun Bojesen, who didn't get many opportunities on the tour:

"Bojesen, the RDB's finest example of classical dancing in the Bournonville style, is, quite simply, the most exquisite Sylphide I've ever seen."

Some nice pictures from company class and the dress rehearsal in NY in the Danish newspaper Berlingske.

The press release also mentioned Wheeldon will be part of RB's articstic team, any further detail on that? Will Wheeldon join RB as resident choreograher in additon to Wayne McGregor?

There's no more information so far - it will be interesting to see if McGregor retains his current title and responsiblities, and if so how Wheeldon fits in. But I'd guess we won't hear about the details just yet.

The Royal Ballet has announced that Kevin O'Hare, currently the company's Administrative Director, will succeed Monica Mason as Director of the Royal Ballet.

Press release

It's important in many Bournonville ballets. So I'm bracing myself for changes in Napoli, i.e., will Teresina still clasp her Santa Lucia medallion to fend-off Golfo the Monster in the Blue Grotto scene...as a famous church hymn plays in the background? (I wouldn't be surprised if Hubbe has 'killed' the hymn altogether, substituting a secular tune.)

Natalia, the whole of the second act is new, including the music - and no, Teresina doesn't have a sacred medallion. If you want to prepare yourself for the changes, there's a lot about the production on this thread - but maybe you prefer to come new to it!

Full casting for the Berkeley dates is now online.

Some interesting appearances in addition to what's already been published: Sorella Englund dances Madge with the Bojesen/Birkkjaer cast of La Sylphide on June 1st, Maria Bernholdt dances the Pianist in both performances of The Lesson, Thomas Lund dances in Bournonville Variations for the first time on June 4th, and also on June 4th there's a new cast of men in Lost on Slow, including Alban Lendorf.

Well, she's on the company list for the tour, as a guest character artist, so I should think there's every chance - I can't see anything else she might be doing.

As for the NY castings, if this was my only chance of seeing them I'd go for the older dancers - Bojesen, or Blangstrup/Cavallo - on the grounds that it may be now or never.

A little more information, from the Danish version of the press release: Cavallo's James will be Mads Blangstrup (a much-anticipated return to leading roles for him) and the pupil in Kobborg's Lesson will be Alexandra Lo Sardo.

I've been getting an error message when I try to open the press release. Is Gundrun B. coming? If so, what are performance dates? Thanks.

Sorry, I just forgot to put the proper address in - now corrected.

Gudrun Bojesen is certinaly scheduled to be on the tour: she's listed as doing Kobbog's Les Lutins and the Napoli pas de six in Orange County, and according to an interview with her in the current Dance View, she's doing the Pianist in The Lesson at some performances - but none of the Sylphide casts have yet been announced so far as I know (exscept for Cavallo).

The company has just published a press release about the tour which amongst other things answers the question above about Kobborg's participation:

"Johan Kobborg - who's a principal with Royal Ballet in London - will guest star in in New York June 14th in the part as the teacher in The Lesson by Flemming Flindt."

Also Caroline Cavallo - who officially retired from the company at the end of last year - returns as a guest to dance La Sylphide in San Francisco May 31st and in New York June 18th.

There's now a publicity video on YT which has some fleeting film of (I think) the original Danish cast, and Ashton taking a curtain call, as well as some brief glimpses of Osipova and Vasiliev.

Indeed! I was very confused for awhile when I first read the pdf as it lists Johan Kobborg as a guest principal. I spent awhile trying to figure out where he was dancing, but I guess they are just putting him in the line-up for prestige since his choreography is being shown?

I think the list of dancers is for the whole tour so they won't all necessarily appear in every location.

There's now a lot of information, including casting, on the Orange County site

The RDB is coming to the end of its Copenhagen season - five more performances of this programme and they're off on their American tour. Only the centre section of this bill - two short works by Johan Kobborg - is going on the tour: it's very light-hearted and some of it is real virtuoso stuff.

Some reviews of performances from the start of the run:

Eva Kistrup on the opening night

My own piece on the second and third nights

Eva Kistrup on the third night

Eva has also recently added interviews with principal dancer Amy Watson and up-and-coming corps de ballet dancer Hilary Guswiler to her portfolio of articles about the company.