Jane Simpson

The annual Reumert awards are Denmark's biggest performing arts prizes, and at their presentation ceremony last night, Maria Bernholdt of the RDB was announced as the Dancer of the Year for her performances in Ashton's Isadora Waltzes and as Birthe in the recent production of Bournonville's A Folk Tale. It's a wonderful recognition for someone who's been in the corps de ballet for 15 years, particularly as one of the other nominees was the hugely popular and publicised Alban Lendorf.

David Amzallag has posted some fine photos of her in these two roles - I especially like the ones from Isadora.

The Hubbe/Englund Folk Tale won the Dance Production of the Year award, and first-year corps de ballet dancer Jòn Axel Fransson won one of the ten 'talent prizes' given to younger, emerging artists from all disciplines. He's given very promising performances this year as the Jester in Swan Lake and as Bluebird.

Keith Money, known for his beautiful dance photos and perhaps especially for his books on Margot Fonteyn, has prepared a new book about Christopher Gable - but because of the huge cost of printing and publishing a hard copy version he is offering it as a free download from his website. This is an extraordinarily generous offer and the photographs are stunning - go the website and click on the picture of the book (it is called The Dancer from the Dance) and it's yours - unmissable!

David Amzallag, as usual, has some wonderful photos of the occasion. Lendorf looks very happy and so does everyone else!

One of the least surprising promotions ever - Alban Lendorf has just been named the RDB's latest solodanser.

There's now a more concise listing, with exact dates, here. Usually they announce the casting for the first booking period at the same time, but that doesn't seem to have happened this time.

In the case of Bournonville, it seems more based on his peopling his stage with groups that look like actual live groups from the real world. In the fantasy world, apparently there are no juvenile-phase Sylphides.

Well, there are the two little ones who sit at the dead Sylph's head and feet as she's wafted away to heaven - but of course they don't dance.

As Eva notes in her discussion of the new season on her DVT blog, there's a programme of modern works right at the end - it somehow got missed off the list I was looking at yesterday.

It includes

Chroma (Wayne McGregor)

Shutters Shut (Lightfoot Leon)

DEW (Tina Tarpgaard)

and so far unnamed works by Yuri Possokov and Patrick Delcroix

I have to say I'd really like to see what the Danes make of Chroma.

Also, I think I now finally understand what Bournonville Fantasi is: it's Bournonville Variations (which is just for men) plus a new section for women. I think.

Next year's season has just been announced - the main events are:

The Lesson/La Sylphide 17 September

Bournonville Fantasi*/Donizetti Variations/Etudes 30 September

The Concert/The Cage/Other Dances/West Side Story Suite 29 October

Nutcracker (Balanchine) 3 December

A Folk Tale 19 January

The Lesson/The Concert 29 February

The Lady of the Camellias (Neumeier) 30 March

Apollo/Agon/Symphony in Three Movements 27 April

* Presumably this is Bournonville Variations under a different name

_____ No! It's a new piece, for the women this time_____________

Lots to like...

There's also new work, children's ballet, summer ballet, visiting companies - details on RDB website

... and for a non-Dane's thoughts, my own review is now up on the ballet.co magazine.

(I do usually manage to remember how Hübbe spells his first name but this time I got it wrong, and by a knock-on effect, Nikolai Hansen's as well. Sorry!)

And of course he played the ballet master in Hans Christian Andersen. There's a gorgeous still of him with Zizi Jeanmaire.

Jacob's Pillow have just put online some clips from their archives going back to 1939 - some wonderful things - the only sad thing is that the extracts are all so short and leave me longing for more!

Home page

Will it be this 21st century restaging, I wonder, or another one?

I too love this version but it is so fragile - I remember leaving after the first act of one of ENB's revivals in horror at how badly they'd let it go to pieces after only a couple of seasons.

There are cheap seats too, by the way - £10 if you don't mind sitting in the top ring. And the £120 (and even £150) ones turn out to be just a couple of rows - probably they include a sandwich and a free programme.

Peter Schaufuss brings his own company to the London Coliseum for 9 performances of Frederick Ashton's Romeo and Juliet, with Osipova and Vasiliev in the leading roles and the RDB's Alban Lendorf also appearing - presumably as Mercutio? (or will there be a second cast?)

Er... something of a surprise...

Edited to add: this is described as 'a 21st century restaging' and is now booking. Top price £120.

... and real addicts can also watch the second transmission here. The dance programme is the same but the interview questions are rather different. And Hubbe has a different shirt.

Interesting to see Thomas Lund in the Bournonville Variations - he didn't dance it in Copenhagen last year.

Also, if you don't have time to watch either version, Hubbe announces that next season the RDB will be doing Balanchine's Nutcracker and that the year after there will be a 'big' ballet by a choreographer he avoided naming but who was clearly the one who once danced with the RDB and made Anna Karenina for them.

If you don't know the company, here is Anne's programme listing with the names of the dancers:

Bournonville Variations (adapted by Thomas Lund)

In order of appearance:

Thomas Lund

Alexander Stæger and Alban Lendorf (Stæger is the one in front most of the time)

Nikolaj Hansen

Ulrik Birkkjær

Jorma Elo: Lost on slow - Amy Watson and Jean-Lucien Massot

Bournonville: Jockey Dance - Lund and Lendorf

Bournonville: Pas de sept from A Folk Tale

From left to right as they come on:

Kizzy Matiakis, Susanne Grinder, Watson, Alba Nadal

Stæger, Hansen, Birkkjær

Bournonville: Scenes from La Sylphide - Grinder and Birkkjær

Bournonville: Pas de deux from 1st act of Napoli and the Tarantella from 3rd act - Watson and Stæger, then entire company

(Gudrun Bojesen was originally announced for the programme but didn't make it - Alba Nadal replaces her)

Next season's programme is to be announced on April 13th, I believe.

Eva Kistrup has just posted a long and very detailed review of the production and the first two performances on her blog. It's a must-read if you're interested in the background story, with a lot of historical information which not many people outside Denmark will be aware of.

Marcin Kupinski was just promoted to solodanser at the end of the first night of the new production of A Folktale, in which he danced Junker Ove.

It's the first time I've been there for an on-stage promotion and it's really a nice way to do it. The standing ovation from the audience must be very sweet but I'd guess that the whoops and cheers from the rest of the company after the final curtain must be sweeter still!

You can see Hilary Guswiler as Hilda (and Susanne Grinder as well) on the latest video trailer about A Folktale on the RDB's website.

David Amzallag has some rehearsal photos which also show what is presumably a third cast - Caroline Baldwin and Kristoffer Sakurai. If that's right, it's a huge step up for Baldwin! - as well as excellent news that Sakurai will be back.

By the way I notice from the cast lists Anne has linked to that the trolls' mother, Muri, is played by a man in both casts - when I've seen the last production it's been done by a woman, so is this going back to an earlier tradition?

Eva Kistrup's latest blog article for DanceView Times gives some insight into what Hubbe was saying in these documentaries, and also talks about his latest initiative, a series of programmes on the stage of the Theatre Royal designed to intrigue younger audiences by bringing in artists from other disciplines as well as some of his own dancers.

Another of Hubbe's ideas, the Dans2Go 'taster' programme which combines Serenade, Jorma Elo's Jord and a classical pas de deux has sold out for the rest of its run (at low prices throughout the house). The test, of course, is whether the interest generated will translate into better sales for the 'normal' repertory programmes - let's hope so, as the company, like so many others, is under huge financial pressure.

Part 2 was shown this evening and is online now.

You can see the whole of the first part online at the Danish television website - it's mostly in Danish but very easy to follow. The last time they made a programme including the very first auditions of the youngest children, one of them turned out to be Silja Schandorff - I wonder if they'll be that lucky again?

Though I haven't seen a formal announcement, the RDB website today lists five former corps de ballet dancers as soloists:

Lena-Maria Gruber

Alexandra lo Sardo

J'aime Crandall

Gregory Dean

Alexander Staeger

No surprise for the two men, who've both already danced big leading roles; the three women haven't had quite that much exposure but all of them have showed up very well in soloist roles. Crandall also danced Aurora in the recent Sleeping Beauty and lo Sardo was an unexpected but very successful choice for the second movement in Symphony in C last season; Gruber stands out for her confidence and stylishness. It's good news for all of them.

There's a neat summary of details of the tour just appeared on the RDB website.

The Lesson - OMG I am amazed that this very mediocre ballet is still in their rep. Thoroughly unpleasant.

Far from droppping it, the Danes are very proud of it - it is one of only three ballets enshrined in their official 'cultural canon'! When I saw them do it 3 or 4 years ago I found it rather less exaggerated than for instance the Royal Ballet version, and they had some very convincing dancers - though of course that makes it even more horrifying. (Actually I've been told that some Danes think it's a comedy.)