Anne

Do you know, if Tara Schaufuss is a member of the famous family too?

It is certainly going to be interesting to follow Lendorfs developement in the new season! Hopefully he can cope with the many new challenges and the big exposure, but somehow I believe he can. And I agree with you: one weeks notice for the announcement of the cast is simply outrageous, not only seen with the eyes of the audience, but I also think it is a kind of disrespect for the dancers. You know the cast for an operaperformance months before, why is that not possible for the ballet?

In many respects you are right about the ticket prices in Covent Garden. I checked out on the ticket prices in Covent Garden, and I can see, that they are not that more expensive than in Copenhagen or Paris for that sake, and it’s true that you can get an affordable ticket in the amphitheatre with a perfect view to the stage. The problem is, that I always feel terribly far away from the stage, and if you take a seat in one of the rear rows of the balconies, the sound of the orchestra gets a bit dull and remote. The ticket prices in Copenhagen have risen quite a lot during the last years, especially in the new operahouse, and this has somehow narrowed the gap between prices in Copenhagen and in other larger cities.

Well, it apparently takes some time to find out who is who on the dvd! I have been in contact several times with a friendly and very helpfull lady in the archive of the Royal Danish Theatre, and we have come so far until now that we can say that the tarantel in the film is definately NOT taken from the Napoli of the Bournonville Festival 1979. The kind lady is still working on the "case", and I'll come back when I know more!

I liked Bjarne Hecht very much too. He reminds me a bit of Ib Andersen, they have the same kind of plasticity, lightness and beauty in their way of moving. Unfortunately, like Ib Andersen he left the company as well.

Yes, it is a true gem, isn't it! I'm glad you liked it. But they ought to have credited the dancers at the end of the dvd or at least in the leaflet. I have researched a bit, and I think what we see is taken from the performance of Napoli in the first Bournonvillle Festival in 1979, on the evening of November 26. It was shown on Danish television a few days later, on December 5. I watched the Napoli tarantella section once more, and I'm quite sure about most of the dancers - the remaining two dancers I will come back with later, when I have contacted the archive of the Royal Danish Theatre tomorrow: In order of appearance: Man with blue scarf: Frank Andersen Woman with orange skirt: ? Man with yellow scarf and a hat (Gennaro): Niels Kehlet Woman with winered bodice (Teresina): Eva Kloborg Man with blue scarf: Arne Bech Woman with yellow bodice: Mette-Ida Kirk Man with red scarf: Arne Willumsen Woman with light blue bodice: ? Man with red scarf: Ib Andersen Woman with dark blue bodice: Inge Jensen Man with blue scarf: Arne Bech Woman with pink bodice: Linda Hindberg I love - among many other things in this film - the way Mette-Ida Kirk does her tarantella-steps in a very casual way while she mounts the red scarf around her waist, and then suddenly starts dancing properly. It is such a playful way with the steps, which you can only allow yourself to do, if you are completely at home with the style. In the beginnig of the film you can see a very young Nilas Martin among the boys in the first row in The Conservatory (the whiteblond one).

In RDB there are apprentices too, and you are right, SandyMcKean, that they participate as a part of the corps, and should thus be counted too. There are 11 at the moment in Copenhagen, an exceptional high number. Normally they are about 6. Therefore the total number of dancers are in reality 97. And yes, I know that the old european ballet companies are rather priviledged by having such large support from the governments, which makes it possible to have these large corps, though some of them are facing serious cut downs now too, many of them struggling to keep up the level of their acticities. The biggest priviledge, though, is that we have a real orchestra in the pit. I was shocked when I came to Miami VCity Ballet last year and saw this high-quality company dance to taped music. I hope they will some day succed in getting back the orchestra or finding some of the existing orchestras to cooperate with. But I know it is not easy. It is nice to hear that the PNB is such a good place to stay. I saw the company once in 2002 when they danced at Sadler's Wells in London, and I was very pleased with what I saw. What I liked most was the diversity and individuality of the dancers.

Seven dancers from the RB under the artistic leadership of Johan Kobborg toured in Denmark this week, making three open air performances in northern Jutland. I saw their last performance, which took place Wednesday night in the grounds of the manor Nørre Vosborg, a very atmospheric setting in the far west. The dancers were: Johan Kobborg Stephen McRae Sergei Polunin Thomas Whitehead Roberta Marquez Leanne Benjamin Alina Cojocaru To me, who haven't seen that many performances with the Royal Ballet except on dvd, it was a great chance to see some of their best dancers at close quarters. They had put a varied and very digestible programme toghether, appropriate for an open air occasion, my only lamentation being that it was to short: Pas de deux from Rhapsody by Ashton (Marquez & McRae) Pas de deux from Sensorium by Marriott (Benjamin & Whitehead) Gopak by Zakharov (Polunin) Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake (Cojocaru & Kobborg) Something Different, a tap number created by Stephen McRae to Benny Goodman’s Sing Sing (McRae) Pas de deux from Brandstrup's Rushes (Benjamin & Whitehead) White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake (Marquez & Kobborg) Male solo from Diana and Acteon by Petipa (Polunin) Les Lutins by Kobborg (Polunin, Cojocaru, McRae and the vioinist Charles Siem) Roberta Marquez and Stephen McRae made a beautiful and lyrical opening with the pas de deux from Ashton’s Rhapsody, with attention paid to all the typical Ashton details, a hand fluttering there, a head tilted there, and all done with a beautiful flow. It was delightful! I especially love the moment where the ballerina turns her torso from left to right the instant she is grasped by her partner. She does it twice and it just took me with surprise each time, it happens in a flicker of a second and with such ease and grace, as if it was nothing, which I’m sure it is! The pas de deux from Marriott’s Sensorium danced by the expressive Leanne Benjamin and the straightforward no-fuss-guy Thomas Whitehead was a more sinister and introverted piece with lots of difficult lifts and ”body climbing”, which made good use of Whitehead’s athletic powers. Later the same two dancers did the Brandstrup pas de deux from Rushes, and I think that was the only fault of the programme: these two pas de deux are simply to much alike, both in expression and in choreography. It felt like a repetition, when Whitehead once again started whirling Benjamin round in circles. RB’s latest principal, the young Sergei Polunin, was in for two showy numbers, the Gopak and the solo of Acteon. More circus than dance, but of course it’s great fun. Polunin also took part in the finale, Kobborg’s Les lutins, a really charming bagatelle, which Kobborg made for RB’s Cuban tour last year and which make good use of the charm and artistry of the three dancers and the vioinist (who takes an active part on the stage). The two male dancers (Polunin and McRae) strive to make the biggest impression on the girl (Cojocaru) by doing ”everything-you-do-I-can-do-better/higher/faster etc". In the end the girl choses the violinist! Both Polunin and McRae have a freshness to their charm which makes them simply irrestistible, and their style and build are so unlike that they make a fine contrast on stage. Especially McRae strikes me as an extremely versatile dancer, and to me he was the big discovery that night. He masters both the lyrical expression and fineness of Ashton's choreography and the comic relief and show-off in Kobborg’s Les Lutins, and then he can do tap as well! Maybe the tap training back in his Australian childhood has added to the extreme swiftness with which he can move. Kobborg himself did two pas de deux from Swan Lake, the white one with Marquez, the black one with Cojocaru. Marquez is lovely to look at and with a genuine sorrowfulness to her bearing, but somehow I can’t imagine a whole Swan Lakewith her, to little temperament beneath the surface I fear. And for her dancing I miss more character, more edge. Her lightness and soft lines might suit Ashton perfectly, but Odette/Odile requires something stronger than that. As for Cojocaru’s Black Swan I was a bit confused: It was the sweetest Odile I have ever seen, maybe even sugary, and that was maybe her way of portraying the falseness of the character. Her dancing though was as always impeccable, with balances that took one’s breath away, and never in a showy manner. And I’m over and over again impressed by the way she can stretch her lines, tiny as she is. In that aspect she has really matured over the years. I was, though, deeply disappointed that Kobborg did nothing but support the ladies the whole evening! All the solo variations were cut out, probably because the stage was to small for that. He is a brilliant partner and I find much pleasure in watching good partnering, but I would have loved to see him DANCE too, as he is one of my absolute favourites among dancers. Well, to sum up, I will have to go to London more often in the future to see more of all these wonderful dancers! (Though the ticket prizes of Covent Garden are sheer horror )

In the Royal Danish Ballet there is a total of 86 dancers. The percentages for the different groups of dancers look like this: Principals = 12% Soloists = 17% Character dancers = 9% Corps = 62% The amount of principals hasn't been so low for years, a situation probably owing to the fact that many senior dancers have either retired recently (Caroline Cavallo, Rose Gad and Silja Schandorf) or left the company (Nehemiah Kish), and they have not yet been replaced. Probably there will soon be some promotions from the ranks of the soloists, which bursts with talent at the moment, and then the balance between the sizes of the 2 solo-groups will be reestablished.

It is great to see, that the school is able to produce so many new dancers, and four of them being male! Maybe the large number of apprentices is a new strategie: to let the talented ones have a go at it and see if they can fly. Or maybe it is a direct result of Hübbe's intensions about upgrading the effort of the school, and it is therefore actually beginnnig to produce more talent. In an interview by Jane Simpson in Ballet.co.uk Magazine in December (there is a link to it somewhere else on this board) he says explicitely, when asked if he cares, that "of the 93 dancers currently listed, just over half are Danish": "I do care. I do care, because I love the school - I think our education is everything - but I don't think the school produces enough. It's a big problem, and I have to do something about it - it's my next big quest. I love dancers, OK? - I LOVE this dancer, that dancer, I don't care what their nationality or their background is, or for that matter their schooling - I love a French dancer as much as a Russian - if it's a good dancer it's a good dancer - but I for pride, I guess, some strange national pride, I am concerned. And also - I guess this has to do with the tradition - I want the school to produce dancers I like, dancers I can agree with. And I pay money to the school so it can exist - five and a half million people pay tax to the upkeep of this school - and for that plain pragmatic reason, I want something for my money!"

I just saw, that the same programme is coming up in Skagen (the very top of denmark, geographically) at the 19th and 20th of July. The event isn't described any more than in the link above, but at least it is in English, and they show som beautyful photographs of the event last summer: Johan Kobborg on Skagen

Wednesday evening July 21 Johan Kobborg and Alinea Cojocaru will perform a mixed programme together with other dancers from the Royal Ballet and a couple of Danish operasingers in the grounds of the manor house Nørre Vosborg in western Denmark. They did so last year, and it was a great succes according to the press. You can read more about the event here (in Danish, I'm sorry to tell, as their English version is still under construction): Johan Kobborg and RB The homepage of Nørre Vosborg

It was a really interesting review - thank you for that, Jane! I especially liked this passage: "The RDB may not have the glamour and the megastars of some of the big companies but on their night they have a directness and a spirit that delivers the essence of a ballet in a way that would make any choreographer very happy." It just hits the bull's eye, and I thought instantly, yes! that's why I love this company too with all it's imperfections! I was glad to hear that Sakurai is back and looks like he's in good shape. None of the Danish reviewers have mentioned him at all, which is quite odd, as he has been away from the stage in close to 2 years.

Thank you for the information about Les Bras de Mer having been performed before by the RDB - I couldn't find it in the archives on their homepage. About the clues for the casting of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty I wasn't deeply convinced by any of the couples, especially not by any of the female dancers. I couldn't see any obvious Odette/Odile or Aurora among them. Amy Watson hat a try on the Black Swan pas de deux on television lately, but she didnt' have the right edge to neither her dancing and nor her acting. Her temperament looks much to sweet for that! I hope Gudrun Bojesen gets a chance, at least as Aurora.

These days the RDB tours in the Danish province with an open air programme. They have done so the last 4 years, sponsored solely by one of the big Danish banks. I saw their performance in Århus, the second largest city of Denmark, on June 9. Many people turned up in spite of the cold weather (the admission is free!) and gathered on the lawns of the city-park between the townhall and the music hall, a beautiful and atmospheric setting for an open air performance. The programme was a mixture old and new, cleverly put together to entertain a broad audience: Raymonda – divertissement by Petipa/Glazunov Les Bras de Mer by Petr Zuska/Yann Tiersen Blue bird pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty by Helgi Tomasson-Marius Petipa/Tjajkovskij Russian Dance & Black Swan pas de deux from Swanlake by Peter Martins-Petipa-Ivanov/Tjajkovskij An Elegy for Us by Iain Rowe/James Macmillan Napoli – Tarantel by August Bournonville/Helsted- Paulli- Lumbye Dancers: Kizzy Matiakis, Susanne Grinder, Ulrik Birkkjær, Marcin Kupinski, Lena-Maria Gruber, Gregory Dean, Alba Nadal, Femke Mølbach Slot, Sebastian Kloborg, Hilary Gusweiler, Nicolai Hansen, Jean-Lucien Massot, Caroline Cavallo, Nehemiah Kish, Amy Watson, Alexandra Lo Sardo og Alban Lendorf. The divertissement from Raymonda for 5 couples was a great opening with lots of flashy choreography and beautiful wine red costumes. Ulrik Birkkjær and Kizzy Matiakis danced the leading couple with much bravoura and precision, and though none of them are my favourite cup of tea I must admit that they made a very elegant couple. Also there was an adagio solo danced with much delicacy by Hilary Guswiler, though somehow it was a bit ”thin”, and I couldn’t help thinking what it would have looked like with a more experienced ballerina like Gudrun Bojesen, whose adagios have the special larger-than-life quality. The four couples around the leading couple did a good job, but some of the bravoura things will probably benefit from more rehearsals during the tour. The highlight of the evening was definitely Les Bras de Mer by th czech choerographer Petr Zuska, which is new on the repertoire of the RDB and prepared especially – I think – for this tour. The tableau of the opening is a mature couple staring into the horizon right above the heads of the audience, like they are watching the sunset over the sea, he standing on a wooden table, she sitting on a chair on top of that same table, right beside him. You just heard the sound of the sea for a long time – it was a magic moment! Suddenly they start to move on and around these 2 pieces of furniture, growing wilder and wilder, until they almost throw themselves and the furniture around on the stage. In the end they calm down and walk out of the stage together. It was great to watch two mature artist, Caroline Cavallo and Jean-Lucien Massot, interpreting this piece about ”how-well-do-you-know-the-person-you-live-with?” A bit sad to know, that this might be one of principal Caroline Cavallos last performances before she retires. The 3 Petipa pas de deux’s was danced by Gregory Dean/Lena Maria Gruber (Blue birds), Marcin Kupinsky/Femke Mølbach-Slot (I’m not quite sure about her andthe programme doesn’t tell!!) (Russian dance) and Ulrik Birkkjær/Susanne Grinder (Black Swan pas de deux). The young Susanne Grinder as the Black Swan was better than I would have expected, but she still lacks the ballerina aura and her performance gets a bit watery. An Elegy for Us telling the story of a young couple splitting up in a very not-nice way was a very intense little thing with Alban Lendorf and Hilary Guswiler, more pantomime than dance most of the time. The Tarantel from Napoli was the finale, as usual, and it was done with all the enthusiasm and charm, which has been so badly missed in the recent performances. It has to be party, and so it was last night!

You can see Lendorf dance several times (if you are quick!) in this short video on the homepage of the Royal Danish Theatre:M/K danseur noble The end sequence with the blue and red dresses is Lendorf and (I think) Alba Nadal.

There is a short video on the homepage of the RDB with glimpses from the programme M/K Danseur noble: M/K Danseur noble

No, that was Marcin Kupinski, one of the recently promoted soloists.

I'm afraid it is not Lendorf that we see in the glimpses of Symphony in C. I think it is Gregory Dean, another very talented young dancer in the company. But it is Lendorf who is being interviewed.

David Amzallag has produced a slide show with photos of Alban Lendorf in the latest mixed bill production "M/K Danseur noble" at the RDB: Link to the slide show. See also: Blueballet's homepage

On the homepage of the RDB Nikolaj Hübbe has motivated the promotion of Alban Lendorf as follows (I have tried to translate it below): ”Alban Lendorf er et af de største talenter dansk ballet har fostret de sidste 30 år. Hans enorme talent har på rekordtid placeret ham i den solistiske ende af Den Kongelige Ballet, og jeg spår ham en stor stor karriere. Han har en naturlig forståelse af klassisk ballet og en usandsynlig stærk teknik og fysik. Hans sceniske udtryk er formidabelt, og han har, trods sin unge alder, en instinktiv evne til at få publikum til at kigge på ham og lave drama og skabe teater på scenen.” "Alban Lendorf is one of the greatest talents Danish ballet has produced during the last 30 years. His enormous talent has in record time placed him among the soloists of the Royal Danish Ballet, and I predict a great, great career for him. He has a natural understanding of classical ballet and an incredibly strong technique and physique. His stage presence is outstanding, and he has, despite his young age, an instinctive ability to make the audience look at him, and create dramatic moments and "make theatre" on the stage." Link with more informations (in Danish)

Congratulations to Alban Lendorf! He has been the most obvious choice for a promotion for a long time. It is true, that he can fly, and like many clever dancers before him he makes you forget, that he hasn't got the ideal stature for a balletdancer from nature's hand, by compensating in many ways. He is one the most silent dancers I have ever seen, you never hear a bump when he lands after one of his soaring jumps, and he uses his strength to make the movements look light and smooth. In that way he always reminds me of a cat. It is going to be interesting to see how he will develope furtheron.

About a year ago some very interesting ballet documentaries by the Danish film maker Jørgen Leth were released on dvd by The Danish Film Institute. They are with English surtitles and as far I can see they are region free: Jørgen Leth Collection #5 - Portrætfilmene / Portrait Films On the dvd-set there are (among other things which have nothing to do with ballet) two portrait films about Peter Martins and one long documentary about dancing Bournonville. The latter which dates from 1979 is extremely interesting with lots of footage from rehearsals and performances with the RDB, one of them showing a very young Ib Andersen rehearsing the great pas de deux from "The Kermesse at Bruges" with an equally young Mette-Ida Kirk under the directions of the legendary Hans Brenaa. It's absolute gold and one can learn a lot about what Bournonville style really is by watching this film. The ballets "Napoli" and "The Conservatoire" are also represented. The dvd is available on the homepage of the Danish Film Institute: Link to the netshop (please scroll down to volume 5) Please be careful: All Leth's movies are on offer in a box set on the Institute's hompage at the moment, but it is only volume 5 which is of ballet interest. It should be possible to buy each volume separately.

The interview is a very traditional one and consists mainly of a recapitulation of his career, with looks back on Hübbe's time as a child on the ballet school at RDB, which he entered at the age of 9. He was blessed with a good voice, too, and sang in the famous Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir, before he started ballet training professionally. He talks about the nervousness every child feels during summer holidays, when they are waiting for the letter telling them whether they can continue ballet school or will have to stop. He himself never felt this anxiety, he was always convinced he would be allowed to continue. He has always had this enourmous selfconfidence, close to a feeling of destiny. If the letter had been a negative one, his world would have been completely shattered. Plan B, he suppose, would have been to become an actor. Also as a young man, in his years as apprentice, he had this selfassurance and admits that he dreamt about worldfame and being the new Nureyev or Erik Bruhn. Still very young he went to New York to attend a course, and he was offered a 6 months scholarship with SAB with prospects of being a member of the NYCB afterwards. He accepted, but was tricked home by his parents who told him, the RDB would sue him, if he stayed away. Back in Copenhagen he aggreed reluctantly to stay on a while. In a newspaper interview in Politiken from these early years, he is announced as the new hope of the RDB, and in this interview he says he says himself that "I know it sounds snooty but the RDB could as well close down the shop if I left right now, so I'll stay on a little while". With a laugh he tells today, that the day after no one spoke to him in the theatre. The main reason for him to stay in Copenhagen was Henning Kronstam, the ballet master then. Very interesting is his recount of Henning Kronstams influence. To him Kronstam was a kind of artistic father. In Hübbe's own words, he has never met a more authoritative person. He had only to enter a room, and you straightened automatically the back and tried even harder- He was a kind of artistic conscience, a reminder of why you were there and what it was all about. There is a very short bit of an interview with Kronstam transmitted directly to the Danish Radio from RDB's American tour in 1956, where Kronstam had just made his debut as James in Bournonville's La Sylphide. He also talks a lot about the importance of the morning class, which meant everything to him as a dancer, both mentally and physically. He wouldn’t be able to face a performance in the evening without having done all the routines of the morning class. An other subject is his intimate relationship with the stage as such: how he was always drawn towards the stage because it represented at the same time an otherworldliness, which thrilled him from the very beginning, and a hightened feeling of being alive - or even coming to life. "To exist on a stage from moment to moment, catch the moment and send it out to the audience in the darkness, being in the moment. I think that was really where my talent was",says Nikolaj Hübbe. Hübbe admits that he suffered from a growing stage fright at the end of his career. It disappeared as soon as he entered the stage, but the day and night before a performance was terrible. About his time as a ballet master (from 2008) he says with his usual frankness, that he often regrets to have taken on the post, but never long enough to resign in reality. His impatience is according to himself his biggest problem, but at the same time he also has an enourmous self discipline and personal will, which makes him continue even when he thinks it is against all odds. He has concentrated more on the classic works in these two first years to make the artistic level of the company high enough to start working with new choreographers. he wants to do that more in the years to come.

I'm working on it and will return tomorrow with a short summary. Most of it is quite common knowledge, but there are some interesting things, too.