Gudrun Bojesen

[Alexandra]

Effy wrote on the Royal Danish Ballet forum of the company's Balanchine/Martins evening, and that Gudrun Bojesen had danced Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. I was curious -- and hope Effy will see this and respond -- of whether she is as light in that as she is in the Bournonville repertory; I've never seen her in a non-Bournonvile ballet. I saw her on this most recent tour in La Sylphide and a solo from Napolil, and during the 2000 Bournonville Week in Kermesse and Folk Tale.

I've never seen a dancer with Bojesen's lightness -- and was surprised that some of the other Washingtonians didn't see her as light at all, until I realized this is perhaps an issue of word choice; she's not ethereal, you can't put your hand through her. She's a dancer without footfall. I kept thinking of the ghost stories where a young man meets a beautiful young woman who looks absolutely normal (save for her beauty). They talk and walk together, and it is only when he looks down at the snow and sees that she has left no footprints that he realizes he's talking to a ghost. I felt that way with Bojesen, especially in the La Sylphide.

Some New Yorkers would have seen her in the Sylphide and in Conservatoriet, out in New Jersey, so I thought we might have enough of a group of people to talk about her.

Any other comments about this dancer? Effy, aspirant, Jorgen, how is she regarded in Copenhagen now?

[aspirant]

Bojesen has the technical ability for Piano Concerto, but I think she lacks a certain degree of mettle to pull off the role. Not that the over-punctuated endings and flailing wrists that I saw recently in NY were ideal either.

The assisted jump that she does with Massot is quite amazing, the two seem to have worked out a way to defy gravity, or at least successfuly trick the audience. I have always wondered about the moment in the choreography near to this where he kind of pushes her hip while she hops backward in arabesque on point--I've yet to see it performed where the ballerina didn't look some degree of terrified.

She is the youngest of the Solo dancers I believe, perhaps Lindstrom is with her, but they are worlds apart--cast opposite one another in Folk Tale. I wonder if Bojesen could be Birthe or if she will always be stuck as the "pretty, pretty princess".

If they were to do Sonambula (that spelling doesn't quite look right?), my vote would be with her or Marie Pierre Greve.

[Leigh Witchel]

Aspirant, I thought she was a lovely Hilde in the Bournonville Festival in '00 - I wouldn't have wanted to see her Birthe. It's not in her spirit, I think. The growth she had in the dancer between those performances and her Sylphide pas d'action in Newark was massive. For what it's worth, I never found her so much "light" as "pure" - not as in pure classical technique, but rather pure like water. There's something simple, unadulterated and transparent about her presence on stage.

[Nanatchka]

When I saw her in Newark as the Sylph, I thought she could fly. Very much along the lines of Alexandra's impression of her in Washington--an other worldly dancer. I also admired how she achieved a kind of antique effect in a totally plastic way. That is, she looked as if charming old engravings had come to life. Very very clear shapes. She made no lasting impression on me at all in Conservatoriet--no one did. This was no doubt more my fault than theirs. It just seemed quaint.

[Effy]

Sorry I have not answereed before - I only happened on this thread by chance. The strengh of Gudrun Bojesens dancing is firstly that she is suited for the Danish inherited repetoire, La Sylphide, Hilda, Kermesse and also Etudes and that her teqnique thoug maybe not as strong as say Gitte Lindstrom, is stronger than what you usually see in a Danish Ingenue. Shre is probably the best technician in that fgield since Mette-Ida Kirk. This allows her to fly and be light when needed and it also makes it possible for her to strech both into modern, Russian and neoclassical roles. Because she is so suited to the Daninsh core repetoire, she is a very important dancer in the company. A Gitte Lindstrom could be replaced by any good traditional ballerina, but Bojesen is a true Danish ballerina and therefore cannot easily be replaced. Another question is will the company let her grow. Yes she has tacled more mature roles, but she is in general used as a juvinile dancer. I find it difficult to talk about her technic as separate from her dancer personality - and I think it reflects one of her major qoulities. They cannot be seperated and that is why she is "a full packet" dancer, and most importantly a ntional tressure.