Tag: Royal Danish Ballet

August Bournonville

August BournonvilleIconic classical ballet productions such as Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty are all the work of one choreographer: August Bournonville. It is arguable that La Sylphide is perhaps the most internationally famous representative of classical Danish ballet, created by Bournonville and paying homage to the distinct Danish style of classical ballet. The style was prolific, having engendered the ‘Bournonville school’ or ‘Bournonville ballet’.

Bournonville was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1805. He went on to dance with the famed Marie Taglioni and became a soloist with the Royal Danish Ballet, eventually serving as its balletmaster. He remained there until the end of his life, in 1879, having made 50 ballets for the company in the unique style he created from his studies in the Italian, French, and Danish schools.

Bournonville movement is characterised by the use of petit allegro (fast, intricate footwork with small jumps) rather than by big, virtuoso lifts or grand allegro. Bournonville believed that dancing should be understated, graceful, and light, epitomised by the lowered eyes of the Bournonville dancer, giving the overall appearance of graciousness. The dancer must be directly on top of the music, meaning there is very little rhythmic freedom to speed up or slow down movement. Despite this, Bournonville ballets remain expressive.

Today the Bournonville style is surrounded by the sky-high extensions and dazzling turns and jumps of other choreographic styles however the beauty and difficulty of the dances must not be underestimated. Bournonville’s ballets continue to be performed throughout the world and the Royal Danish Ballet upholds the Bournonville style as one of its proudest traditions. The style encompasses both high technical demands and an infectious celebration of life.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

American Ballet Theatre Announces Dancer Exchange

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The Royal Ballet’s Steven McRae and Royal Danish Ballet’s Alban Lendorf are set to dance with American Ballet Theatre in spring 2013 as part of an artist exchange programme at the Metropolitan Opera House.

In return for these tights-and-tunic dancers, American Ballet Theatre will be sending the principal dancer Cory Stearns to The Royal Ballet and soloist Isabella Boylston to dance in the Royal Danish Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker to appear as Exchange Artists.

McRae and Lendorf will be dancing in the spring season, with McRae dancing the role of Lankendem in Le Corsaire in June, and Lendorf dancing the role of Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty in July. As part of the exchange program with The Royal Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre’s Stearns will appear with The Royal Ballet, and Boylston will dance the roles of Dew Drop and Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker in December. This exchange of dancers not only presents the skills and talents of the dancers to another audience but also enables the dancers to hone their technique under unfamiliar circumstances and in unfamiliar surroundings.

During his career, McRae has had the opportunity to perform roles such as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Lensky in Onegin, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, James in La Sylphide, Des Grieux in Manon, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, Colas in La Fille mal gardée, the Prince in The Nutcracker and Cinderella, Blue Boy in Les Patineurs and The Chosen One in The Rite of Spring. Lendorf has equally danced roles such as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Prince Désiré in Christopher Wheeldon’s The Sleeping Beauty, Gennaro in Napoli, James in La Sylphide, Armand in Lady of the Camellias, the title role in Apollo and principal roles in Etudes, Other Dances, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Le Corsaire pas de deux.

The Nutcracker’s Royal Touch

Margrethe II of DenmarkDuring the festive season, the dance world is abundant with Holiday inspired productions, and 2012 is no different. The Nutcracker is always a sure-fire family favourite, full of ballet slippers, magic and mystery, however one version this year is standing out for a very different reason. Queen Margrethe of Denmark, it has been discovered, has designed all the costumes (more than 100) and four large stage sets for The Nutcracker which is currently being performed in Copenhagen by the Royal Danish Ballet at the Tivoli Theatre until 22 December 2012.

Choreographed by Artistic Director Peter Bo Bendixen, The Nutcracker is displaying Royal flourishes as a result of the Queen’s talents. For the past two years the Queen has been immersed in every aspect, from sketching each costume individually (as a celebrated artist under a pseudonym) to designing the set and correcting the choreographer on historical and cultural inaccuracies. Members of the ballet company have had to experience costume fittings with the Queen, and she has been fully involved in the whole process, regarding the production as “work” and making the dancers feel as comfortable as she possibly can.

This year the Queen of Denmark celebrated forty years on the throne, but has demonstrated a clear talent in the land of theatre, ballet, and the Kingdom of Sweets, drawing upon much knowledge and research to aid her life beyond the palace walls. The director of the production aimed to make the Danish Nutcracker ‘feel’ very home-grown and Danish, with the Kingdom of Sweets replaced by Copenhagen’s Tivoli gardens, and the fairy-tale writer Han Christian Anderson distributing the presents on Christmas Eve.

It is clear that 72-year-old Queen Margrethe devotes much of her time to the arts, having attended almost every ballet shown in Copenhagen in addition to having taken ballet classes for the past thirty years with a group of her childhood school friends.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.