Royal Danish Ballet

Denmark's national ballet company. Records of court ballets performed at Copenhagen date back to the second half of the 16th century. During the first half of the 18th century dance became popular at the Lille Grønnengade Theatre (built 1722), and a ballet company was established at the Royal Theatre at Kongens Nytorv (opened in 1748 as a stage for music, drama, and dance). This company was directed by various French and Italian ballet masters but did not particularly flourish until Galeotti's long reign. Between 1775 and 1811 he expanded the number of dancers as well as staging many popular ballets, although only one, The Whims of Cupid (1786), is still performed today. The school was founded in 1777. Antoine Bournonville came to Copenhagen in 1816 but under his charge the ballet declined, until his son August Bournonville took over direction of both company and school. His reign (1829-77) became a Golden Age, during which he radically overhauled the system of ballet education as well as choreographing around 50 works for the company. Several of these still survive, including La Sylphide (1836), Napoli (1842), Konservatoriet (1849), and A Folk Tale (1854). With their lively mix of classical and vernacular dance and their dramatic naturalism his works revived the somewhat moribund art of ballet, and in particular encouraged a new virtuosity in male dancers. His pupils Hans Beck and Valborg Borchsenius attempted to maintain his heritage but provided no new inspiration for the company. During the late 1920s and early 1930s both Balanchine and Fokine worked with the company but it was not until Harald Lander took over as director (1932-51) that it regained its vigour. Lander staged many Bournonville ballets and other 19th-century classics, as well as commissioning new works by Danish choreographers and creating several of his own ballets, most notably Études (1948). The company became internationally renowned, revealing the riches of the hitherto little-known Bournonville repertoire on its many trips abroad. After Lander left for Paris there was a succession of directors and a period of instability followed. However, the school continued (under Volkova) to sustain Denmark's fine dance tradition. Notable dancers during this century have included M. Lander, B. and K. Ralov, M. Vangsaae, F. Schaufuss, N. B. Larsen, T. Lander, E. Bruhn, P. Martins, P. Schaufuss, I. Andersen, A. Laerkesen, V. Flindt, J. Eliasen, Lis Jeppesen, L. Riggins, and J. Kobborg. During the 1950s and 1960s many guest choreographers, including Balanchine, Robbins, Ashton, Petit, and MacMillan, worked with the company and in 1966 Flindt was appointed director. He worked to restore the balance between the 19th-century classics (Bournonville, Petipa, etc.) and 20th-century dance works, both established and newly created. He added several of his own works to the repertory as well as those with a modern dance element, by P. Taylor and Tetley, among others. He was succeeded by Henning Kronstam in 1978 then by Frank Andersen in 1985. P. Schaufuss took over the company in 1994, also taking charge of the school and creating the full-length ballet Hamlet, but he left after two years to be replaced by Maina Gielgud (1997-9), Aage Thordal-Christensen (1999), and by Frank Andersen from 2002.

Royal Danish Theater.

The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance. The company was founded with the opening of the Royal Danish Theatre, which has served as its home since that time.

Bournonville, 1841.

Contents 1 History 2 Artistic Directors 3 Dancers 3.1 Principal dancers 3.2 Soloists 3.3 Character dancers 3.4 Corps de ballet 3.5 Apprentices 4 External links

History

From the outset, the Royal Danish Ballet employed some of the leading dancers and choreographers. Within a few years of its founding, in 1771, the Royal Theater Ballet School was established to provide native dancers, of which one of the first was Anine Frölich. One of its early masters, Vincenzo Galeotti is credited with choreographing Amors og Balletmesterens Luner (The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master), the world's oldest ballet still performed with its original choreography. Galeotti was master of the company from 1775 to 1816, and that ballet is still part of the company's repertoire.

Another major master of the troupe was the Danish August Bournonville. During the half-century that Bournonville led the company (1828-1879), he choreographed some fifty ballets, of which about a dozen are still part of the company's repertoire. The works are highly influenced by the French school of dance, since Bournonville studied in that country, and include key roles for male dancers, undoubtedly written with himself in mind. After his death, one of his successors, Hans Beck, used the basic steps he learned in Bournonville's classes to create the Bournonville school to teach contemporary dancers the tradition of the old master.

The third great period of the Danish Royal Ballet came in 1932, when Harald Lander took over the helm of the corps. Trained in the United States and the Soviet Union, he both adapted traditional ballets and choreographed original works for the company. He encouraged local choreographers, who went on to create prominent works that won international acclaim. Among them was Børge Ralov, who choreographed the first modern Danish Ballet, The Widow in the Mirror, in 1934. He also trained many prominent international dancers, including Erik Bruhn.

A prominent company director was Henning Kronstam (1978-1982), who directed the 1979 Bournonville Festival.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the Royal Danish Ballet underwent another transformation, with many internationally prominent choreographers, including George Balanchine commissioned to work with it. Though modern works assumed increasingly important stature in the repertoire, the Ballet continued to remain loyal to its classical roots as well, earning it the reputation as one of the finest corps of dancers in the world, incorporating foreign as well as native-born talent.

In 2007 the appointment of New York City Ballet principal dancer Nikolaj Hübbe as balletmaster was announced.

Artistic Directors

1748-1753 Des Larches 1755-1756 Neudin 1756-1763 Antonio Como 1763-1767 Antonio Sacco 1767-1768 Jean Baptiste Martin 1768-1770 Innocente Gambuzzi 1770-1771 Martini 1771-1772 Vincenzo Piatolli 1772-1773 Domenico Andriani 1773-1775 Vincenzo Piatolli 1775-1816 Vincenzo Galeotti 1816-1823 Antoine Bournonville 1823-1830 Pierre Larcher 1830-1877 August Bournonville 1877-1890 Ludvig Gade 1890-1894 Emil Hansen 1894-1915 Hans Beck

1915-1928 Gustav Uhlendorff 1928-1930 Kaj Smith 1930-1932 Victor Schiøler 1932-1951 Harald Lander 1951-1956 Niels Bjørn Larsen 1956-1958 Frank Schaufuss 1958-1960 Henning Rohde 1961-1965 Niels Bjørn Larsen 1966-1978 Flemming Flindt 1978-1985 Henning Kronstam 1985-1994 Frank Andersen 1994-1995 Peter Schaufuss 1995-1997 Johnny Eliasen 1997-1999 Maina Gielgud 1999-2002 Aage Thordal-Christensen 2002-2008 Frank Andersen 2008-present Nikolaj Hübbe

Dancers

Principal dancers

See also category: Royal Danish Ballet principal dancers

Amy Watson Caroline Cavallo Gitte Lindstrøm Gudrun Bojesen Yao Wei

Andrew Bowman Jean-Lucien Massot Kristoffer Sakurai Mads Blangstrup Nehemiah Kish Thomas Lund Ulrik Birkkjær

Soloists

See also category: Royal Danish Ballet soloists

Christina Michanek Diana Cuni Femke Mølbach Slot Jodie Thomas Kizzy Matiakis Lesley Culver Susanne Grinder Tina Højlund

Fernando Mora Morten Eggert Nicolai Hansen Sebastian Kloborg Tim Matiakis

Character dancers

See also category: Royal Danish Ballet character dancers

Eva Kloborg Jette Buchwald Lis Jeppesen Mette Bødtcher

Erling Eliasson Flemming Ryberg Mogens Boesen Poul-Erik Hesselkilde

Corps de ballet

Alba Nadal Alexandra Lo Sardo Amalie Adrian Anastasia Paschali Aurore Casanova Birgitta Lawrence Camilla Ruelykke Holst Carling Talcott Caroline Baldwin Cecilie Lassen Charlotte Aamand Claire Ratcliffe Ditte Teildorf Elisabeth Dam Ellen Green Esther Lee Wilkinson Giorgia Minnella Hilary Guswiler Holly Jean Dorger J'aime Crandall Josee Howard Julie Valentin Kristine Drewsen Laure Dougy Lena Maria Gruber Louise Midjord Louise Østergaard Maria Bernholdt Maria Stokholm Mathilde Søe Rebecca Labbé Sascha Haugland Shelby Elsbree

Alban Lendorf Alexander Stæger Bryant Steenstra Byron Mildwater Cédric Lambrette Charles Andersen Christian Hammeken Christopher Rickert Constantine Baecher Eliabe D'Abadia Gábor Baunoch Gregory Dean James Clark Julien Ringdahl Julien Roman Jonathan Chmelensky Mads Eriksen Marcin Kupinski Thomas Flindt Jeppesen

Apprentices

Emma Håkansson Josephine Berggreen Oda Grøner Stephanie Sahlgren

Andreas Kaas Benjamin Buza Jón Axel Fransson Oscar Nilsson

External links

• Royal Danish Theatre
• The 3rd Bournonville Festival
• bournonville.com
• Photoblog by David Amzallag

v • d • e Ballets by August Bournonville La Sylphide (1836) · Napoli, or The Fisherman and His Bride (1842) · The Conservatoire, or A Marriage by Advertisement (1849) · The Kermesse in Bruges, or The Three Gifts (1851) · A Folk Tale (1854) La Ventana · Abdallah · Far from Denmark · Flower Festival in Genzano (1858, Blomsterfesten i Genzano) · The White Rose · The King's Volunteers

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