Eva Kistrup

Breaking News: Thomas Lund retires to become Head of Royal Danish Ballet School

When Thomas Lund a few weeks ago danced the pas de deux in Balanchine's "Symphony in Three Movements" with Gudrun Bojesen, their performance raised the production to a new level and made one realise that the pas de deux in "Symphony in Three Movements" is as central a Balanchine pas de deux as the ones in "Apollon" and "Agon", the other ballets in the Strawinsky programme. Little did we know that he will curtail his career on September 29, 2012 to take on another important assignment, when he takes over from Niels Balle as principal of the core institution of the Royal Danish Ballet, the ballet school.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

 Wayne McGregor: "Chroma"

Tina Tarpgaard: "DEW" 

 Patrick Delcroix: "Inpénétrable Songes"

Yuri Possokhov: "ergo ubi NARCISUM per deviarura vagantem"

Royal Danish Ballet

May 26 2012

It is a well-known fact that Nikolaj Hübbe primarily sees RDB as a classical and neo-classical company, and therefore rarely focus on modern choreography.  As this seasons final programme consist of three creations by well-known Danish and international choreographers and supplemented by Wayne McGregor's "Chroma",  it was a good opportunity to se if modern ballet could and should take a larger role in the repertoire. Based of the quality of the dancing it was a resounding yes, but none of the new creations managed to make the case for a more modern line nor for a place in the standard repertoire. 

The Fuller Picture

"Dance in the Mirror"

Edited by Erik Aschengreen, Anne Middelboe Christensen & Kirsten Sørensen

Copenhagen  May 2012

John R. Johnsen is one of the most important and inventive ballet photographers in Denmark, who photographed The Royal Danish Ballet and companies like NYCB, ABT, Ailey and Béjart during some of their key periods. He was a strong believer in shooting during live performance and is the creator of some of the iconic ballet pictures in Denmark and abroad.

His whole body of work is now a part of the national library (the Royal Library). Two Danish ballet experts Erik Aschengreen and Anne Middelboe Christensen have assisted the library in cataloqing the gigantic archive and has now publiched a monography of Johnson's works in both a Danish and English version together with Kirsten Sørensen. An exhibition in The National Photo Museum is just opened.

Good Intentions vs Good Choreography

Tim Rushton:

Monolith

& The End of Loneliness

Wang Yuanyuan:

Dead Fire

Dansk Danseteater & Beijing Dance Theater 

Royal Theatre, Old Stage

May 10, 2012

 

Tim Rushton has taken modern dance in Denmark from the entrepreneur stage to a high professional level during his 11 years leadership of Dansk Dansetater, the main and mainstream modern dance company in Denmark. And he very deservely received the highest accolade in the performance industry last week,  "The Bikuben Honour Award"   presented annually to a major force in the industry (Nikolaj Hübbe, Thomas Lund and Sijla Schandorff are former honorees). Rushton, who was also made an MBE in his native country Great Britain is now going international with works for companies like Rambert Ballet and an American tour next year to Washington, New York and Boston.

Unfortunately his joint venture with Bejing Dance Theate, which formed the core of this programme proved not to be a match made in heaven. 

A Masculine Ending

Jean-Lucien Massot's Farewell Performance:

George Balanchine: "Agon" & "Symphony in 3 Movements"

Petr Zuska: "Les Bras de Mer"

John Cranko: "Onegin Segment"

The Royal Danish Ballet

May 5, 2012

The RDB gave a stunning performance as they bid farewell to one of their longests serving and most versatile dancers, Jean-Lucien Massot . The programme showcased Massot's qualities as a partner in modern and classic ballet and highlighted his strong dramatic skills.

Massot is the Sean Connery of the RDB, not only in appearance but also by the development of his career from leading man to character dancer. He had even several years ago been the lead in a rather bad James Bond-themed ballet by Aage Thordal-Christensen and dancer Morten Eggert  has coined the phrase that Massot is the most masculine dancer in the company. His farewell performance did a very good job in showing various use of the celebrated masculinity.