« November 2012 | Main | January 2013 »
The Hübbery including Corpus
Christopher Wheeldon: "The Sleeping Beauty"
Royal Danish Ballet
December 13 - 17 december 2012
Nikolaj Hübbe continues his talk/dance series "The Hübbery" this time with a Christmas special, including the first work of the in house company "Corpus". RDB rounded off the Christmas run of "Wheeldon's "Sleeping Beauty" with two new casts and several impressive debuts in the solos and divertissements.
With his production of”La Bayadère”, Nikolaj Hübbe for the first time directs a ballet that has not been a part of his RDB and NYCB background. I talked with him about the challenges and choices a few days after the premiere.
Although Nikolaj Hübbe sees the Russian school as one of the key elements of the RDB repertoire, the choice of “La Bayadère” was not entirely based on the famed third act. The allure of going Indian was also a part of the decision.
“It seems so exotic and so far away. We have a lot of Spanish settings in our Bournonville tradition, so the Russian alternatives like “Paquita” and “Don Quixote” did not push as many buttons,” says Nikolaj Hübbe.
Christopher Wheeldon:
"The Sleeping Beauty"
The Royal Danish Ballet
November 30 - December 2, 2013
Re-visiting the Wheeldon creation made for RDB two Christmas ago makes one aware of how much the company has developed since. But one also gets somewhat annoyed by the realisation that the premise for the production, making a family friendly Christmas performance, limits how far RDB can take "The Beauty".
Since the first outing the already shortened ballet have been cut even more, and thereby not only limiting the opportunities for the strong upcoming dancers to gain experience but the process of making everything digestible contradict every aim of going for the highest level of excellence.