Eva Kistrup

Good Housekeeping

The presentation of next years season once more showcased Nikolaj Hübbe's ability to chose the best from what is available, a strong character trait in trying times.

When Opera Director Sven Müller should make a case for a production of "Porgy & Bess" with an ensemble brought in from outside (a strange decision for a theatre which had suffered severe cuts), he mused about how much the opera (in a Danish sung version) had meant to the Danish audience during the German occupation in 1940 -1945.

This was not the only time that the presentation catapulted me to that period where Danes survived on thriftiness, economizing and getting something out out everything. The Opera will celebrate Verdi and Shakespeare by doing Falstaff, Othello and Macbeth in the same decoration. The drama department will honour Shakespeare by productions so small scale that they could be performed in a telephone booth.

Money Makes the World Go Around

"Hübberiet"

April 12 & 17, 2013 

John Neumeier:

"Romeo & Juliet"

April 20,2013

 

The Annual Report 2012

Royal Danish Ballet

 

This week have seen the annual financial report of the Royal Danish Theatre following the cut downs and lay offs. There has also been two portions of the "Hübbery", an intro to the upcoming Bournonville programme and new cast members in "Romeo & Juliet".

The key figures in the annual report shows that the RDB performed better financially than the other artforms and has  lost fewer attendees from the fall in productions and performances.

The ballet have also attracted big sponsorships and have the best track record for attracting a younger audience.

Holly Go Lightly

 

Holly Jean Dorger traveled from School of American Ballet and a pure Balanchine environment and found herself in the drama-centric Royal Danish Ballet and met a whole new – or rather old – repertoire. The good news is that is proved a happy match. 

 In RDB all the men - and one woman – know how to wear a kilt. The woman with that particular skill are American Holly Jean Dorger of Irish descendent, who took up Scottish dance as an 8 year old back in Michigan and reached international top level in the sport before having to give it up when being accepted at School of American Ballet as a scholarship student.

Today Holly can still do the Highland Fling, as shown in a production by the in-house company Corpus, where she was partnered by fellow dancer James Clark, whom she had competed against and won over in the Scottish dance competitions of their childhood.

 "I did not recognize James Clark when we joined the company but as we got to know each other we discovered that we both spent our childhood dancing to bagpipes. It just shows how small the dance world is for us to show up 10 years later in the same company, halfway around the world," said Holly.

 

 

The New Reality for NYCB

New York City Ballet:

George Balanchine:
"Serenade", "The Four Temperaments", "Symphony in C",

Justin Peck: "In Creases"

Alexei Ratmansky: "Concerto DSCH"

Jerome Robbins: "N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz"

Christopher Wheeldon: "Les Carillons"  

The Opera Stage
The Royal Theatre

April 4 – 5 2013

When George Balanchine and later Jerome Robbins died, the character of NYCB changed dramatically. The company was no longer the choreographic tool of master choreographers. The status of NYCB became more like its fellow European companies: " Royal Danish Ballet", "Royal Ballet", "Paris Opera Ballet" and "Kirov", who had to combine the inherited repertoire with works by new choreographers and international standard works. Indeed, one could say that Peter Martins, himself a product of the  European tradition actively forced the transition by adding ballet like "Sleeping Beauty", "Romeo & Juliet" and a full "Swan Lake"  to the repertoire.

Where it earlier have been impossible to compare NYCB to the other companies, it became easier and  easier. Not only did NYCB do more standard works and the bigger European companies and ABT more Balanchine and Robbins. The companies also favored the same new choreographers: Forsyth, Wheeldon, Ratmansky etc. Where NYCB had been totally unique in its approach to repertoire and style, the company became more mainstream.

A Life in Dance

Eva Kloborg joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 1957 as a ballet child and she remains an active force in the company as a character dancer and beyond as an international teacher and stager of the Bournonville heritage. As the longest serving dancer in the company she is one of the few direct links to company choryfe's like Vera Volkova and Harald Lander. As a dancer she was as home in Balanchine as in her beloved Bournonville, and here she shares some of the tale of her long career
and her present quest to bring Bournonville abroad.