Interview with Ida Praetorius, Royal Danish Ballet
October 2013
Last season was a dream season for first year dancer Ida Praetorius. Her Juliet in the John Neumeier version made her a household name. She added even more status by partnering Alban Lendorf in Ib Andersen's hit version of "The Kermesse in Bruges".
She started the season by winning The Erik Bruhn competition. Not only is she the first Danish girl to win since Silja Schandorff. Her partner Andreas Kaas won Best Male Dancer and their choreographer Alessandro Pereira won for best choreography. And she had the best possible finale to the season, by performing at The John Neumeier anniversary gala with top international stars, by dancing the Pas De Deux from "Daphnis and Chloe" with Andreas Kaas, directed by John Neumeier himself. I meet her to discuss her accolades so far and to learn how she will tackle here future career that seems so promising.
Nikolaj Hübbe is not afraid to cast young and a number of upcoming Danish dancers have been given big roles at a very young age. Alban Lendorf, Hilary Guswiler, Jon Axel Fransson and Stephanie Chen Gundorph are successful examples of getting big tests early on. But giving first year apprentice Ida Praetorius the pivotal role as the pupil in Flemming Flindt's "The Lesson" is extra ordinary even for Hübbe, also considering the mature and disturbing elements in the work. Never the less Praetorius made a stunning debut showcasing a strong dramatic talent and a maturity as well as some extra ordinary fine dancing.
For the young dancer herself the role gave her some very useful career tips.
"I rehearsed the role and later performed it with both Thomas Lund and Mads Blangstrup, who are both extra ordinary dramatic dancers and I got to study their craft at a close distance. Neither dancer is afraid to embrace themselves in the role and to act full out even at rehearsal. Their work with the material goes so deep and they are so professional and committed that it really taught me a valuable lesson. Both also created a safe sphere for me, all thought both added thing and improvised during performances, but they did it in a way that included me so I could always feel completely safe. It was a valuable lesson in the commitment, depth and work ethic of great dancers and has been a great inspiration for my career", says Ida Praetorius.
This was not the first time that Ida Praetorius worked with Thomas Lund. When Lund created his successful children's ballet "Teddy Goes Ballet" he choreographed large sections on Ida Praetorius as the swan princess:
"He was so nice and it was therefore somewhat strange to see how he cans portrait darkness and evil. He has an extraordinary range that I still remain in awe of."
Safety in Numbers
Ida Praetorius entered the ballet school as an eight year old early enough to be a veteran of the 2005 Bournonville festival where she got several of the featured children part.
She is part of one of the biggest upcoming generations in RDB history. Her own year group includes no less than eight dancers have been accepted into the company. They almost represent a company in the company and in their apprentice years Esther Lee Wilkinson choreographed a ballet based on Danish classic school novel "The Neglected Spring" for the group. Ida Praetorius got the role as the class
genius. A bit of a foresight perhaps considering her future raise.
Nikolaj Hübbe is the only ballet master the group has worked under. They have so far been spared the many changing ballet masters and views on ballet that marred the former generation. Yet they were placed in a difficult situation, when Hübbe was critiqued by the dancers union for promoting the apprentices when he had to lay off nine dancers following the cut backs. It would have been a disaster to let the talented group go. And the performances by the group, latest by Benita Bünger in “Come
Fly Away” confirmed that Hübbe made the right decision.
Setting Toronto alight
RDB participates in the Erik Bruhn competitions where four young couples from ABT, Canadian National Ballet, Royal Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet competition in Toronto. In 2012 Ida Praetorius and fellow first year dancer Andreas Kaas was chosen to represent the national colors:
"I had not realized how big the event is in Toronto. It was literary all over place with billboards nd major television coverage. We could not have succeeded better. We had significant competition.
My gut feeling is that the reason we won the three awards was that our repertoire was extremely varied. We danced Pas de Deux from "Kermesse in Bruges", which is a great, but not to well-known pas de deux. Then we contrasted it with the ultra-modern "Traditional" choreographed on us by Alessandro
Pereira."
The World inside Verona
The competition really put the young couple on the international map and they have had the opportunity to show their programs at home and abroad. Part of their summer vacation was spent performing in Canada, including the "Daphnis & Chloe" pas de deux they learned from John Neumeier.
John Neumeier is a popular choreographer in Denmark and expectations were high in the company when his "Romeo & Juliet" returned to the repertoire after a hiatus of a couple of years.
Normally new casts are announced on the company billboard. But this time Nikolaj Hübbe informed Ida Praetorius in private that she would be the new Juliet.
”I could not stop smiling. He explained and finally said: "Why are you still smiling?”. I then realized the enormity of the project. Juliet is one of the really heavy weight roles. It does not get much bigger than this: And it is a make or break role."
When Neumeier first did his "Romeo & Juliet" he gave his star-crossed lovers to two dancers as young as Ida Praetorius, Mette-Ida Kirk and Ib Andersen who became instant stars from the production. But this time around Ida Praetorius was paired with the strong 28 year old soloist Gregory Dean who has done most of his work in classical prince and partner roles.
"It was a god send to get Gregory as my partner. He is so strong and so committed that he could hold me in a high lift while teaching me how to place my weight".
Both Ida Praetorius and Gregory Dean rose to the occasion and the pairing proved a great success technically and dramatically. It also turned the two dancers into overnight audience favorites. How much the audience loves the couple could be seen in a Facebook item on what the audience would like to see the following season. The audience suggested that the couple should dance practically every romantic ballet together.
Two Steps Forward - One Step Back
Unfortunately the coffers of the RDB cannot pay for all the audiences’ dreams casting at least not in one season. Money is very tight and the 2013/14 season is meager regarding new ballets and the ones chosen from the standard repertoire is not so Ida Praetorius friendly as the previous season.
Luckily a major donation this fall will do things much easier in the coming seasons, but has no impact on this year. Although Ida Praetorius will get a shot of a series of soloist roles, at least getting the chance to learn them, but may very likely not get to perform all of them, she knows that this season will not give her as many and as interesting roles as last season. She accepts this fact with stoicism.
"For instance I have the chance to learn a Balanchine pas de deux in "Symphony in 3 Movements." I will give my all even though I cannot be certain of a stage performance".
Save one or two corps roles, she has not yet done Balanchine, so she will value the experience the rehearsal process can give her. In a way it fells strange that Ida Praetorius as yet does not have a Balanchine repertoire, because she already seems such a permanent fixture in the company. In person she is wise beyond her years and has a strong understanding of repertoire and the ways of a company. On top of her qualities as a dancer she has the gift of an analytic mind and how to harvest the experience of coworkers and directors.
When working with Ib Andersen in "Kermesse in Bruges" he challenged her to explain what she was doing in a solo and that helped her to get a clearer view of the choreography.
"He is so sharp and has the driest humor. It took time to really understand his wit, but finally I got it and got all the benefit of his teaching."
In "Kermesse" she was paired with Alban Lendorf and enjoyed his work ethic:
"Alban is not holding back in his dancing and that suits me fine, because that is my own attitude. He is such an example for us younger dancers, because of his commitment and dare. I enjoyed dancing with him".
A National Ballerina
One of reasons Ida Praetorius is so interesting to follow, is the clear Danishness in her dancing. Type wise she is an ingénue and a romantic ballerina. It is almost too easy to imagine her in Danish classics like the Sylph and as Hilda in "A Folk Tale." Like Gudrun Bojesen she has a much stronger technique than what you can get away with in the ingénue employ.
The strong technical base also lifted the then apprentice Ida Praetorius into the white girls in "Etudes" and into the difficult Fouettées section. She notes with the certain pride that she has a regular position in the ballet and is no longer a substitute. Her technical skills will give her a very broad base and a larger repertoire in the years to come. Although she has grown taller over the last year she can still be partnered by the smallest and tallest of the men. Three of the girls in her year as well as several other younger girls in the company have grown very tall, earning them the pet name "The Super Models", but it limits their chances of pas de deux work as tall guys are a limited resource in the company. Very fittingly Ida Praetorius is the same height as Kate Moss, the super model with the longest career.
So Ida Praetorius is blessed by the fairy god mothers. She even has the advantage that her mother Carolina Lohfert is a former dancer who danced several seasons in Hamburg Ballet and can provide good career advice. She has two younger brothers at ballet school. The older Tobias Praetorius is a technically strong second year apprentice.
"When we are on stage together it is so nice when he sends me an encouraging smile. It good to know that someone is watching out for you," says Ida Praetorius.
Only the future will tell if Ida Praetorius career will come full circle. But the odds are in her favor and hopefully she can continue her development and release her full potential to the benefit of the Danish Ballet. It could be a very bright future.
Photo Credits:
1. Ida Praetorius (Henrik Stenberg)
2 Ida Praetorius in "The Lesson" (Costin Radu)
3. Ida Praetorius and Andreas Kaas in "Traditional" (Bruce Zinger)
4. Ida Praetorius and Gregory Dean in "Romeo & Juliet" (Costin Radu)
5. Ida Praetorius in "Kermesse in Brüges" (Costin Radu)
Copyright (c) The Royal Danish Ballet
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