August Bournonville/Nikolai Hübbe:
”A Folk’s Tale”
Third Cast December 12, 2014
The third cast of Nikolaj Hübbe’s “A Folk’s Tale” is mainly cast as the new comers ball, as four of the main character are filled with new and fresh talent.
Melancholy Man
Following his surprise performance as Madge in “A Folk’s Tale” interest naturally focused on Sebastian Haynes as Junker Ove, a notorious difficult role to nail with little dancing and little stage presence, but never the less the hero of the ballet. To counteract this disadvantage, Nikolaj Hübbe had overstretched himself trying to build the role with extra solos and pas de deux. Where Gregory Dean infused slight aggression and power in his interpretation, Sebastian Haynes stayed on the melancholy road. His acting was deeply felt, but it cannot be denied that he had a hard battle keeping Ove in the audience focus. One reason may be that he and his Hilda, soloist Caroline Baldwin were not on the same page regarding how the ballet should be done.
Baldwin has previously shown a talent for dancing Bournonville, but her dramatic resume is short. Her Bournonville has been in the divertissements and mainly in the faster solos. Bournonville adagio is a novelty for her. As the main character Hilda’s development from a pawn run by the troll’s matriarch to lady of the manor demand a stronger character building skills than what Baldwin can muster at present. The hurt and melancholy so well performed by Haynes got little response from her.
Living Under
There were also new inhabitants in the troll family. Cedric Lambrette was the matriarch Muri, but the way the design is based on prosthetics, leaves little freedom for the character dancer to create his role. Benjamin Buza creates an effective Diderik, without investing as much energy and ideas as Sebastian Kloborg.
But the sensation of the performance was first year dancer, Tobias Praetorius as the kind troll Viderik. He was a dance actor who could get his interpretation out in spite of the heavy masking. But more importantly Praetorius had his own take on the role and stayed in focus during all scenes as the funny and sweet troll, who even has his own heartbreak to deal with.
It was a surprisingly mature performance and shows that RDB now are in possession of a potentially world class character dancer. Newer the less I will raise a warning. Because Tobias Praetorius creates such a strong character performance at such an early age, do not put him in this specific box. Because he has also shown himself as a coming virtuoso dancer in ”The Hübbery", doing the solo from “Who Cares” as a first year aspirant and in small scale workshops performance. So there are many strings on his bow, and more than one employ he can fill.
The newcomers were supported by strong acting from seasoned pros like Eva Kloborg as the bullied lady of the manor and Jonathan Chmelensky as Hr Mogens. Bettina Bünger was new and effective as Else, the kitchen maid. And de pas de sept was danced very well by Gregory Dean, Jon Axel Fransson, Alexander Stæger, Diana Cuni Mancini, Lena Maria Gruber, Ida Praetorius and Femke Mølbach Slot. Unfortunately Nikolaj Hübbe’s decision to let the changeling troll Birthe usurps the final steal the thunder from this fine ensemble.
1. Tobias Praetorius as Viderik
2. Sebastian Haynes as Junker Ove
Photos by Per Morten Abrahamsen copyright (c) Royal Danish Ballet
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