Royal Danish Ballet at Christiania
June 9, 2015
Royal Danish Ballet kicked of their annual summer tour with a special performance in Christiania, the alternative hippie commune/tourist attraction in Copenhagen.
As RDB and the Royal Theatre, more unfairly than fairly, is considered stuffy high art, the event has gained public notice and draw a large public. If the plan by dancing at Christiania was to attract a younger audience, the goal was more than reached. The new audience got a healthy dose of classical dancing as well as several never edgier works.
At this special performance took place in Copenhagen, it was possible to add several big casts numbers. The tour itself includes only 11 dancers. The Christiania event counted 36 dancers plus the 2 war veterans that is such an important part of the miracle that is “I Føling”.
The Corpus production “I Føling” has recently been nominated for a Reumert Award as Best Ballet of 2014-15. A series of performances in the provinces and in the Drama House has concluded the season, so it was an obvious choice to include a large segment in the Christiania program. Although the segment lost some impact by being performed without the brilliant lightning designs, it had no problem in reaching the audience, who expressed their thanks with a resounding standing ovation and tears in their eyes.
The other addition, a segment from “Minus 7” by Ohad Naharin , a longtime favorite for the RDB audience and dancers brought not only the audience to theirs feet but also to the stage were a group of audience members got the bonus of a dance with RDB dancers. It was as delightful as usual and the Christiania crowd showed no hesitation in performing with the RDB.
The Don is Back
Between these crowd-pleasers, the Christiania audience got a healthy dose of what the RDB can offer in classical and modern style.
The program combines items from the newly ended season and the upcoming one. First out was pas de deux and solos from “Don Quixote” which will be back in a new production by Nikolaj Hübbe next season.
Jon Axel Fransson, a nominee for best dancer this year for his Von Rothbart, danced Basil. Fransson showed his talent as well as his considerable stage appeal and presence. Lena-Maria Gruber, who have had few opportunities this season, was an elegant, but somewhat cautious Kitri. Ida Praetorius and Alexandra Lo Sardo demonstrated their command of style and technique as the two soloists.
Liam Scarlett’s “Viscera” will not be in next year’s season, so the Pas de Deux with Alexandra Lo Sardo and Ulrik Birkkjær will be our last viewing of this well-done work. The duo came over as strong as they did in the Drama House production.
Choreograph Lotte Sigh created “Dancing with Anger” for one of this season’s “Hübbery” performances. It was now up to a new duo, Jonathan Chmelensky and Tobias Praetorius to interpret the role game between two men or to sides of the same person. Both did an excellent job and added their dramatics skills to the modern dance style.
Juliet with a new Romeo
One of the most anticipated numbers on the program was an outtake from John Neumeier’s “Romeo & Juliet” which will be back in repertoire next season. Ida Praetorius is a veteran, albeit a very young veteranf rom the last run, where the experienced Gregory Dean partnered her. This time her Romeo will be her Armand from “Lady of the Camellias“, Andreas Kaas.
Andreas Kaas bought a lot of vulnerability to the part and showed how much stronger he has become this season, which has also included Siegfried in “Swan Lake”. Casting this ballet young adds a special quality and as Praetorius and Kaas are perfectly matched as the star-crossed lovers, it looks like all Danes’ favorite ballet will be in for another successful run.
For the “Cachi” Pas de deux, which has been performed as a separate number on several occasions, Jon Axel Fransson has taken over from an injured Sebastian Haynes. His timing, humor and stage appeal works as well here as in “Don Quixote” and hopefully he will be up for more leading roles and some serious promotions.
The rest of the program consisted of the White Act pas de deux from “Swan Lake” danced by Ulrik Birkkjær and Holly Jean Dorger. It was danced very well, but was hurt by being performed on these makeshifts stage conditions.
The Tarantella from “Napoli”, back in the classical costumes, was well danced by the Christiania cast, including principals Gregory Dean, Marcin Kupinski and Amy Watson, who are not part of the tour this year. The trio also added their skills to the ensemble of “Minus 7”.
In all the decision to perform at Christiania proved a success. By including the two large cast numbers, the program displayed the company in size as well as in quality. Putting young dancers like Andreas Kaas, Jon Axel Fransson and Tobias Praetorius in large and leading roles showed the talent line. The program also taught an alternative audience that ballet do not hurt. A special budget offer for the upcoming modern program was included in the handout material. Instead of a one-night affair, it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Photo Credits:
1. Andreas Kaas, Ida Praetorius, Sebastian Haynes and Caroline Baldwin (Promotion Photo)
2. "Minus 7" by Per Morten Abrahamsen
3. Jon Axel Fransson by Costin Radu
4. Ida Praetorius & Andreas Kaas in "Romeo & Juliet" by Costin Radu
Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet
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