February 28 2016
Following last night’s performance of “Theme and Variations,” American Soloist Holly Jean Dorger, 27 were promoted to principal dancer at the Royal Danish Ballet.
The promotion of the technically strong dancer follows two seasons, where she had taken on some of the largest challenges in the Danish and international repertoire like “Etudes”, “Swan Lake “ and Gamzetti in “La Bayadere”.
Dorger, an alumni of American School of Ballet, was one of the first foreign dancers hired by Nikolaj Hübbe, when he took on the RDB in 2008. He had known her from the school and included her in the group of American dancers he brought with him to Copenhagen.
Holly Jean Dorger is a dancer who is defined more by her technical skills than her dramatic range, and it has been primarily by a route of small divertissements like Marzipan shepardess, to bigger divertissement roles like “Blue Bird Pas de Deux” that she had - gradually - conquered the repertoire. It was in “Grand Pas Classique” that she really showed her ballerina potential, which opened the door for the leading roles.
Unfortunately, for her as well as the Danish audience, there have been very few Balanchine ballets over the last seasons, so she had only had few opportunities to shine in her natural employ. As “Theme and Variations” and the promotions argues, this should be a bigger part of the RDB repertoire.
Hopefully this promotion will be the first of several. The principal line-up at RDB is excessively small and actually, save Alban Lendorf, whom we now are sharing with ABT, she is the only principal under 30.
Luckily, there are a strong line-up of young super talents, of which several could and should be promoted very soon.
Photo by Costin Radu (Copyright (c) Royal Danish Ballet)
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