In this little series of interviews, we meet three girls from the Royal Danish Ballet corps, who each in their own way adds new value and potential for the company. Here is an interview with Heather Dunn, for whom Royal Danish Ballet is not her first Danish company.
Well Dunn
Canadian born, Heather Dunn came to Denmark and TIVOLI to supplement her part time employment with the Scottish Ballet. Four years on, she is now a member of Royal Danish Ballet corps and has a growing number of featured roles as well as reserving many others.
Looking back, it seems like RDB was destined from the beginning.
As a student of Canada’s National Ballet School, Heather Dunn got her first taste of the Danish ballet tradition through former RDB ballerina and leading character dancer, Sorella Englund, who has been a frequent guest teacher at the Canadian school for many years:
“Sorella opened my eyes to a new dimension in dance. She is an incredible artist and teacher, who truly inspired me to develop artistically as well as technically.”
Heather Dunn is not the only Canadian dancer who joined RDB based on the inspiration from Sorella Englund. Liam Redhead joined the RDB two years ago following lessons with Sorella Englund.
After graduating from the school in Canada, Heather joined the English National Ballet School to further her education. “ My father is English, which was one of the reasons I was interested in joining ENBS.” Following ENBS, Heather was given a contract for the Scottish Ballet. Unfortunately after one season the company did not need her until the following winter season so she began to look for short-term contracts elsewhere, while still remaining attached to the Scottish Ballet. At that point she discovered TIVOLI in Copenhagen, which is probably the oldest amusement park in the world, was searching for dancers for the Pantomime Theatre. It looked like an ideal solution for her, so she auditioned and was accepted.
Coming to Copenhagen
The small Pantomime Theatre in TIVOLI Gardens has performed Comedia Del Arte pantomimes since 1838, in other words since Bournonville’s times. Actually some of Bournonville leading dancers, the siblings Juliette Price and Valdemar Price came from a British family of performers, who were the first to stage pantomimes in Denmark.
Over the years, the TIVOLI repertoire was supplemented with small-scale ballets and several well-known dancers have performed at the small Peacock Scene, including Helgi Thomasson and Egon Madsen, who later became a star in Stuttgart Ballet in John Cranko’s time. Currently Peter Bo Bendixen, former principal dancer at RDB, runs the TIVOLI Company and today the small company performs the traditional Danish pantomimes as well as a growing number of modern pieces, including ballets by Tim Rushton. In addition, Bendixen produced a smaller version of “La Sylphide” as well as the 2012 Christmas production of his “Nutcracker”, performed in the Tivoli Concert Hall.
In Bendixen’s “La Sylphide” Heather was casted as the lead Sylph. “I was very lucky to get the part of the Sylph”, says Heather Dunn, “I really enjoyed my years at the Pantomime Theatre. I was given many opportunities to perform exciting roles at Tivoli. I even got to play the role of Columbine.”
During Heather’s first few years of her professional career she shared her time between Scottish Ballet, the Pantomime Theatre, and other international contracts. In 2014, Heather danced in Bendixen’s “Nutcracker” which allowed Heather to dance in Copenhagen the full year. “Copenhagen felt like a second home to me, and at this point I was not looking to move anymore.”
Being at the Right place at the Right time
However, change was in progress at the RDB. Denmark is a small country; the RDB School cannot produce a steady amount of talents each year. Some years there are many pupils, who can pass the apprentice exams, other years it can be down to two. Although the school has several talent centers attached, the numbers will still wary. Four years ago, it was decided to include an academic high school degree in the program. The decision had several consequences. The apprentice program gained an extra year and it was decided that the apprentices should now longer take part in the corps the ballet.
Therefore, the RDB had to sign on more dancers from outside to be able to perform the large-scale ballets like “La Bayadére” and “Swan Lake”.
So Heather Dunn finally got the call and not only took part in both ballets, but she also danced featured roles. While performing with the Royal Danish Ballet, Heather continued working at Tivoli.
“I reached a point where RDB felt like it would challenge me further as an artist. I decided to ask Nikolaj Hübbe, Artistic Director, and Silja Schandorff, Deputy Artistic Director, whether they could use me on a more permanent basis.” It was at that meeting Heather received a full year contract.
Since then Heather Dunn has established herself in the company. She has done several featured roles and is also an understudy for bigger roles. Not all dancers, joining the RDB from outside, prove a natural fit for the company, but Dunn is a seamless match. She looks like she has always been there. It is not only a good physical match, but the early input from Sorella Englund and the years at the Pantomime Theatre have given her the feel for the dramatic heritage as well.
However, Heather still finds connections between her past work at Tivoli and her future work with the Royal Danish Ballet. This past December Heather found herself performing the role of Columbine once more in Balanchine’s “Nutcracker”. As she played Columbine in TIVOLI for four years, she had no problem handling that challenge.
It is very likely that Heather Dunn will find herself taking on even bigger challenges.
Photos:
- Heather Dunn Photograph by Natasha Thiara Rydvald (Copyright (c) Royal Danish Ballet)
- Heather Dunn Photograph copyright (c) Jan Christensen
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