Royal Danish Ballet made every effort to impress for beloved Prima Ballerina Gudrun Bojesen's farewell performance. Through live and video performances, the company celebrated the unique ballerina's many contributions to the company, her strong viewpoints on company repertoire and her dedication to the Bournonville heritage. It became a night where miracles happened, but also a night that strongly showed where RDB should be heading and which roads should not be travelled.
Gudrun Bojesen has for several decades been synonymous with the Danish Ballet tradition. Not only is she educated at the RDB School, she has also close family links to Edel Petersen, an RDB dancer of former years who installed the love of Bournonville to her young relative. A heritage Gudrun Bojesen has pledged herself to defend, communicate and develop.
However, Gudrun Bojesen’s talent and career has covered so much more than Bournonville. Luckily, her farewell gala managed to cover almost all aspects of her talent and waste importance for the company and the art form.
Originally, Gudrun Bojesen’s farewell performance was scheduled for last season, where she reached the retirement age. However, a little miracle happened, which postponed the original plan. Last December Gudrun Bojesen became the mother of Gabriel, a delightful little boy. The performance was therefore moved to this season.
A Broader View
Normally a farewell performance will feature the star dancing a full performance of one of their most coveted roles. Instead last night’s program included four segments from Gudrun Bojesen’s career, as well as a segment from her production of Bournonville’s “La Ventana”, a preview of the upcoming production of “Giselle, several video interviews and an on stage talk show where Erik Aschengreen interviewed Gudrun Bojesen, “Nikolaj Hübbe and two of Gudrun Bojesen’s dance partners, Thomas Lund and Ulrik Birkkjær. The unusual format managed to display the great expand of Bojesen’s career and stagecraft.
As former RDB artistic director, Frank Andersen pointed out, Gudrun Bojesen has had three careers at the Royal Danish Ballet, first as the leading Bournonville Ballerina, Secondly as a classical Ballerina and finally as the great tragedienne. The video content showcased highlight like “The Lesson”, “Dances at a Gathering”, Nikiya in “La Bayadére”, “Kylian’s “Bella Figura”, “Onegin” And a large segment of her last – and in many ways greatest achievement: Marguerite in John Neumeier’s “Lady of the Camellias.”
Luckily, the lady also appeared in live performance, where Bojesen and Ulrik Birkkjær danced one of the best pas de deux from the ballet, known as the white pas de deux.
Testament to Youth
The performance followed two lines, the major line, of displaying the many aspects and highlights of Gudrun Bojesen’s career. The second one focused on her heritage, where a video of Gudrun Bojesen and fellow principal Mads Blangstrup dancing “The Flower Festival in Genzano Pas the deux” blending over in a life performance with young RDB stars principal Ida Praetorius and soloist Andreas Kaas. The young couple were also featured, with their co-casts in a segment from “Giselle” another Gudrun Bojesen highlight, which will appear in a new production by Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe this month.
Ida Praetorius is the obvious heiress to Gudrun Bojesen’s repertoire and position at RDB, and that she has the full support of Gudrun Bojesen herself, became very poignant during the final, where Bojesen pulled a surprised Praetorius to her side at the applauses.
This was not the only message to the future management of RDB. Another one, perhaps less predictable and intended happened in the Bournonville segments.
Old Friends at Play
Gudrun Bojesen opened the performance with dancing the Bournonville jockey dance, originally choreographed for two boys, with her close friend, former RDB Principal. Gitte Lindstrøm, who retired two years ago. The two women first presented their version 11 years ago at the third Bournonville Festival. Together with Mads Blangstrup and Thomas Lund, the four dancers represented a strong commitment to Bournonville, a tradition they upheld through a difficult period with many new and definitely not all Bournonville-oriented ballet masters.
Gudrun Bojesen’s on stage partnership with Thomas Lund ended earlier than expected when Thomas Lund retired early to take over the leadership of The RDB School in 2010. He has stayed away from the stage since, but became a key figure in this performance. Not only in the talk show part and video heritage, but also dancing not only the Funny Quaker pas de deux from the 18th century Galeotti ballet “ The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master” with Gudrun Bojesen, but also partnering her in the finale scene – and the final item of the evening - from “la Sylphide”.
Although Thomas Lund has left his dancing days behind him, and he do not even look like a trim ballet dancer anymore he and Bojesen left a poignant reminder on how to dance and act the important heritage. Three seasons ago, Nikolaj Hübbe presented his cold climate version of “La Sylphide”, which made James a player on a much broader field. Bojesen and Lund managed to build the strongest case for the tradition and also how heart rendering this passage can be. This was two stars showing us all – and Nikolaj Hübbe – how well and eternal Bournonville stands on his own merits.
Nikolaj Hübbe has created this evening to celebrate one of the greatest dancers, the RDB has ever produced. A dancer with an affinity and love for the national tradition and the art form. However, celebrating her one evening is not enough. Her brand of ballet is the brand, RDB should keep alive.
Photo Credits:
- Gudrun Bojesen in "Swan Lake" by Costin Radu (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
- Gudrun Bojesen and Ulrik Birkkjær in "Lady of the Camellias" by Costin Radu (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
- Gudrun Bojesen and Mads Blangstrup in "Giselle" by Henrik Stenberg (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
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