Eva Kistrup

A Perfect Year

  Interview with Ida Praetorius

January 29, 2017

 

The year 2016 became the year where Royal Danish Ballet’s Ida Praetorius, 23 took the step from being the next big thing to being the prima ballerina. Not only did she gain the expected appointment to principal dancer, she took on the leads in seven big productions, including Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, Alice, Don Quixote and Theme & Variations as well as starred in two cinema & TV-productions.

I meet with her on the first day of her well-deserved Winter break, to learn how she had coped with the big challenges.

A Winter's Tale

 

Kenneth Greve:

”The Snow Queen”

Finnish  National Ballet 

The Opera Stage

Copenhagen

January 27, 2017

More and more ballet companies try to create a tradition for a family Christmas ballet. Financially it makes a lot of sense. It brings in the money and it also brings in a younger audience who might get the taste for ballet.

Kenneth Greve, former leading star at Royal Danish Ballet and now Artistic Director for the Finnish National Ballet found a subject covering not only his Danish roots and Finnish folklore, but also include an easy connection to some of the most successful concepts in ballets, mysterious fairies and queens as well as children protagonists.

Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen” is the story of two childhoods friend separated by the evil magic of the Snow Queen, and reunited after Gerda, the girl protagonist goes on a search and battle the evil Queen.

The Finnish National Ballet is bringing the “Snow Queen” to Copenhagen as part of celebrating the Centenary of the Independent Finnish State. It gives the Copenhagen audience a change to see the Finnish ballet, and in a context, familiar to them.

 

Dead Poet's Club

Dance2Go

August Bournonville:

“La Conservatoire”

 

Jerome Robbins;

“Other Dances”

 

Oliver Marcus Starpov;

“Beginning & Ending”

 

Royal Danish Ballet

The Old Stage

January 11 & 12, 2017

 

This year Dance2Go production gave RDB and its audience a gift we have longed for in ages. A home-grown choreographer who could deliver a full size original and innovative ballet. 

21 year old Oliver Marcus Starpov found his special gift as a member of Company B, the ballet children own ensemble. The in-house company CORPUS became his next platform, and he got his big break when asked to choreograph the Russian and Spanish divertissement in Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe’s production of “Swan Lake”. His last oeuvre was another work for CORPUS that showcased his skills in modern dance choreography.

 With “Beginning and Ending” he takes on the big challenge of creating a full scale ballet for 20 dancers, lasting 40 minutes, targeting life and death issues. He could not have set himself a harder test.  There is not one point in the ballet, where you feel that he is quoting from other choreographers. Nor is there any moment where you feel bored. Starpov is very good in moving people around the stage.  There is a constant energy and especially the last segment where the protagonist, the poet, a role shared by equally brilliant soloists Andreas Kaas and Sebastian Haynes, enters the heavenly stage.