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.
Starpov creates not only his own step register. He brings on a wife, lovers, ghosts, forest creatures in a 20 persons cast.
Both performances so far have ended in full house standing ovations. At a time when RDB again is facing financial cuts, which in this case have let to dropping the character dancers as permanent company members, it is manna from heaven to see such impressive talent manifest itself.
Classic on the Inside
The concept of Dance2Go is to bring in new audience by offering a combination of modern and classical ballet at a budget prize. This year the classical components consist of August Bournonville’s “La Conservatoire” and Jerome Robbins “Other Dances”.
While “Other Dances” obviously was considered street enough to retain its traditional look, “La Conservatoire” got a makeover and instead of the white Biedermeier costumes, was presented in modern training gear. A decision that might have seemed a good idea on paper, but in reality blurred the choreography. If an update was wanted, I am sure, that somewhere in the big warehouse storing RDB costumes in containers, there would be a set of neutral costumes that could have done the job.
Ulrik Birkkjær, who in 2015 presented a successful break-up Bournonville tour to UK and USA was the spokesperson on the video intro on “Le Conservatoire” and explained the challenges and quality of the ballet.
Qualities that was clearly visible in his own performance as the ballet master. He also brought his authority to the role, where first cast ’s Alexander Stæger remained more anonymous.
The two leading lady roles follow Bournonville normal pattern for pas de trois, where one will be the soft partner and the other the virtuoso soloist. However, in this production it was the soft Victorines who won the game. Maybe the lack of a defined room and the makeshift costumes , resulted in that neither Holly Jean Dorger nor Camilla Ruelykke Holst could place Eliza’s virtuoso solo as dominant as usual. Somehow the role of Victorine suffered less. Both Caroline Baldwin and especially Lena- Maria Gruber created charming and beautifully executed Victorines. Both Baldwin and Gruber are very musical, and Gruber’s exquisite ground skimming work created memories of the fine “Donizetti Variations” she danced with Alban Lendorf years ago.
Caught in the Middle
The middle part of the Dance2Go recipe, the pas de deux, consisted of Jerome Robbins “Other Dances”, which has been danced by RDB in 2010. The first round taught us that “Other Dances” is dependent of more than brilliant dancers. They must be able to break the code themselves. The choreography alone will not do it for them. In the video intro, Nikolaj Hübbe stated that it should look like the dancers invented the steps on the spot. Unfortunately ,first cast out matriculate Gregory Dean and J’aime Crandall could not catch the spirit and the scent of creating on the spot. There is also a significant height difference that somehow hindered the camaraderie, which is an essential part of the pas de deux.
When second cast Ida Praetorius and Marcin Kupinski entered the stage it became clear why they are cast so often together. Physically they are a perfect match with long slim limbs, blue eyes and blond hair. More importantly they brought not only the twinness to the pas de deux, but also the playfulness, the energy and the feeling of creating then and there. It was a brilliant and charming performance.
It was an interesting evening with an interesting conclusion. It was not the world famous choreographers who stole the show. Instead it became the newcomer’s evening and perhaps the beginning of an interesting future for the young choreographer and the very old company.
Photos By Henrik Stenberg (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
- 1. Andreas Kaas in "Begining and Ending"
- 2. Sebastian Haynes in "Beginning and Ending"
- 3. Ensemble in "Beginning and Ending"
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