“The Hübbery”
March 25, 2017
“Ballet de Luxe”
First Act
Pas de deux from August Bournonville’s The Flower Festival in Genzano
Pas de deux from August Bournonville’s William Tell
Ballabile from August Bournonville’s Napoli
Second Act
Pas de deux from Arthur Saint-Léon’s Coppélia
Pas de deux from Marius Petipa’s Swan Lake
George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux
Pas de deux from John Neumeier’s Romeo and Juliet
Third Act
George Balanchine: Theme and Variations
March 28, 2017
In a recent interview in Berlingske Tidende, The Director of the Royal Theatre, Morten Hesseldal stated that regarding the theatre´s audience:
“Earlier, attendance was considered as a marker showing that you were a well-educated person on a certain level. That kind of marker is no longer a part of the social interaction. We therefore need to sell the theatre on other parameters.”
He is probably right and at presently the Royal Theatre is trying its hardest to attract new and existing audience with a high number of new concepts.
Looking at Nikolaj Hübbe´s tenure so far, he has created several new concepts to market ballet for different target audiences:
There are the In-house company “Corpus” for experimental choreography. “Dance2go” is the budget solution for the young audience. There is “Brunch and Ballet“ (seeing company class for free and a budget brunch) and “Breakfast with Bournonville” (the ballet children´s own productions) as well as “Big Ballet School Day”, where pupils of private ballet schools gets to show their skills on the RDB stage. There are also open rehearsals and special events for subscribers.
There is the annual summer tour to the provinces, and bigger tours to major Danish cities. And Finally, there is “The Hubbery”, a talk and dance show, created to get ballet ignorants or haters to love the art form by market it in combination with popular artists and experts. The Hübbery has three annual performances.
So nobody can accuse the RBD for not trying to gain a new audience. The Annual Report has recently been published showing the RDB to be the much successful of the three arts form, even after facing a financial cut down. Looking at the figures it is clear that it is the big scale productions who bring in the audience. “The Hubbery” has fine audience figures for the two performances in the last year (The report covers the year 2016, while the annual season runs September-June).
Making the Pieces fit
For this season the first of "The Hübbery"was turned into a farewell event for Prima Ballerina Gudrun Bojesen. The second installment was supposed to follow the theme of Fear. Well some ballets suit the theme better than others. Wayne McGregor’s “Infra” did not only suit the theme. The actuality of what had happened on Westminster Bridge in London made the message even more poignant.
A new ballet made for the appretencies by Lotte Sigh, danced almost in the dark may have kept to the theme but the overuse of the dancers´ jackets as props become more annoying than effective.
Kizzy Matiakis did Myrtha’s solo on an empty stage. Alban Lendorf was absolutely outstanding in “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux”, which is difficult to link with the theme. Nevertheless, it proved to be the best argument for giving ballet a chance. Neither the philosopher, the drama director nor the singasongwriter brought anything of lasting value to the concept. I cannot share their names as there was no playbill handed out.
However, I do feel that “The Hubbery” has run it course. Putting a programme together for just one evening seems an unnecessary effort.
Why not instead make another "Dance2go" program which could give more dancers new challenge, rerun some good ballets and give the talented in-house choreographers like Oliver Starpov and Gregory Dean a place to showcase their work. It will probably make more return business for the company.
Staying or Going?
Is “Ballet de Luxe” a one season event, or is it a new concept in making? Following the first performance I would have denied the possibility of seeing the format again. However, the second cast sold it so much better, that maybe there could be a future for the event, if an event it is.
Where John Neumeier’s "Romeo & Juliet" seemed totally out of place on the first night, it was completely sold by the brilliant and perfectly type cast Ida Praetorius and Andreas Kaas.
Showing “Theme & Variations”, a ballet I love to distraction, with its perfect first cast, J’aime Crandall and Jon Axel Fransson is a gift to the audience. Fransson is stylish, technically strong and he can partner J’aime Crandall as no other leading man in the company can. He brings her into focus and their Pas de Deux really shows all the ingridience and originality, Balanchine has put in it. It should be considered as one of the best pas de deux’s ever made.
Getting the best piece of the Cake
The company’s stars have each got two roles, and some have been luckier than others. Perhaps the luckiest girl in this production is Soloist Caroline Baldwin. In addition to “Theme and Variations”, she also got a shot at “Tchaikovsky pas de deux”, where she, supported by Marcin Kupinski, showed a softer and pleasingly musical interpretation of the ballet in contrast to the hard-hitting version present on first night by Holly Jean Dorger.
It was therefore an equally great experience to see a softer and charming Dorger in "Coppelia Pas de Deux" with likewise minded Sebastian Haynes. It is not the most difficult nor original Pas De Deux out there, but it can be a pleasing break in an otherwise hard packed programme.
If Baldwin is the lucky one, Kizzy Matiakis is on the other end of the scale. Of course, she could do Bournonville’s “William Tell Pas de deux” but it is not a major piece. On the other end on the scale she was rewarded the “Black Swan Pas de Deux” with outstanding partner Gregory Dean. Much more an Odette than Odile she had to struggle not only with the steps but also with the audience memories of the high production values of Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe’s “Swan Lake”. Reducing it to two persons on an empty stage put great demands on the dancers.
Bournonville in Trouble
As on first night the really problematic area is the Bournonville segment. The Ballabile is beautifully rendered by the cast, “William Tell Pas De Deux” holds its own with newly promoted soloist Alexander Bozinoff and outstanding Bournonville dancer Lena Maria Gruber. However, “Flower Festival in Genzano” once again shows that all is not well in Bournonville land. In second cast Jonathan Chmelensky replaced Sebastian Haynes as Amy Watson’s partner.
When Alban Lendorf joined ABT as a part-time Principal. Chmelensky benefitted the most and last season saw him in leadings roles in the modern programs, as Siegfried in Act 2 of “Swan Lake”, the Nutcracker prince, the leads in “Theme and Variations”, “Don Quixote” “Come Fly Away” and Gennaro in “Napoli” on the China Tour.
This season has really been all about the young upcoming male stars and Chmelensky has had less exposure. In both “Theme and Variations” and in “Flower Festival” he is simply trying too hard to showcase his skills. Both ballets actually demands more style than pyrotechnics.
Hopefully, Nikolaj Hübbe will understand the needs for a clear strategy to bring a unified and dynamic company coherence on how Bournonville should be danced on the home stage. After all it is one of his key assignments.
Photos (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet) by Costin Radu
- Ida Praetorius & Gregory Dean in "Infra"
- Kizzy Matiakis as Myrtha in "Giselle"
- Jon Alex Fransson & Jáime Crandall in Theme & Variations
- Ida Praetorius & Andreas Kaas in "Romeo & Juliet
- Caroline Baldwin in "Theme & Variations"
- Jonathan Chmelensky in "Lady of the Camellias"
Comments