Eva Kistrup

Standing Strong

 

interview with Lucas Praetorius, Hamburg Ballet School

October 19, 2017

 

When an apprentice on a leading ballet school are told to leave, many pupils breaks down, and some carry the stigma with them for the rest of their life.

Not Lucas Praetorius. Four months after being told that he was no longer an apprentice of Royal Danish Ballet School, he feels that he is in a winning position:

“Looking at my life today, I feel that everything has changed to the better. I am attending a very good school, The Hamburg Ballet School. I have excellent teachers, but most importantly, through this period and upheaval I have become even more assured that ballet is what I want to pursue. I feel that I have reached a point where I am the one responsible for my future career. I am responsible for developing my skills. I continue with ballet because this is what I want to do. It is 100 % up to me to reach my goals. It is my project. I feel like I am the luckiest boy in the world.”

 

The Believer

 

Gregory Dean:

”The Forgotten Children”

Royal Danish Ballet School

October 12, 2017

The Old Stage

 

The same week the historic Danish amusement park TIVOLI get slammed for naming a new ride “The Haunted Orphanage”, the Royal Danish Ballet School  premiers their annually children’s ballet, “The Forgotten Children”, which also includes haunted children and beyond death experiences. However, contrary to TIVOLI, they receive loud and jubilant applause from an audience consisting of school classes and a handful of ballet reviewers.

This seasons children's ballet is choreographed by Principal Dancer Gregory Dean, based on a libretto by Danish writer Kim Fupz Aakeson. Gregory Dean is also involved in the designs of costumes and stage design, both being innovative and tasteful.

 

Fairy Tale and Fables

The RDB has presented children’s ballets for a longer period. For many years, the annual or biannual run consisted of ballets based on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, choreographed by the late Lise la Cour and often starring the very young Thomas Lund. After a longer hiatus, the tradition was re-instated with Thomas Lund himself as the creator of “Teddy goes Ballet”, based on a very popular children’s television series, which became a great hit. For the last seasons Esther Lee Wilkinson’s and Shane Brox’s production, ”The Fable Maker” has entertained the children in their autumn break. For this season Nikolaj Hübbe has ask his leading man, Gregory Dean to create a show piece for the ballet school.

 

The Poor Cousin

 

 

Sebastian Kloborg:

NOSTOS

Corpus

October 7, 2017

 

The Underground Carpark

The Drama House

 

What do you do when you are invited to create a ballet for a company of only six dancers and with limited resources? Well, if you are choreographer and former RDB soloist, Sebastian Kloborg, you chose to go as big as possible.

Instead of using the studio scene Asalen, the home base of Corpus, you asks for the biggest space available, the giant parking house build beside the Royal Theatre Drama House. You also ask for seven new AUDI 5 cars and you ask for 1, 3 kilometer of plastic to dress the parking house and for volunteers to hang it.

Well, Sebastian Kloborg must have persuasive powers, because somehow Corpus managed to supply all of his demands. However, not without some trouble. The culture editors in the Danish press hit on the AUDI component, stating the RDB should not function as a marketing tool for a commercial venture. The editors accepts that the Royal Theatre has commercial sponsors, but they should not gain exposure in the actual productions.   

Too Much of a Good Thing

 

“Silk & Knife 2”

September 30, 2017

Royal Danish Ballet

The Old Stage

 

There is no doubt that Jiri Kylian is a first rate choreographer. There is likewise no doubt that the RDB is a great company. However, as the premiere of “ Silk & Knife 2” yesterday made abundantly clear is that they are not a seamless match. RDB has its force in big scale classical and dramatic ballets, spearheaded by a group of outstanding stars and with a backbone of a strong corps de ballet. Jiri Kylian has his entire career worked with smaller ensembles with little hierarchy.

 Where RDB can carry the big stage sets, the Kylian catalog limits itself on few dancers and rather bare designs. The RDB is accustomed to perform with a live orchestra whereas the Kylian traditions depends on recorded music or sounds. The common determinator is rather small.

When the first “Silk & Knife” production had its premiere on RDB in 2008, at least two although small segments  was choreographed on RDB dancers, stars Gudrun Bojesen and Thomas Lund, and celebrated character dancers Jette Buchwald and Flemming Ryberg. This time around, the Kylian’s assistants take care of the whole process. It is not a unusual praxis in today’s ballet world. However, as the whole program is dedicated to Kylian’s work, some facetime with the choreographer himself could have been the sparkle that lights the production.