The Chamber Ballet
Adam Lüders:
”Prokofievs Visions Fugetives”
Kristian Lever:
”Unravel”
& ”Coping”
Tobias Praetorius:
”Bach Solo Duet”
Alessandro Sousa Pereia
“After Kingdom”
Takkeloftet
The Opera
August 15 & 16 2018
Most small dance events relay heavily on recorded music. Even a pianist is a seldom part of the equation. The Chamber Ballet chose the different road and built two evening performances of new ballet creations with a live music, supplied by Trio Vitruvi, a classic ensemble and a fine selection of top Royal Danish Ballets stars and dancers. Yes, it is a small-scale production, never the less the quality of music and dance was high, and somehow the format strengthened the quality of choreography created for the event.
Coordinating the dance elements, starring in most of them and choreographing one, upcoming RDB star Tobias Praetorius managed to impress in all categories. Since his outstanding performance in Liam Scarlett´s “Queen of Spades”, he has kept developing at a high rate and found the confidence to put all of his talent out there.
A New York moment
The first ballet on the menu ”Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives” by former NYCB star Adam Lüders, and displayed four dancers. Lüders have choreographed various smaller ballets, primary as part of his teaching/coaching responsibilities at the Royal Danish Ballet. It suited him so well to work with a bigger ensemble, consisting of company stars Ida Praetorius & Andreas Kaas with Emma Håkansson and the ever-present Tobias Praetorius.
Lüders followed a well-known NYCB structure with a more classical duo, Ida Praetorius/Andreas Kaas, and a faster demi character/soubrette pairing of Tobias Praetorius and Emma Håkansson. Especially by giving Tobias Praetorius, the fast and furious segments displayed his Barysnikov/Villella qualities as opposite to the danseur noble style of Andreas Kaas.
However, Tobias Praetorius had much more on offer.
Dynamic Duo
Finnish – British choreographer Kristian Lever has earlier worked with Royal Danish Ballet dancers in addition to creations for the National Youth Ballet of Germany, the Royal Danish Ballet, dancers of Nederland’s Dans Theater, Hessisches Staatsballett and many others.
Lever presented two new creations, both on a high standard. His duo for Alba Nadal and Tobias Praetorius “Unravel” to Ravels “Pavane pour un infant défunte” could easily move on to be the popular showcase for various RDB events, thereby pensioning of the Pas de Deux from Alexander Ekman’s “Cacti” which has been performed on so many reach out events.
Kristian Lever have worked earlier with Tobias Praetorius and Alba Nadal, and that may have been a factor in this creation being unusually strong for a new ballet. It comes across as a relationship story, where the two dancers uses all their dramatic skills. When Nikolaj Hübbe recently promoted four girls to Soloists, many audience members complaint that Alba Nadal was overlooked for promotion. This creation displays her and Tobias Praetorius class leading dramatic and modern skills. It was the high point of the first evening. .
Although, not hitting the bulls eye as “Unravel” did, there as a lot to applaud in Kristian Levers second creation “Coping”, a ballet about a girl, danced by Stephanie Chen-Gundorph (another talent overlooked for promotion) who is hurting following an attack/killing on her boyfriend, danced of course by Tobias Praetorius, surrounded by the full ensemble. Lever managed to tell a strong story in short- not always coherent – flashbacks. However, it was a brave attempt, and it did came very close to succeeding.
Day 2
On the second performance two new creations made their courtesy. Tobias Praetorius had created a solo for Liam Redhead, who often is Praetorius opposite number in a number of ballets. The solo was short, pleasing and coherent. Everything you look for in a first work.
The other new entry was “After Kingdom” by Alessandro Sousa Perreia to Shostakovich´s Piano Trio nr 2 in E minor.
According to the program notes, “After Kingdom” paints an arrival to unknown states of being, wherein there exist freedom from figure, line and reality. The music and dance conjure up the kingdoms of the spirits”.
I am sorry to say, this was not the impression I got from the ballet. To me it looked very inspired by Akram Khan’s “Vertical Road”, which have been a big hit at RDB for the last seasons. The beginning where one man meet the big group and finally being accepted seems very close the Khan´s work.
Pereira has made several ballets for RDB, often for a comparatively big cast of unisex dancers dressed alike. He stays true to his formula, but somehow Shostakovich do not look like his obvious running mate.
A Good Mix
In all The Chamber Ballet managed to mix two art forms normally not that mixable, and it highlighted the talent of company stars and up comers. It is an impressive result given the limited resources.
The Praetorius name has been a marker for RDB for several years, mainly carried by company ballerina Ida Praetorius. This program also showed that RDB has another Praetorius in the ensemble, whose talent may go even as far. Especially convenient as RDB have lent/lost several of their leading male dancers to international companies.
It is good news that Tobias Praetorius can produce interesting small-scale events. But even better his talent and dedication implies that he can be a leading figure in the RDBs presence and future.
Photo: Praxtising "After Kingdom" Photo Copyright (c) Henning Sjøstrøm
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