Interview with Jón Axel Fransson
November 19, 2018
In many ways, Jón Axel Fransson is the most important dancer at the Royal Danish Ballet. Although he has not yet been promoted to principal dancer, reviewers and audiences are eagerly awaiting his much deserved promotion.
Fransson has a range that few male dancers can match. He is the danseur noble, demi-character, mime, comic, equilibrist, modern dancer, partner, bad guy and the clown. He feels naturally at home in works by Balanchine, Bournonville, Petipa, Lander, Neumeier, Scarlett, Wheeldon, Marston and Ekman. In the recent production of Nikolaj Hübbe’s “Napoli” he once again showed the audience his versatility in a company classic, almost believed to be lost.
Putting Napoli back in “Napoli”
When Nikolaj Hübbe presented his take on Bournonville’s masterpiece “Napoli” in 2009, he took a very radical road; taking away the religious aspects and shifting the time period to the 1950s Fellini age. The second act was expelled and completely reworked with new music and a new storyline, which in many ways, was a step too far.
The changes were hardest on the key role, the young pious fisherman, Gennaro, who in Bournonville’s original recovers his lost love, through his kindness and strong religious beliefs. Since Hübbe’s creation of this ballet nine years ago, the dancers who have been cast as Gennaro have all been struggling with the role.
Too many key scenes have been reduced to almost nothing. For instance, when Gennaro returns to the town with his catch of fish he sets aside an extra portion for the Church. This scene was created by Bournonville as a reminder to the audience that Gennaro is a faithful Christian man that does not deserve to be treated with disrespect or receive the bullying and slandering from the market traders and locals. In Hübbe’s version, this important scene flops. He has also made significant changes in creating new choreography for Gennaro and Teresina throughout the whole ballet, all of which is substandard when compared to the original choreography.
It took Jón Axel Fransson to make this version of “Napoli” rise to what it once was:
“I was very lucky to not only have an outstanding partner in Stephanie Chen Gundorph, but also the privilege of working with Sorella Englund on the purity of the characters”.
Fransson built his interpretation of the role on some of the most iconic Gennaro’s in recent history:
“I have always admired Principals Mads Blangstrup and Thomas Lund who made especially touching Gennaro’s. They were my main inspiration for the role. However, the changes and cuts in this version of Napoli, made it challeging to include all that I wanted to bring to Gennaro. Still, I am rather satisfied with the end result and especially the interpretation Sorella, Stephanie and I managed to create.”
Pushing Himself
It is an unusual situation to find Fransson satisfied with his own performance. He is known to be very hard on himself and while the audience is captivated by his performance he consistently critiques himself and therefore is his own harshest critic.
Last year he was one of the artists featured in a behind the scenes documentary “In the Front Line” of life as a dancer at the theater where he performed the principal role in George Balanchine’s “Rubies”. Included were his frustrations about his performance in this notable part, which came as a surprise to me and many others who considered his performance as one of the finest interpretations of this role, we have ever seen.
Maybe it is a two-edged sword. Would he reach his high levels and original interpretations if he were not so hard on himself? He certainly has an outstanding skillset and impeccable training.
Learning from the Best
As an apprentice Fransson was fortunate to have the inspirational teacher, the late Truman Finney, as his main mentor. As a result of this training he was able to enter the RDB ensemble with a high level of technique and an impeccable style. In result, Fransson became Alban Lendorf’s opposite, likely because he was the only dancer that could match Lendorf’s high skill set.
I interviewed both Fransson and Lendorf in their early years. They were both very ambitious and not fully satisfied with the roles they received. Both wanted to be Romeo, but had to settle for Mercutio, which they both nailed. Fransson wanted the mazurka in “Etudes” instead of the secondary part he was given, while Lendorf who performed the Mazurka, wanted Fransson’s feet. Well, Fransson got the Mazurka but both are still waiting for Romeo.
Waiting in the Wings
As much as one can admire the great range and outstanding performances that Fransson brings to the stage, there are still a significant number of roles he has yet to be cast in. Instead they have gone to dancers with less dancing and acting skills.
For instance, while there have been seven casts of Siegfried in “Swan Lake”, Fransson has not yet been cast in the role. As one of the best classical dancers and partners, it seems strange. He did create a fantastic Von Rothbart, which was nominated for the Reumert Best Dancer of the year award, but he could also have added much to the Hamlet-like Siegfried of this production. He is also still waiting for James in “La Sylphide” and Albrecht in “Giselle”. Perhaps being such an outstanding villain costs him the heroes.
Going Dramatic
This year, Fransson got the Reumert for Best Dancer award, from a combination of the character Valmont in Kathy Marston’s creation, “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” and as Tomski in Liam Scarlett´s outstanding “Queen of Spades”.
The double-edged role of Valmont was a perfect fit for Fransson. However, this production also called on one of his other skills, photography:
“The cast of ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ decided to make the promotional photos of the production ourselves. As I enjoy photography as a hobby, it became an interesting project to develop my skills taking photos of dancers while adding my artistic side to my photography”
The result was outstanding and much admired. Fransson has also photographed several other dancers, but at this time, he is taking a break from photography and dedicating himself 100% to his dancing.
A dancer with Fransson’s range is a great gift to any company. One would expect he’d be even more valuable in a time when the company is losing several talented male dancers and is not able to produce them. One can see Fransson’s comedic side in the upcoming production of Christopher Wheeldon’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, returning for its second Christmas run with the company, as the White Rabbit and March Hare.
What Fransson has done for “Napoli”, he has also done for countless other productions at the Royal Danish Ballet. By investing so much of himself, he makes ballets better and opens them up for new interpretations. He is the dancer; the company cannot afford to lose.
Photos:
- Jón Axel Fransson in "Raymonda" by Klaus Vedfeldt (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
- Jón Axel Fransson as Gennaro in "Napoli" by Henrik Stenberg (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
- Jáime Crandall and Jón Axel Fransson by Costin Radu in "Rubies"
- Astrid Elbo and Jón Axel Fransson in "Les Liasons Dangereuses" by Costin Radu (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
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