Royal Danish Ballet: La Sylphide/Etudes, Copenhagen

[BristolBillyBob]

Hi all.

 

I managed to snag a last minute ticket to the RDB performance of La Sylphide/Etudes next Friday as part of my also last minute spur-of-the-moment trip to Copenhagen! So I thought I'd start a thread in case (1) anyone else is going and fancies saying hello or (2) anyone has any insider tips of things to do in Copenhagen (or, for that matter, Malmö)!

 

I've never seen RDB before, but I notice the website mentions they have some dancers from England. I can't spot them on the website though. Anyone know who they are? Is there anything else worth knowing about RDB or this production beforehand?

 

I am very excited.

Edited February 20, 2015 by BristolBillyBob

[aileen]

Gregory Deane is one. He trained at Tring. He really stood out in the recent programme at the Peacock Theatre. Kizzy Matiakis is another, although she may not have trained in England. Jane S will have more information.

[Jane S]

If they stick to the announced casting you will see Gregory Dean as James - I thought he was very good indeed. Kizzy Matiakis might be one of the leading Sylphs or in the corps de ballet in Etudes - she did train in England,  with Leo Kersley and then at the Central school, I think, but she never danced with a British company.

 

Just a couple of pieces of advice about your theatre visit: they don't like you taking your outdoor coat into the auditorium - but don't bother checking it in, there are free cloakrooms on every level and the only problem with them is remembering which peg you used. Also the rows are numbered in a different way: odd numbers on the left, even numbers on the right, with 1 and 2 being in the middle of the row - and the only time I've had a real ticking off in Denmark was on an early visit when we had seats 1 and 3 and went in from the 'wrong' end so that the couple in 2 and 4 had to stand up to let us through! - a serious breach of etiquette, apparently.

 

If I were you I wouldn't read too much about the new Sylphide - just be aware that it's an experiment driven by Nikolaj Hubbe's wish to play Madge as a man. The set is very minimalist but the choreography is exactly the same as in the traditional version.

 

Watch out for Jon Axel Fransson in Etudes - I haven't seen him yet but have read excellent reviews of him and will be interested to hear what you think!

 

Be warned that Copenhagen is very expensive! - although the exchange rate at present is much better than it has been.

 

Hope you have a great time and look forward to your report when you get back.

[Jan McNulty]

I don't know how long you are going for B³ but when not at the ballet I love the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (one of my top 3 museums) and the hot houses at the Botanic Gardens.  I think it is too early in the year for a boat trip on the canals but Copenhagen is a lovely city to wander around!

 

I am seriously jealous of your trip.

[toursenlair]

they have a great brunch at this place:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Kys/157294767625889

[BristolBillyBob]

Well, as it’s been nearly a week since I saw the fantastic Sylphiden and Études double bill at the Royal Danish Theatre, my memory is a little hazier than I like it to be when I'm reviewing so I'll just go into the highlights of what I remember. 

 

First things first, the Royal Danish Theatre (Gamle Scene) is a beautiful venue. It's a classically European grand, multi-tiered, horseshoe opera house. Its opulence gives it a wonderful sense of occasion, but the relatively small size means that I don't think there's a poor seat in the house. Even the very top tier, where my surprise ballet buddy (whom I met on a walking tour during the day) found a seat, seemed close enough to the stage to feel a part of the action. The seating doesn’t curve right up to the side of the arch either like it does at the Royal Opera House, so if you’re paying a visit, don’t feel like you’re getting short-changed in the cheap seats.

 

It was my first time seeing La Sylphide, but I very much enjoyed it. It's a lean ballet in terms of running time, but has two very distinct acts, much like Giselle, at least in this version. The stage at the Royal Danish Theatre is pretty compact for a ballet stage, and so it was surprising that the fairly simple first act set took up easily a third of the floor space. Oddly, though, while it seemed to hem in the solo performers in places, the corps sections filled the stage effortlessly without coming across as cramped.

 

I’ve frequently said that Birmingham Royal Ballet’s men are the equals of the women in the company. From what I saw last Friday, the men at Royal Danish Ballet even have the edge. Gregory Dean, Sebastian Haynes and Andreas Kaas were all superb. If you knew nothing about ballet and had to describe what you imagined a Scandinavian style would be like, you’d probably come up with all the adjectives to describe this trio of fantastic dancers. They were all powerful, but with a control and a... neatness to their dancing that could've been an exhibit in Designmuseum Danmark.  Gregory Dean, flying the flag for us Brits, is a sensational dancer, and one of the finest male performers I’ve seen. He has as clean lines as I’ve seen, and dances with a measured, restrained grace during the first act. During the second act, this restraint makes way for a growing emotionality, culminating in a devastating finale for his character. It’s a note-perfect performance. He is a massive credit to the company and we should be proud to have such a fine dancer flying the flag overseas. Haynes and Kaas, who I’m staggered to see are both still in the corps were excellent too, with Haynes in particular a fierce Madge, with swagger, malevolence and arrogance in droves.

 

The style (as I saw it) of Royal Danish Ballet is abundantly apparent in the ballerinas of the company. The feather lightness and grace results in a startling silence to the dancing. Even during the corps scenes, it’s as if the cast are suspended in the air. Amy Watson, as Sylphide, was a sublime dancer. While I felt like it took her a little while to fully inhabit the character (or at least convince me), her PDDs with Dean in the second act fully took off with a genuine chemistry between them. This lift in her characterisation means that by the time of La Sylphide’s Dying Swan tribute, the tragedy really hits home. 

 

The costumes in act one were all in multiple shades of grey (note to self: have a word with the RDB marketing department about how to capitalise on prevailing cultural trends), tending towards the charcoal end, and reminded me of some of the cooler, simpler costume designs of BRB. The muted style of the costumes is mirrored in the set, which is a deep, almost black, shade. While this might seem drab, it acts at the perfect counterpoint to the second act. As the curtain goes up after the interval, the brilliant, blank whiteness of the stage floods the auditorium and garnered a bit of a gasp. This is ballet blanc writ large. The solid white cube of the stage lends an otherworldly quality to the dances of the sylphs. It’s like ballet meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s a simple approach to staging a performance, but incredibly powerful, particularly during James’s collapse. As he crouches, devastated, on the stage, the brilliant whiteness ever-so-gradually faded to black, and the contrast was heartbreakingly dramatic. Part of me wished the ballet could’ve ended on that vision.

 

La Sylphide would have left me plenty satisfied, but the ever-generous Danes were still to treat us to the balletic feast that is Études. It’s a love letter to ballet and to ballet dancers. In this regard, it reminded me a little of Serenade. However, I took a while to warm to Études. It starts off quite slowly, but builds to some quite remarkable scenes towards the end. J’aime Crandall was a superb dancer, and her partnerships towards the end had me and my charming Danish next door neighbour exchanging looks and “wow”s (or, in her case, “wøw”s). Overall, though, this is a piece for showing off with. It involves almost the entire company, and every dancer delivered. What a depth of talent the RDB has! The Danes are incredibly lucky. I did find myself, though, wondering how the self-assuredness of the Royal Ballet or New York City Ballet would power through the piece. I bet it would be quite something. As a demonstration piece, I guess Études is fairly peerless. However, as an homage to the joy of ballet, I found myself pining for Serenade’s gentle subtext and emotional power. 

 

Anyway, I’ve waffled on long enough. Great show, great company, and I’ll be first in line for tickets if they ever come to the UK again!

 

PS. As an aside from my trip, the Danish people are some of the loveliest, kindest, friendliest people I’ve ever met, and Copenhagen is an intriguing city. Even the Little Mermaid, which everyone meanly describes as ‘Europe’s Most Underwhelming Attraction’, was a charming lass. Nice work, Denmark.

Edited March 4, 2015 by BristolBillyBob

[aileen]

BristolBillyBob, a great review. You may be interested to hear that Etudes is in the repertoire of ENB who have performed it many times. Last time they performed it, a couple of years ago, Alban Lendorf was brought in at short notice to replace an injured Vadim Muntagirov; he performed on the Friday evening and at the Sunday matinee, I recollect, and went back to Copenhagen in between to dance in something. I'm glad that you liked Gregory Dean. He really impressed when he came to London in January.

[Two Pigeons]

Thank you so much for this lovely review. I really envy you the trip and the whole experience.

 

Your review touched on two great causes and effects of the Bournonville style and its legacy. The first is that August Bournonville believed that the male dancer was at least the equal if the ballerina and gave him solos and variations to match. This tradition has led to the Danish school producing some if the greatest male dancers in the world. One if them, Peter Schaufuss described a Bournonville pas de deux as a conversation between two people rather than an exercise in porteuring.

 

The second is that the jumps are high but not long. This was dictated by the small size of the stage, which is the other point you noticed.

 

As a keen fan of BRB I expect that like me you are watching the progress of Luke Schaufuss with keen attention. I first saw him in Nutcracker and I picked him out instantly as his Danish training shows. Hus epaulement is quite different, nobler some how than this fellow dancers.

 

Lastly, many years ago I attended a talk given by Kevin O'Hare and he talked very warmly about an exchange period he had in Denmark. He said he and Jeremy Sheffield had a few months training there as the ballet school was so good for its male training. The RDB sent two girls to the RBS as that was renowned for its female training.

 

Thank you again for your review. I really enjoyed reading it.