Jump to content

Jane S

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,004

  • Joined

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Jane S

    Royal Danish Ballet's new production of Swan Lake

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    I saw a couple of performances of Nikolai Hubbe and Silja Schandorff's new production of Swan Lake in Copenhagen last week: there's a lot to like, which makes it all the more frustrating that Hubbe hasn't taken more care to work his plot ideas out properly.

     

    I like the basic concept (as I understand it): the King has died and Siegfried is acknowledged as his heir but must prove his worth before he's actually crowned; meanwhile the chancellor, von Rothbart, is scheming to gain power by marrying his daughter to the young prince. (Quite a familiar story from television and film these days.) Hubbe sets some of this up in the opening moments but from then on he leaves so many loose ends trailing that it's very distracting, and ultimately annoying. For instance I think  I've picked up somewhere that the Jester represents one side of Siegfried's character, but you would never ever work that out from the staging and the sole purpose of the Jester actually seems to be to fill out the bits of music that are too cheerful and jumpy to be assigned to anyone else. (The problem with every attempt to modify the story is that no-one told Tchaikowsky...)

     

    The company is using the Opera House rather than the old theatre for Swan Lake and the new sets look wonderful there. (There are lots of photos and videos on the theatre's website ) They are completely unrealistic geometric structures, beautiful in themselves and completely successful in this context - and I have to say that it will be quite a shock to get back to trees and rocks and things next time I see a traditional production. They move around to suggest different locations but never while there is serious dancing going on. The Opera House has a very high proscenium opening and from the stalls you can look up and up and see the criss-cross structures stretching up into the darkness - it's like looking up in a dark old cathedral. One problem though is that the stage is very deep and some of the action would make more impact if it was played further downstage. The whole evening is beautifully lit (the designer is Mikke Kunttu, and the Elizabethan-ish costumes are by Mas Stensgaard) and if you had the misfortune to turn up some night and find that all the dancers had been stranded in fog at some airport, you could really have a very enjoyable evening just listening to the music (very well conducted by Vello Pähn - I love his phrasing in the overture and the way he keeps up the tempo - no dirge-like Act 2 pas de deux here)  and watching the scenery.

     

    Most of the choreography is attributed to Hubbe and Silja Schandorff 'after Petipa and Ivanov': the Act 1 pas de trois, most of Act 2 and the Black Swan pas de deux look more or less untouched (though some of the pd3 looks  bizarre to my Royal Ballet trained eyes); the prince's solo in Act 1 is by Erik Bruhn; and the national dances in Act 3 have been entrusted to two of the dancers. The Hubbe/Schandorff sections are respectable enough, and rather more than that in some of Act 4; Oliver Starpov's Russian Dance would make a perfect gala number some time, and Gregory Dean's Neapolitan pas de trois is witty and interesting.

     

    The RDB is stretched by a big piece like this and everyone, principals included, is kept very busy - for instance on both the nights I was there one of the Neapolitan princess's near-interchangeable escorts was a dancer new to the company this season and the other one was Alban Lendorf. Jon Axel Fransson and Jonathan Chmelensky alternated as Von Rothbart (a big dancing role) and Benno - Fransson goes for everything and is exciting to watch even when he doesn't quite make it, Chmelensky is quieter but his von Rothbart was possibly slightly the more scary. The corps de ballet of swans was outstandingly good - one of the highlights of the evening.

     

    I saw two casts in the leading roles: Ida Praetorius with Marcin Kupinski and Caroline Baldwin with Andreas Kaas. All except Kupinski were making their debuts. Praetorius got most of the pre-opening publicity - she is clearly being promoted as a future ballerina and it's easy to see why. Her dancing is lovely but she's still very young and her inexperience in building such a major role showed somewhat in Act 2 - much against expectations she made a much stronger impression as Odile. Both she and Kupinski might perhaps look better with different partners - Kupinski with a more sophisticated Odette and Praetorius with someone whose acting style was a better fit with her own.

     

    Baldwin was a surprise in the opposite direction - I'd expected her strong Odile but was  pleasantly astonished by her Odette - lovely clear, simple dancing and and excellent rapport with her partner. Kaas was wonderful, starting with a beautifully controlled and elegant account of the Bruhn solo and following that with as touching an account of Act 2 as I've seen in a long while. Completely in love from the first moment, he never took his eyes off Odette and partnered her with such tenderness and wonder - it was as if he knew how to tame a wild hawk and guessed that the same thing would work here, persuading her gradually to trust him. It's a very young man's interpretation and I guess he may well have grown out of it even by the next run of the production, but I'm really happy that I saw him at this stage!

     

    I have another cast to see later on in the run and am looking forward to it despite the shortcomings of the staging.

     

    (posted also on another board - sorry if that's against the rules!)

     

    • Like 6

    Dining at the Operaen in Copenhagen?

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    Jane, I think the Ofelia is actually in the playhouse, on the other side of the harbour. I've never eaten in the Bojesen but I agree it looks good - the only thing is that there is no hot food so far as I know.  But the Opera is an amazing place to be!

     

    Hope you will enjoy Swan Lake - I had guessed from your name what might be bringing you to Copenhagen!

    • Like 1

    RDB's new Swan Lake - insight evening streamed

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    If you missed this, or if - like me - you saw it and only partly understood it, you can go to the video page now (first link in posting #1) and see the commentary in English (by Gregory Dean I guess) which gives an outline of what was said and reveals some of the ideas behind the new staging.

     

    Also the casting for the first part of the run has just appeared:

     

    http://kglteater.dk/det-sker/forestillinger/sason-2014-2015/ballet/svanesoen#Casting

     

    No surprise that J'aime Crandall and Alban Lendorf get the first night and also the live cinema broadcast, but some of the other pairings look intriguing - Susanne Grinder and Sebastian Haynes, who'd have imagined that?

    • Like 1

    Royal Danish Ballet: La Sylphide/Etudes, Copenhagen

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    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.

    • Like 1

    RDB at Royal Danish Theatre - last minute tickets?

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    I've never tried for last minute tickets so I don't know - and I've never noticed people queuing for returns or offering tickets for sale, but then I've never actually been looking for them. But although the theatre's website says that tickets can't be returned, I have definitely noticed tickets appearing online for performances that were at one time sold out - for instance there was one for this Sylphide/Etudes on the site a few days ago. So keep checking.

     

    It might be worth just asking the box office for advice - it you look at the website between 15.00 and 20.00 on weekdays (an hour earlier on Saturdays) you'll see a red tab on the right hand side of the page saying 'chat to operator' or something, which I assume will put you in direct online contact with someone who will undoubtedly reply in perfect English. (Sorry if you've already tried this.)

     

    If you do find out, please let the rest of us know!

    • Like 1

    RDB's new Swan Lake - insight evening streamed

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted · Edited by Jane S

    The Royal Danish Ballet is preparing a new version of Swan Lake to replace the one made for them by Peter Martins. First night is March 13th, and they will livestream an insight evening on Tuesday 24th February, 18.50 UK time. Watch it here:

     

    http://video.kglteater.dk/ballettens-vaerksted-svanesoen

     

    They did this with Manon last year and I thought it worked very well. So far it's anyone guess who the cast will be - they've announced six names each for Odette/Odile and Siegfried but in alphabetical order so there's no way of working out the partnerships. (Though hints on various sites and some photographs are providing a few clues.)

     

    The company has also put a mini-site about the preparations on Tumblr:

     

    http://svanesoen.tumblr.com/

     

    One interesting thing that's emerging is that although the main production is credited to Nikolaj Hübbe and Silja Schandorff, the choreography for the 4 princesses and their attendants in Act 3 is being done by members of the company - Gregory Dean is doing the Neapolitan section and Oliver Starpov (only in his first year in the company) the Russian bit.

    • Like 6

    English National Ballet: Swan Lake, London, Jan 2015

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    Just as a footnote to all that's been said about  Glurdjidze, I looked back to the old ballet.co's annual poll and found these results for 'best female dancer':

     

    2006:

     

    1. Nunez  2. Cojocaru  3. Glurdjidze

     

    2007:

     

    1. Glurdjidze  2. Cojocaru  3. Nunez/Yanowsky

     

    2008:

     

    1. Glurdjidze  2 .Nunez   3. Rojo

     

    2009:

     

    1.  Rojo  2.  Glurdjidze  3. Nunez/Benjamin

     

    So over those 4 years at least she was the most highly-regarded ballerina in the country, in the eyes of some of the most enthusiastic ballet-goers.

    • Like 10

    The Royal Ballet: Don Quixote, 2014

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    The other thing that has got me every time I've seen this run is Basil's "suicide". Perhaps I've just been unlucky, but every one I've seen has to my mind fallen totally flat, compared with, well, virtually every other production I've seen, narratively *and* comedically, if there is such a word. I don't know whether it's a fault with the comic timing or what, but it hasn't once worked for me.

     

    I thought the mock-suicide scene lost a lot of its usual impact by being played too far upstage - I'm not sure why that should matter but it did.

    The Royal Danish Ballet Soloists and Principals - Bournonville Celebration, London, January 2015

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    The RDB group opened at the Joyce Theater in NY last night: Ida Praetorius joins the tour, dancing - among other things - Flower Festival with Kaas (Birkkjaer partners Diana Cuni). Marcin Kupinski dances James a couple of times, otherwise casting is much the same as in London.

     

    Amy Watson's injury on the opening night in London (she danced in the Folktale pas de sept but somewhere between then and her solo in Napoli she was injured - Femke Slot danced that solo as well as her own, unless my eyes deceived me) meant she had to miss the NY engagement - Caroline Baldwin replaces her.

     

    Looking forward to the reviews!

×
×
  • Create New...