Romanian National Ballet - La Sylphide - Bucharest

[annamicro]

Wonderful news. Congratulations to him, and I'm sure he'll do wonderful things there. I'm sure, too, that his lovely lady will be guesting a lot!

Did you watch their La Sylphide last night, Annamicro? And if so, do tell us how it was!

 

Johan Kobborg can be proud of his new La Sylphide staging and, even more, of his new company.

 

The sets and the costume of this production are clearly supported by a less sumptuous budget than the ones people is used to have in London, but they are effective and simplicity is a plus: the essence of the show is on the dancing and imagination is free to fly. It’s refreshing to see less glamour and glitters and more accuracy on dancing details: more famous companies should follow this example.

I was impressed especially by the general quality of Romanian National Ballet girls: wonderful port de bras, eloquent and silky soft, precise batteries and good jumps, a great attention to the ensemble movements (notably the three sylphs dancing as one).

 

The second night was even better than the first, with a more balanced cast. The Sylph, Sena Hidaka, was an outstanding example of the qualities of the ballerinas of the company: one can really asks which part has luck in the career of an artist and why such a dancer is performing in a (so far   ) peripheral company and others, much less interesting and attractive, are showing themselves on the most important stages of the world. She also found a surprisingly good James in Robert Enache. His linear acting was effective and the two were able to tell the story in clear and sympathetic way. Enache, with high jumps, neat batteries and clean and elegantly masculine dancing, honored respectfully Bournonville choreography, giving relevance, clarity and value to every single step: he would have deserved the first night.

 

Alina Cojocaru has such level of artistry and quality that can only be outstanding and offered a performance that would have made Royal Opera House audience scream of joy, as many shows she danced in London. Alina was not trained in Romania, so has never been really connected with Romanian National Ballet and has performed very few times in Bucharest and with the company, that nevertheless has always been close to her heart and that she has actively supported in the past years: the hope is that now, thanks to Johan appointment as director of the company, her hometown audience will be able to see soon the very best of her and to know her better in more performances to come. The adoring huge crowd that queued patiently to have a signature and take a photo with her deserves it.

[Jan McNulty]

If anyone has seen any performances of this ballet it would be great to hear from you. 

 

Thanks to Annamicro for her report.