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The Royal Danish Theatre Ballet School by Kate Snedeker
It is the close link with the company that makes the school such a special
place. Each new class of dancers train together from an early age, taking
class in the same studios as the RDB dancers and performing with them
in many ballets. The young dancers are also taught by current and former
RDB dancers, one generation passing along knowledge to the next. Thus
the school creates an unbroken chain of talent, friendships and tradition.
The Audition: where it all begins…
Thomas Lund, RDB Principal, says of his audition, "I went home to
my mother and I said, well, I want to go to an audition for the Royal
Ballet School … And so I came [to the audition] and was accepted to the
school. It was actually quite lucky - I think things happen for a reason
- it was just a few weeks before [the audition was scheduled] that I got
the idea, and it was the last year before I was too old".
The mats, stray shoes, homeless therabands and other debris of daily ballet
life have been pushed aside, and tables laid with piles of paperwork line
one side of the mirrored studio. Huddled around the carafes of steaming
coffee are the teachers from the school, including company member and
deputy director of the school, Niels Balle; Artistic Director Frank Anderson,
and the two company doctors.
A little after 9am, the first group of 10-12 children, one of the two
groups of boys, are ushered in the door and to a row of seats at the far
end of the studio. For the most part, the children seem unconcerned, twisting
about into every possible position in the chairs and curiously eyeing
each other. A few clearly have some ballet experience, slippers on their
feet and eager expressions on their faces, while others seem less than
thrilled about the whole experience. Registration
papers sorted out, the teachers lead the children in a large circle, walking
in time to the beat of the music provided by one of the company pianists.
After a minute or so, the music stops and the boys are then asked to jump
in time to yet another simple tune.
Returning to the chairs, they are led, three or four at a time, to waiting mats, where the teachers and company physicians examine turnout, flexibility, feet and back curvature. The teachers slowly make their way through all the boys, those not being examined squirming on their seats in a mixture of boredom and nervousness. As the last children are examined, the teachers shift to a huddle, where decisions are being made. When a consensus is reached, it’s make or break time for the children. First to be handed out are letters with bad news, then come the ones inviting students back for the four-week mini-school. Most of the boys don’t seem either overjoyed or upset, though one little boy punches the air with his fist, exclaiming, “yes!!” before scampering out of the room. As one group exits the back door, papers rustling in hand, another group is ushered through the door, ready to fill the recently vacated row of chairs. After another group of young boys, the girls begin, all 204 of them. Ranging from little six year olds to more awkward and self-conscious eleven year olds, the girls generally seem more aware of the pressure and reality of the situation. Some are returning for their second year, with hope that last year’s bad news might be replaced by an acceptance letter this year. Each group brings a different mix of girls, but most are clad in some shade of pastel, some with real ballet slippers, others with looser satiny slippers and some barefoot. A number of the littler girls show up in little tutus, cute, but a challenge during the physical evaluations. There are more than a few budding gymnasts in the crowds, marked by their competition leotards and solidly muscular physiques. Each group of girls is asked to do the same circular promenade and jumps as the boys, but the girls are also asked to do a chasses and sometimes another simple step. The teachers encourage the shier children and try to help those having more difficulty with the steps. But it’s mainly about watching. The girls are also examined by the teachers and doctors, with backs checked for flexibility and curve, feet for arch and potential suitability for pointe work, and hips for turnout. Good flexibility, however, doesn’t necessarily get rewarded with a positive letter, as the key to success is not based on any one attribute, but on a combination of factors, and most likely, solidified by a hunch or a feeling that this little girl has what it takes. One group of girls follows another, and after a quick break for lunch, the seemingly endless flow continues. A few latecomers, who have forgotten about the return to daylight savings times, flesh out the numbers. The passing of time is marked by the increasing number of empty soda bottles in the crates under one of the tables, as the teachers refuel themselves between groups. Finally, after three o’clock, the last little girl exits the room. Completing the day is the compensation group - older students with previous experience who have been recommended by their current teachers. Few are accepted at this late stage, as the school is limited by size and prefers to mold dancers from their earliest days. This audition, with tension clear in the air, is conducted in the form of a shortened class, with both barre and short center section. In true audition fashion, each dancer wears a number pinned on to leotard or shirt. The 16 girls and two boys are clearly aware of who is gathered at the table in front of them, though nerves, for the most part, are concealed by concentrated expressions. The end result is conveyed promptly and quietly, with two numbers called out, the rest thanked and dismissed. In the end, 57 girls and 11 boys were selected for the four week intensive course, from which no more than a dozen or two will emerge to become the newest pupils of the school. These students will begin their formal schooling at the beginning of the next school year, in late August.
Each day starts out with a morning class, at 8:30 for most students, and 10am or 11am for the youngest students. The schedule runs Monday through Friday until the third grade, when Saturday classes are added. Thomas Lund describes the life of a student: “You have an hour and half class, and then you shower and have a break for about 40 minutes and you start in the [academic] school around 10:40… some days [you have] afternoon class again from 4:15 until 6. And then if you’re doing a performance at night, you go to the canteen and have dinner and then prepare yourself to be a child on the bridge in 'Napoli' third act or [for another ballet]. [You] maybe do homework during your [breaks] while you’re up in the dressing room. It’s a long day, and it starts early. But, there were also times when certainly you were not in something and then you could focus on your training and your schoolwork”. Ballet classes are held in the same studios that the company dancers will occupy for classes and rehearsals. Thus, the ballet students not only see the dancers onstage, but also literally rub shoulders with them each day in the studio and the hallway. Says Tina Højlund, RDB soloist, "It’s a bit like a fairytale when you’re a kid! And what we have here, compared to most other [ballet schools], is that we are part of the performances really, really early on. My first year, I was already part of the performances". The children perform in a number of the ballets in the company’s repertory. This year, with many Bournonville ballets being danced and the Bournonville Festival coming up, the children are unusually busy. Many children are on the famous bridge in 'Napoli', yet more are trolls, village children and bridesmaids in 'A Folk Tale' and several young boys alternate several roles in 'Anna Karenina'. And of course, 'The Nutcracker' teems with young dancers! As Thomas Lund indicates above, performing makes for a very long day, and the school does its best to spread out the roles and make sure the younger children aren’t up too late. Yet getting to dance alongside the "grown-up" dancers is an incredible experience and allows the children to take in the Bournonville style and to get a very real picture of the career that they are training so intensively for.
Training From the earliest classes, students are taught short combinations of steps so that work is not constrained to repetitions of single steps that would fast lose the attention of young minds. But, also, even in the youngest of classes, the Bournonville imprint is obvious. There is much less “attachment” to the barre than often found in beginning classes, with much attention given to promenading across the room to the music. There is also more footwork - little jumps and steps - than in other ballet classes. The goal is to keep the children involved, motivated and above all enjoying the classes. To do the work that is needed to stay through the years, a young dancer must first enjoy ballet. The younger dancers, though not immune from the occasional giggle or high spirits, are remarkably focused. They proceed through the daily routines, questioning only a few less common step sequences. The older girls are quiet and very focused, more aware of the pressures of the ballet world and of shrinking class sizes, and much closer to the days when the most painful decisions will be made and the lucky few will be granted apprenticeships.
Academics “For me it was a very, very good school, not only ballet-wise, but academic-wise because we’re such a small number of kids in each class that the teachers really get to work with you. When I entered the school here, my academic standards were not great, but when I finished my school here, I was very high, over the [average]. They taught me a lot academic-wise and ballet- wise. You learn so much from the school because it’s so full of traditions. You learn a lot about respect for the arts and respect for your older dancers”, says Kristoffer Sakurai of the RDB corps. "We were not big classes in each different level, so for language classes and stuff like that, [you were] talking a lot more. If you are only 6 people in the class, you get a lot more education", says Thomas Lund. The academic school also makes use of the vast cultural heritage so close at hand. The children attend opera and play rehearsals, supplementing book learning with real life experience. As part of their education, they also receive instruction in music, art history and ballet history. Says Lund, “I have good memories from my school [days]. We had a lot fun just enjoying being in the theater and being around the different art forms. For instance, being so privileged to actually read about Shakespeare in school and then going down to watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream or something like that. And I think that’s a special quality that the theater can actually provide to a child in the school”. It has yet to be seen what effect the new opera house will have on these cultural arrangements. As with most operas in the new theater, the opportunities will not be so easily accessible, and rehearsals on the new stage may take a larger chunk out of a young dancer’s day. But, with more studio space for the ballet company - much of the opera and theater company infrastructure will be moved the new theater - there will be the opportunity for more flexibility in scheduling children’s classes.
The Realities... At the end of every year, exams are given to allow the teachers to assess the progress each student has made and to judge whether the progress, or lack there of, is compatible with continuation in the school. Sometimes early talent does not pan out, or puberty brings with it nasty surprises, and occasionally students realize that a ballet career is not what they dreamed of after all. Leaving the school was once a harsher separation, but things have changed. Lund explains: “[On the last day of school], you would say goodbye to all your friends and take everything out of your locker. The next day everybody would receive a letter saying if [the school] would like to see you the following year. And so you would call around and you would know if the phone wasn’t picked up, that person probably did not make it. And then you would come back next year - you would be in one school and the friend that didn’t make it would be somewhere else and you probably would meet by Christmas somewhere in a drugstore buying Christmas gifts. That’s a little bit strange. Now they’ve changed that system so you get that letter before you leave, a week before, two weeks before. You can come in and do class with your friends, you can cry, you can say goodbye to everybody. The [main M. Zahle’s] school is not so far away from here…if they want to, they can start there, and they might have [in their class] some people that were [asked to leave] the year earlier, so then they get to be together with kids who had the same experience. Plus they do sometimes need extras for operas and plays, and they use some of those kids onstage. So even though they’re not with the ballet anymore, they still get a chance to go onstage, to do something”.
Summers and future plans In recent years, the ballet school classes have been supplemented with Pilates, weightlifting and education on nutrition. As in the ballet world in general, more emphasis is being paid to injury prevention and prompt treatment and physiotherapy for any acute or chronic injuries. Next year, regular modern dance classes will be offered for the more advanced students, who now receive a short series of modern classes at one point during the year.
Becoming professional Reality mixes with the romance of the performing arts at the Ballet School of the Royal Danish Theatre. The chance to see and dance alongside the ballet stars of today is tempered by the long days, fatigue and harsh realities of the path to becoming a professional ballet dancer. /p>
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Founded more than two hundred years ago, the Ballet School of the Royal Danish
Theatre is one of the oldest ballet schools in Europe, and it remains a unique
and inspiring institution. Each year the school provides ballet training
and academic education for just 60-70 talented young dancers. It is still
the training ground for most of the Royal Danish Ballet dancers, and so
the quality of the school is reflected in the successes of the company.
The School