Greetings!
Due to the site being down, I wasn't able to post comments about the matinee on Monday, but will add my comments on Tuesday's evening performance.

It was definately a long night, and the company was good, but not at it's best.

Maillot's 'Vers un Pays Sage' is an interesting ballet with an energetic young cast. The final pas de deux is all twisting movements, danced by Julien Ringdahl and an especially memorable Amy Watson.

Ringdahl, by the way, deserves major kudos for dancing the lead in 'Vers un Pays Sage', one of the leads in 'Fancy Free' and a challenging corps part in 'Etudes', with just twenty minutes between ballets. Dawid Kupinski also did all three, as did Femke Mølbach Slot, and Tim Matiakis powered through two tough roles. Bravo to all of them.

It was interesting to see 'Fancy Free' done by the company, and while the dancers looked as if they were enjoying it, I'm not sure it really fits on this company. It's hard to explain, but there is something very 'New York' about the ballet and whatever that is, it doesn't seem to translate to Copenhagen in one piece. Also, the ballet felt more 2004 than 1944 - and the timeframe of the ballet is all important.

That aside, Tim Matiakis was noteworthy his athletic solo, making the most of the shapes of the choreography - the flexed feet, the outstretched leg, the deep second plies. And Dawid Kupinski has the right romantic impishness for the 'sweet' sailor solo, his long frame reminiscent of Kipling Houston, who used to perform the role with NYCB. Cecilie Lassen imbued more character into the first woman role than I've seen before, giving the character a knowing patience and spunk.

'Etudes" was a little rough at the edges, hampered in part by a number of very last minute changes due to injury and illness. Today it was turns that seemed to be everyone's achille's hill. Gudrun Bojeson, stepping in for Caroline Cavallo, bobbled on a pirouette, but recovered for a spot on, speedy series of turns and was sweetly elegant in the pas de deux. Fernando Mora, making a unexpected return to the ballet, and Andrew Bowman, looking excellent after missing much of the early part of the season due to injury, anchored the four male soloists, Bowman shining in the fast beat near the end and double tours finished in neat fifth position.

Making his 'Etudes' debut, Tim Matiakis was crisp and clean, excepting a tricky series of turns in attitude derriere which also proved a challenge for Kristoffer Sakurai in his debut last month. However, Matiakis recovered quickly and later was solid in a series of quick beats. Marcin Kupinski, at just 21-22 is one of the young talents in the corps, and with plenty of talent and power, just needs finesse to complete the package. He just barely made it through the 32 fouettes - something that frequently challenges even the finest ballerinas - but was nice in the series of turns in seconde. "Etudes" is fiendishly difficult, full of difficult steps and providing absolutely no way to cover for any mistakes, and both Kupinski and Matiakis were solid considering the circumstances, and one looks forward to even better performances as they gain more experience in the roles.
The corps was not as crisp as in previous performances, but the overall effect was still impressive. Kudos to the company for making the best of two performances stuck in the middle of 4-5 day holidays for Christmas and New Year's. Best wishes to all the dancers for a happy and healthy new year!

Kate

<small>[ 07 February 2005, 04:51 AM: Message edited by: ksneds ]</small>

David Dougill's 2005 London dance preview in The Times indicates that Peter Bo Bendixen's group "Soloists and Principals of the Royal Danish Ballet" will be performing at Sadlers Wells in June.

This group has toured in many countries, and is comprised of a diverse and talented group of Royal Danish Ballet dancers, and it will be a rare chance to see the Danes in the UK! The repertory is apparently a triple bill of Bournonville choreography including Act III from 'Napoli'.

I will post more information as it becomes available.
Kate

Various tidbits...

Tim Rushton's new ballet is "Nine More Than..." and the cast is: Martin James, Tim Matiakis, Nicolai Hansen, Caroline Cavallo and Tina Højlund.

There are some photographs of the preparations for the the opening night of the new opera house on the Royal Theatre website, including several shots of the ballet company rehearsing Etudes. The lastest set of photos (Jan 13) also has a striking series covering rehearsals of Nikolaj Hubbe and Silja Schaandorff in Peter Martins' pas de deux. It looks to be a ballroom type piece - he's in a tux, she's in a sheer black dress and heels.

Click here to see the pictures.

Kate

<small>[ 14 January 2005, 06:50 AM: Message edited by: ksneds ]</small>

The NY Times reports on the controversy over the new Opera House in Copenhagen, which opens tonight...

Click here for more.

More on the opening of the new opera house

Berlingske Tiende, one of the big Danish newspapers has a big section on the opening. Currently there is a photo gallery of the VIPS entering the building, and I'm sure photos of the performances will follow.

At the Jyllands-Posten website there are several video clips of rehearsal, with links on the right side of the page, and interviews with the various theater chiefs (ballet, opera and theatre etc.).

The link labeled 'For åbningen contains clips of the two Royal Danish Ballet School students dancing and the first piece the orchestra plays is from 'Etudes'.

Kate

More from the opening of the opera house...

The Jylands Posten has put up clips from the performance itself, which can be found on the right side here. The ballet clip contains the very last 30 seconds or so of the Martins piece with Hubbe & Schaandorff, a brief interview with Hübbe (oddly enough, in English - and his english is remarkabley un-accented given that he did not join NYCB until he was 25) and a brief clip of Gudrun Bojesen and Thomas Lund in 'Flower Festival".

There is also a brief interview with Peter Martins in the 'Interview' clip.

It's a VERY slow link to play the videos - connecting takes a long time - so be patient!

Also, the male soloists in "Etudes" were Greve, Matiakis and Bowman. Mads Blangstrup must then be still out injured - best wishes to him for smooth, speedy and complete recovery.

Kate

A change of schedule at the Royal Danish Ballet...

Tonight, instead of 'Vers un Pays Sage', 'In the Night' will be performed instead. This makes a lot of sense because it would have been close to impossible for Nicolai Hansen to perform in 'Nine More Than' over at the new opera house (7pm) and then get to the Royal Theatre in time to warm up and dance in 'Vers un Pays Sage', which would be first on the program at 8pm.

I believe that some of the dancers will still have to make the trek back to the Royal Theatre for some of the other ballets, but hopefully any double casting will be minimized. The new opera house may be nearly directly across the harbor, but it's a long drive around, depending on which bridges/roads are open and how much traffic there is at night.

Kate

Updated casting...

Abdallah

January 20:
Abdallah - Morten Eggert
Irma - Amy Watson
Fatima - Jette Buchwald
Palmyra - Haley Henderson
Her friends - Esther Lee Wilkinson og Julie Valentin
Hassan - Asger Schlichtkrull
Cabidgi Bachi - Niels Balle
Sheik Ismael - Andrew Bowman
Omar - Alexander Sukonnik
Sadi - Paulo Andruszkow
Selim - Susanne Grinder
Gulnare - Camilla R. Holst
Arzeli- Elisabeth Dam
2 sønner - Cèdric Lambrette og Vincent van Webber

Feburary 14

Morten Eggert
Amy Watson
Jette Buchwald
Haley Henderson
Esther Lee Wilkinson og Julie Valentin
Asger Schlichtkrull
Niels Balle
Andrew Bowman
Alexander Sukonnik
Tobias Praetorius
Susanne Grinder
Camilla R. Holst
Elisabeth Dam
Cèdric Lambrette og Tim Matiakis

March 8
Kristoffer Sakurai
Izabella Sokolowska
Kirsten Simone
Gitte Lindstrøm
Diana Cuni og Cecilie Lassen
Gàbor Baunoch
Mogens Boesen
Peter Bo Bendixen
Poul-Erik Hesselkilde
Oscar Nilsson
Yao Wei
Femke Mølbach Slot
Camilla R. Holst
Nicolai Hansen og Vincent van Webber

Napoli

February. 9, 12:
Lis Jeppesen
Tina Højlund
Thomas Lund
Peter Bo Bendixen
Niels Balle
Poul-Erik Hesselkilde
Flemming Ryberg
Louise Midjord
Mogens Boesen
Kenn Hauge
Alexander Sukonik
Cecilie Lassen
Diana Cuni

Morten Eggert
Caroline Cavallo
Andrew Bowman
Gitte Lindstrøm
Silja Schandorff
Izabela Sokolowska og Martin Stauning
Susanne Grinder, Cecilie Lassen og Femke Mølbach Slot

February 10, 18:
Jette Buchwald
Gitte Lindstrøm
Kristoffer Sakurai
Kenneth Greve
Poul-Erik Hesselkilde
Kenn Hauge
Mogens Boesen
Lesley Culver
Flemming Ryberg
Alexander Sukonnik
Ib Jeppesen
Lesley Culver
Susanne Grinder

Tim Matiakis
Cecilie Lassen
Nicolai Hansen
Diana Cuni
Tina Højlund
Claire Ratcliffe og Morten Eggert
Camilla R. Holst, Esther Wilkinson og Izabela Sokolowska

Etudes:

January 18, February 3
Gudrun Bojesen
Kenneth Greve
Andrew Bowman
Fernando Mora (pdd)

The King's Guard on Amager

February 3:
Peter Bo Bendixen
Silja Schandorff
Thomas Lund
Thomas Flindt Jeppesen
Amy Watson
Christina L. Olsen
Elisabeth Dam
Maria Stokholm
Nicolai Hansen
Julien Ringdahl

February 16
Peter Bo Bendixen
Silja Schandorff
Tim Matiakis
Morten Eggert
Diana Cuni
Susanne Grinder
Christina L. Olsen
Izabela Sokolowska
Nicolai Hansen
Dawid Kupinski

<small>[ 07 February 2005, 05:04 AM: Message edited by: ksneds ]</small>

Greetings
Thanks to Jorgen I was able to get a DVD copy of the opening gala at the new opera house. I will post more later, but there was one delightful surprise...which I believe was not listed on the program...

Principal Dancer Gudrun Bojesen playing the saxaphone!! She did an excellent sultry duet with an accordian player (I will try to find out who he is..) and is a very good sax player.

Cheers
Kate

A change of casting for 'Etudes' tonight...

Emmanuel Thibault, from the POB, will be replacing Kenneth Greve tonight.

Thibault's bio, from the Danish part of the RDB website:
I hope it is because Greve has not returned from Geneva, where he took part in the Prix de Lausanne Gala, and not because he's unwell or hurting.

Will you be going to tonight's performance? Emmanuel Thibault is quite something. His style is so pure and academic that I imagine he will fit in very well, and indeed be admired by the Royal Danes.

Unfortunately not...the airfare from Edinburgh to Copenhagen is a bit much for regular weekend jaunts All the good sale fares are from Manchester or London ( .

I will however be over later this month for the Hal Landers 100th Anniversary Gala, and of course, 'Etudes' will be danced then. The casting for that performance is not up yet, but I'm hoping (but not overly optimistic based on the other February casting already posted) that Mads Blangstrup will be back for that performance.

But, it would be very interesting to see Thibault, though these announcements of these POB guest dancers in 'Etudes' always are slighly depressing for me because it seems to be an indication of the injuries the RDB male dancers are battling.

Hopefully the break - at least from performances, if not rehearsals - in March will allow dancers to recover before the final push towards the remaining Bournonville Ballet repremieres and the Bournonville Festival.

In anycase, I hope Thibault had a chance to experience the Royal Theatre stage before the performance - I believe it's a bit smaller than many dance stages.

Speaking of 'Etudes', I was able to get a copy of the ballet performances at the opening of the new opera house in Copenhagen. Because of time constraints, only parts of 'Etudes' were performed and it was a very odd edit of the ballet, though it probably would have looked less strange to someone who hadn't seen the complete ballet before.

Kenneth Greve was powerful, but it wasn't one of his finest performances as he lacked just a bit in control and precision. I suspect it was in part due to the fact that it was a new, larger stage, so they had to relearn the timings, and also because he danced both the pas de deux and the major male solos.

Tim Matiakis did one solo, and was quite elegant, improving greatly upon his debut in the role a few weeks before. Andrew Bowman was kind of the odd man out, dancing little snippets here and there, as Greve did the pas de deux, which at the RDB, is usually done by a separate dancer (Fernando Mora, Bowman or Blangstrup in other performances).

Cheers
Kate

<small>[ 04 February 2005, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: ksneds ]</small>

Some good news!

Casting for the two March performances of 'Far from Denmark' has been posted, and at least for now, Mads Blangstrup is scheduled to dance Wilhelm and Jean-Lucien Massot to dance Don Alvar.

Casting is as follows:

March 2 and 4
Rosita - Marie Pierre Greve
Wilhelm - Mads Blangstrup
Don Alvar - Jean-Lucien Massot
Konsul Fernandez - Peter Bo Bendixen
Poul - Diana Cuni
Edvard - Izabela Sokolowska
Bådsmandn - Kenn Hauge
Rositas fire veninder - Cecilie Lassen, Susanne Grinder, Femke Mølbach Slot, Alba Nadal
Kineser solo herre - Morten Eggert
Høvding - Marcin Kupinski
Eskimodame - Ellen Green
Eskimoherre - Kristoffer Sakurai

There's a treat in store at the Royal Theatre for the Hal Landers Gala...

The lead roles in 'Etudes' will be performed by three guests from the POB:

Etudes
Gallaforestilling den 25. feb. 2005

Ballerina Agnès Letestu
Solodanser Jean Guillaume Bart
Solodanser José Martinez

The 'Konservatoriet' casting is great too:

repremieren den 25. feb. 2005

Monsieur Dufour Flemming Ryberg
Bonjour Kirsten Simone
Elisa Gudrun Bojesen
Victorine Gitte Lindstrøm
Alexis Thomas Lund
Ernst Morten Eggert

Den 2. marts 2005

Monsieur Dufour Poul-Erik Hesselkilde
Bonjour Jette Buchwald
Elisa Yao Wei
Victorine Amy Watson
Alexis Jean-Lucient Massot
Ernst Dawid Kupinski

I will post comments after the performance!
Kate

Thanks for the info Kate... looking forward to hearing your comments afterwards.

If anyone manages to see 'Far From Denmark' on 2 or 4 march I'd be interested to hear comments about it.

Thanks

Jane