In January 2005, the company will take "Manon" on tour to five cities in Denmark:

January 2006:
Wednesday, January 4 - 20.00 Aalborg
Friday, January 6 - 19.30 Aarhus
Sunday, January 8 - 19.30 Vejle
Tuesday January 10 - 20.00 Esbjerg
Thursday, January 12 - 20.00 Viborg

Dancers from the Royal Danish Ballet will take part in the 14th Dance Salad Festival in Houston, TX from April 13 - 14. Cast and repertory will be announced at a later date.

Information on the program and tickets can be found at the Dance Salad Website.

Denmark will also be represented by dancers from Tim Rushton's New Danish Dance Theatre.

‘Manon’ On Tour

The Royal Danish Ballet visits Jylland with a classic evening-length ballet

Aalborg Kongres and Kultur Center, Wednesday 4. January 2006 kl. 20.00
Musikhuset Aarhus, Friday 6. January 2006 kl. 19.30
Musikteatret Vejle, Sunday 8. January 2006 kl. 19.30
Musikhuset Esbjerg, Tuesday 10. January 2006 kl. 20.00

Royal visit to Jylland in the beginning of January
The Royal Danish Ballet will leave its normal setting in Copenhagen for a week and visit five of the oldest Jylland towns with the classic full-evening ballet, Manon. It is a logistic project of great dimensions - a production with over 250 costumes, over three tons of props and scenery, over 60 dancers, a whole team of technicians & production-staff, and also the artistic staff going by road for a week’s time.

But when the first darkness descends in the theatre, the music plays and the dancers move across the stage, one forgets the large amount of work behind the scenes. Instead, one finds oneself in a place where everyday trivialities don’t belong. That sort of experience is what the Royal Danish Theatre is expert in producing. With Manon there will be a guarantee that everyday for a couple of hours [there will be a] big dramatic story in dance with passion, poetry and nerve.

Balletmaster Frank Andersen, who has himself been on tour many times, is glad to show the Royal Danish Ballet to Jylland:

”We believe that this is a year of completely unique international recognition. Our dancers have not danced better in many years and we would like to show this to all of Denmark - that here is some Danish culture that people from foreign countries can appreciate at a level with Danish design and film."

It is the best of the Royal Danish Ballet dancers who will perform in the cities in January. Among the foreign stars are American Caroline Cavallo and Australian [New Zealander] Andrew Bowman, who are both employed by the Royal Danish Ballet. Also, Dane Rose Gad, who is one of Denmark’s biggest ballet-stars, and Mads Blangstrup will be on the tour.

Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan
Music: Jules Massenet
Arranged by Leighton Lucas and Hilda Gaunt
Scenography: Mia Stensgaard
Light design: Mikki Kunttu
Staging: Monica Parker
Conductor: Graham Bond

Aalborg Symphony Orchestra

Aalborg Kongres og Kultur Center, Wednesday 4. january 2006 kl. 20.00
Manon Caroline Cavallo
Des Grieux Andrew Bowman
Lescaut Dawid Kupinski
Monsieur M. G. Peter Bo Bendixen
Maitresse Gitte Lindstrøm

Musikhuset Aarhus, Friday 6. january 2006 kl. 19.30
Manon Rose Gad
Des Grieux Mads Blangstrup
Lescaut Julien Ringdahl
Monsieur M. G. Thomas Flindt Jeppesen
Maitresse Lesley Culver

Musikteatret Vejle, Sunday 8. january 2006 kl. 19.30
Manon Caroline Cavallo
Des Grieux Andrew Bowman
Lescaut Dawid Kupinski
Monsieur M. G. Peter Bo Bendixen
Maitresse Gitte Lindstrøm

Musikhuset Esbjerg, Tuesday 10. january 2006 kl. 20.00
Manon Rose Gad
Des Grieux Mads Blangstrup
Lescaut Julien Ringdahl
Monsieur M. G. Thomas Flindt Jeppesen
Maitresse Lesley Culver

After the domestic tour, the company will be touring to Egypt:

January 15 - 17
Cairo Opera House
'La Sylphide'

A translation of the press release on the tours:

Ballet on Tour

Both the Royal Danish Ballet and the Royal Theatre Ballet School are on tour in January as a result of last year’s big Bournonville Festival

2005 was a big year for the Royal Danish Ballet, with the celebration of August Bournonville’s 200th birthday the biggest event. 2006 begins well with two big tours to Egypt and the USA, which are solid proof of the considerable recognition the Royal Danish ballet received after the 3rd Bournonville Festival in 2005.

It is a big set-up which is on the go when the Royal Danish Ballet comes on a visit: With nearly 50 dancers, stagehands, dressers, extras, hairdressers, ballet students and teachers, almost 80 people are going to be transported back and forth. Sets and costumes fill 5 forty-foot containers, which are going by boat from Copenhagen to the harbor in Cairo. In addition, when it comes to salaries, provisioning and administrative costs, one is quickly talking about millions, before paying musicians and dancers.

But, the Egyptian population, in return see three evenings with some of the best the Royal Danish Ballet can offer. On the programme is Nikolaj Hübbe’s production of August Bournonville’s tragic classic, ‘La Sylphide’, which is more than any other ballet, synonymous with Danish Ballet. And in the lead roles, will be dancers Gudrun Bojseon, Silja Schandorff, Thomas Lund and Kristoffer Sakurai.

On a smaller scale, when 10 ballet students go to Washington DC, it is a strong indication of the Royal Danish Ballet and Royal Danish Theatre’s importance on the international ballet scene. With balletmaster Frank Andersen on the top and together with the supervisors, teachers and managers from the school will participate in the International Ballet Academy Festival, which is a presentation of world’s most important ballet trasitions. Bournonville is naturally in the center, as they will be performing excerpts from ‘Flower Festival in Genzano’, ‘Napoli’ and the Bournonville’s School. Also from overseas are the Paris Opera Ballet School and the Royal Ballet School.

The meaning of the tours to the Royal Danish Ballet is enormous. Frank Anderson: “The Royal Danish Ballet is word-class, which we last proved with the Bournonville Festival in June 2005. But this high status in the ballet world has considerable meaning when we visit other countries and show our special culture and tradition for a foreign audience.”

After the tour in Cairo, the whole Royal Danish Ballet is one a well-earned vacation until the 29th of January.

The Tour in Jutland went well

To judge from the reviews and sales figures, Jutland loves the Royal Danish Ballets. All five performances played to full houses with standing ovations and the critics also liked what they saw and heard.
Nordjyske Stiffttende’s critic gave 5 stars and wrote, “It is starry entertainment”. Also Vejle Amtsavis’ critic was enthusiastic and wrote, “The ballet is characterized by a magnificient ensemble scenes, which give color. But the weight lies in the young pairs solo scenes”