Guest, that was a ballet/dance festival that takes place each summer in Copenhagen, run by Alexander Kølpin. Gudrun and Amy danced in one of the pieces. I'm sure some of the dancers will take part in the summer 2006 festival.

Kate

Thomas Lund has been named to the jury of the 2006 USA International Ballet Competition which will be held in Jackson, Mississippi from June 17-July 2.

In past years Frank Andersen and Kirsten Ralov have also been on the jury.

The 2006 Årets Reumert nominations have been revealed, and the RDB is well represented.

For best dancer:
Silja Schandorff for performances in 'Manon' and 'Romeo & Juliet'
Gudrun Bojeson for performances in 'Sylfiden' and 'Etudes'

Best dance performance
RDB in 'Requiem'

Best scenography
Steven Scott and Mia Stensgaard for 'Requiem'

The Royal Danish Ballet took home many awards at the 2006 Årets Reumert!

Thomas Lund was the recepient of the top overall award, the Bikubens Hæderspris. This is the most prestigious award in Danish arts and comes with a financial award of 300,000 kroner (~$50,000). The only previous dance recepient was Nikolaj Hübbe. More on Lund's achievements and pictures here.

Congratulations to Lund on receiving such a high honor!

Silja Schandorff took the Årets Danser award for her performances in 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Manon'. More here.

The Royal Danish Ballet's production of "Reqiuem" was the recepient of the Årets Dansforestilling (Dance Performance Award). More here.

Finally, Sebastian Kloborg and Susanne Grinder were two of the Talent Prize recepients in recognition of their performances in "Romeo & Juliet" and also for Grinder, "The Little Mermaid". More here.

My rough translation of the speech made by the presenter of the award to Thomas Lund:

Bikubens Hæderspris 2006

Presentation to Thomas Lund:

The Bikuben's Fund director Michael Metz Mørch presentation speech to Thomas Lund, the recepient of the Bikuben Fund's Hæderspris 2006:

Imagine talking with the body. Imagine being ablet to tell an adventure with feet, with hands, with arms, with legs. Imagine being able to write without words, to know and to be able to use the body's grammar, to make a period with a heel, a comma with a hand, and an exclamation point with a toss of the head. Imagine being able to escape the laws of gravity like an unruly caperer.

Dear Thomas, you followed your childhood dream to stand on the stage - and preferably as a dancer. As an eleven year old you became a student at the Royal Theatre's Ballet School, and ever since you have been a unique and faithful soul towards your trade and the Royal Danish Ballet. You chose to stay, even though you easily could have gone into dance's global circuit. You chose to remain and to preserve the Bournonville tradition, wrap yourself in it and give it a modern expression.

You are your generation's best Bournonville dancer - you can do it all. The combination of your technique and your mimetic talent make you stand out. With your professionalism, you have gone out and become an institution within an institution - a base for the whole corps. You have dedicated the last 20 years of your life to ballet. You have not only become a principal dancer, you are also an instructor, teacher and choreographer - yes, you without a doubt can be called a true ballet-nerd.

Last summer, the critics appreciation of your art reached a new high when you were chosen as the year's best male dancer by 40 international critics. In the whole world, probably. And I understand it was jolly well good, because you show us that dance is the body's and soul's secret language. Yes, with your dance, you show us our humanity.

The old ballet master George Balanchine has said that "a ballet can not tell a complicated story. On cannot dance synonyms." But that must be because he did not live long enough to see you dance! In my eyes, you dance both synonyms and antonyms and so all the world's language - the universal language - ballet.

The jury has unanimously chosen to give you the 2006 Bikuben's Fund Hæderspris , and it my honour to present you the prize on behalf of the Bikuben's Fund. Congratulations!

After seeing Thomas Lund at the Bournonville Festival and later in London last year, I have to say it would be utterly impossible to have considered any other dancer for that title.

And many thanks, Kate, for taking the time and trouble to translate that lovely citation for us.

My pleasure...it was a much more interesting way to study for my Danish final exam that going through endless flashcards!


There are some stunning images of Jean-Lucien Massot and Silja Schandorff performing "Les Bras de Mer" at the 2006 Dance Salad on Amtiva's PhotographyInSight website.

Click here to see the photos.

Dance Salad 2006 took place in Houston, TX in April.

A new corps dancer: Anastasia Paschali

Also, Charles Andersen is listed as an asipirant for 2006-07

A bit late, but it should still be on newstands...

The April/May 2006 issue of Pointe Magazine has extensive coverage of the Royal Danish Ballet. A lovely photo of Amy Watson and Kristoffer Sakurai graces the cover, while there's a 6 page article on the next generation of RDB dancers. Finaly, Susanne Grinder is the subjex of the dancer focus.

You can see the cover shot at Pointe Magazine's website.

Kate