Niels Bjorn Larsen

Danish master of dance and mime

Mary Clarke
Tuesday March 18, 2003
The Guardian

more...

I remind his SUPERLATIVE Madge in Bournonville'sLa Sylphide he performed close to Schaufuss in Florence in the 80; how were exspressive also his dancing fingers when he read girls' hands; how he changed from the old woman's attitude to the thriumphant evil against the silly James... He was absolutely to watch for a continue lesson in pantomime and understanding of the character. A Great Great Great dancer and actor. A master to remind

Thanks for your memories silvia.

Here is another obituary:

Niels Bjorn Larsen
Danish master of dance and mime. By Mary Clarke for The Guardian


Niels Bjorn Larsen, who has died aged 89, was a dancer, teacher, ballet master, choreographer and artistic director, and one of the greatest mimes of all time, during a life devoted to the Royal Danish Ballet.

Born in Copenhagen, he entered the Royal theatre ballet school at the age of seven, and, in 1922, appeared as one of the mechanical dolls in Coppelia, in the version staged by Hans Beck, the foremost male dancer of his day. Larsen was to work with, and learn from, both Beck and his partner Valborg Borchsenius, as the recognised custodians of the repertory of the Royal Danish Ballet's chief architect, August Bournonville. Working often with his friend Hans Brenaa, Larsen eventually inherited their mantle.

click for more

A notice in The Globe and Mail:

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030324/OBBRIF-1