Royal Danish Ballet

Royal Danish Theater.

The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance. The company was founded with the opening of the Royal Danish Theatre, which has served as its home since that time.

Bournonville, 1841.

History

From the outset, the Royal Danish Ballet employed some of the leading dancers and choreographers. Within a few years of its founding, in 1771, the Royal Theater Ballet School was established to provide native dancers, of which one of the first was Anine Frölich. One of its early masters, Vincenzo Galeotti is credited with choreographing Amors og Balletmesterens Luner (The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master), the world's oldest ballet still performed with its original choreography. Galeotti was master of the company from 1775 to 1816, and that ballet is still part of the company's repertoire.

Another major master of the troupe was the Danish August Bournonville. During the half-century that Bournonville led the company (1828-1879), he choreographed some fifty ballets, of which about a dozen are still part of the company's repertoire. The works are highly influenced by the French school of dance, since Bournonville studied in that country, and include key roles for male dancers, undoubtedly written with himself in mind. After his death, one of his successors, Hans Beck, used the basic steps he learned in Bournonville's classes to create the Bournonville school to teach contemporary dancers the tradition of the old master.

The third great period of the Danish Royal Ballet came in 1932, when Harald Lander took over the helm of the corps. Trained in the United States and the Soviet Union, he both adapted traditional ballets and choreographed original works for the company. He encouraged local choreographers, who went on to create prominent works that won international acclaim. Among them was Børge Ralov, who choreographed the first modern Danish Ballet, The Widow in the Mirror, in 1934. He also trained many prominent international dancers, including Erik Bruhn.

A prominent company director was Henning Kronstam (1978-1982), who directed the 1979 Bournonville Festival.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the Royal Danish Ballet underwent another transformation, with many internationally prominent choreographers, including George Balanchine commissioned to work with it. Though modern works assumed increasingly important stature in the repertoire, the Ballet continued to remain loyal to its classical roots as well, earning it the reputation as one of the finest corps of dancers in the world, incorporating foreign as well as native-born talent.

In 2007 the appointment of New York City Ballet principal dancer Nikolaj Hübbe as balletmaster was announced.

Artistic Directors

1748-1753 Des Larches 1755-1756 Neudin 1756-1763 Antonio Como 1763-1767 Antonio Sacco 1767-1768 Jean Baptiste Martin 1768-1770 Innocente Gambuzzi 1770-1771 Martini 1771-1772 Vincenzo Piatolli 1772-1773 Domenico Andriani 1773-1775 Vincenzo Piatolli 1775-1816 Vincenzo Galeotti 1816-1823 Antoine Bournonville 1823-1830 Pierre Larcher 1830-1877 August Bournonville 1877-1890 Ludvig Gade 1890-1894 Emil Hansen 1894-1915 Hans Beck

1915-1928 Gustav Uhlendorff 1928-1930 Kaj Smith 1930-1932 Victor Schiøler 1932-1951 Harald Lander 1951-1956 Niels Bjørn Larsen 1956-1958 Frank Schaufuss 1958-1960 Henning Rohde 1961-1965 Niels Bjørn Larsen 1966-1978 Flemming Flindt 1978-1985 Henning Kronstam 1985-1994 Frank Andersen 1994-1995 Peter Schaufuss 1995-1997 Johnny Eliasen 1997-1999 Maina Gielgud 1999-2002 Aage Thordal-Christensen 2002-2008 Frank Andersen 2008-present Nikolaj Hübbe

Dancers

Principal dancers

See also Category: Royal Danish Ballet principal dancers.

Amy Watson Gitte Lindstrøm Gudrun Bojesen Susanne Grinder Yao Wei Alban Lendorf

Andrew Bowman Jean-Lucien Massot Kristoffer Sakurai Mads Blangstrup Marcin Kupinski Thomas Lund Ulrik Birkkjær

Soloists

See also Category: Royal Danish Ballet soloists.

Alexandra Lo Sardo Christina Michanek Diana Cuni Femke Mølbach Slot J'aime Crandall Jodie Thomas Kizzy Matiakis Lena-Maria Gruber Lesley Culver Tina Højlund

Alexander Stæger Fernando Mora Gregory Dean Morten Eggert Nicolai Hansen Sebastian Kloborg Tim Matiakis

Character dancers

See also Category: Royal Danish Ballet character dancers.

Eva Kloborg Jette Buchwald Lis Jeppesen Mette Bødtcher

Erling Eliasson Flemming Ryberg Mogens Boesen Poul-Erik Hesselkilde

Corps de ballet

Alba Nadal Amalie Adrian Birgitta Lawrence Camilla Ruelykke Holst Carling Talcott Caroline Baldwin Cecilie Lassen Charlotte Aamand Ditte Teildorf Elisabeth Dam Ellen Green Emma Håkansson Esther Lee Wilkinson Giorgia Minnella Hilary Guswiler Holly Jean Dorger

Josee Howard Josephine Berggreen Julie Valentin Kristine Drewsen Laure Dougy Louise Midjord Louise Østergaard Maria Bernholdt Maria Stokholm Mathilde Søe Oda Grøner Rebecca Labbé Sascha Haugland Shelby Elsbree Stephanie Sahlgren Tara Schaufuss

Benjamin Buza Bryant Steenstra Byron Mildwater Cédric Lambrette Charles Andersen Christian Hammeken Christopher Rickert Constantine Baecher Eliabe D'Abadia Gábor Baunoch James Clark Jón Axel Fransson Julien Ringdahl Julien Roman Jonathan Chmelensky Thomas Flindt Jeppesen

Apprentices

Astrid Elbo Benita Bünger Ida Praetorius Stephanie Chen Gundorph Møller Viktoria Falck-Schmidt

Andreas Kaas Jeppe Banke Lukas Hartvig-Møller Luke Schaufuss Magnus Christoffersen Oscar Nilsson

External links

Royal Danish Theatre (Danish) Royal Danish Theatre (English) Third Bournonville Festival (English)

Bournonville website (English) photoblog by David Amzallag