A very special night - tonight!

Of course going on tour is a big deal for everybody in the company. It’s fun, it’s challenging, it’s hard work. 

Caroline Cavallo will have her comeback as a dancer with the RDBallet when she is dancing the title role in ‘La Sylphide’ tonight. 

Cavallo who was born in America came to Denmark in 1989, where she was a dancer with RDBallet till her retirement in December last year. Now she’s back on stage for one night in Berkeley (she’ll perform June 18th in New York as well). It’s a big night for us!But tonight’s performance is a bit more special than normal for two of the dancers in RDBallet. 

Far away from retiring is Ida Praetorius. She’s a very talented first year apprentice with the RDBallet and she’s the other ballerina with a special night to come.

Praetorius will make her debut as the student in Flemming Flindts legendary ballet ‘The Lesson’. It’s a big change for the young dancer and she has been preparing for months. Underneath are a few snapshots from the rehearsals with principal Mads Blangstrup – photos taken by David Amzallag:

After a successful week in LA we moved north to Berkeley. Second stop on the tour is here … at Zellerbach Hall. 

This is our schedule in Berkeley:

31.05.11, 8:00 PM + 01.06.11, 8:00 PM: The Lesson and La Sylphide
03.06.11, 8:00 PM + 04.06.11, 8:00 PM: Nordic Choreographers*
* Bournonville Variations, Lost on Slow, Alumnus, Earth

Come see us if your around. 

And don’t forget to download our free app with the complete tour schedule, bios and photos.

Peppo and Giacomo in LA

This is what happens when dancers have to much spare time :-)


Napoli going to the streets of LA.

Three quickies: Nikolaj Hübbe

This is how artistic director Nikolaj Hübbe feels about …

… finally being on tour:
“Oh, finally, finally. I’ve been waiting 4 years for this very moment. My cup Runneth Over!”

… the first performance Tuesday 24th at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County:
“It was a good and tense premiere. There were this special, nervous anticipation that always precedes a premiere - which resulted in minor mistakes. But the whole company danced with a wonderful energy and did an excellent job.”

 … the way the US audience greeted the company:
“We got a standing ovation. YES. And Gene Kelly’s widow gave me a kiss afterwards for having such lovely male dancers. She said: ‘Gene would have gone bananas over these incredible male dancers’."

Over and out.

What we are doing in the weekend!

First days - From the perspective of a dancer

''Here's a little gift: Dancer in RDBallet Constantine Baecher has agreed to share his first impressions on being in on tour:

By Constantine Baecher:
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, we understand that there is a dance team on board with us on today’s flight to the United States.’ Our stewardess announces over the loud speaker as we board the plane.

She continues, ‘If you need any help placing your carry on luggage in the over head compartment the dancers will be happy to assist you.’

Momentary pause…

‘Excuse me, I’ve just been informed that it is not a dance team we have on board today…but in fact the Royal Danish Ballet!’

Cheers erupt in the rows around me as excited dancers settle into their seats for the 18 hour journey from Copenhagen to Los Angeles that marks the beginning of the company’s month-long US tour. It’s an enormous undertaking: 23 performances, 9 ballets, in 4 cities across the country.

For me this tour is especially important because it is also a homecoming. I left America 10 years ago to pursue my ballet career in Europe, and now I’m back to show America a little bit of what I’ve been up to all this time. But for my colleagues LA is as exotic as other recent tour destinations, Beijing, Budapest, Cairo… even a trip to the local pharmacy proves fascinating. Our physiotherapist snaps pictures of the unending aisles of painkillers and anti-inflammatories one would need a prescription to get back in Copenhagen.

I’m fascinated by the two-story high Richard Serra sculpture right outside our hotel entrance. Mr. Serra has been a hero of mine ever since seeing a retrospective of his work at MoMA a few years back. Danes most likely know him for the large ironwork he made especially for the Louisiana museum’s sculpture garden.

Upon arriving in the theater we find that the technical crew has already spent days here preparing so rehearsals can run as smoothly as possible. The dancers have only a few hours to review all five ballets for tonight’s big premiere!

I’m especially nervous because I’ve agreed to give an introduction an hour before curtain time to the audience. I meet up with the theater’s event coordinator a little before hand for a sound check. ‘So how many people come to these lectures?’ I ask, thinking certainly no more than 50 diehard ballet fans would be interested in such a specialized subject. ‘Oh, you know, three to four hundred,’ says the woman without batting eyebrow. THREE TO FOUR HUNDRED! I’m already nervous having to speak in front of an audience—after all, dance is a silent art form. My techniques of dealing with stage fright haven’t had to cover talking.

Luckily the introduction is a success. The American audience is captivated immediately when they learn that the Royal Danish Ballet stretches back in an unbroken line into the 1700’s, making it older then America itself. They are also enchanted with stories of famed Danish dancer Flemming Ryberg’s farewell last week in Copenhagen. A man who began at 6 years old in the Royal Danish Ballet School and stayed with the company into his 70’s--they simply can’t believe their ears. ‘Now that’s a real tradition,’ I hear one woman say.

For an untraditional program, the premiere is a success. The audience, most of whom probably expected a traditional Bournonville story ballet, stands, cheers, and applauds the evening’s unexpected lineup. A lady in the front row is so excited she makes two giant thumbs up and pumps them in the air to show her appreciation. Mid-way through the last ballet a baritone voice calls out ‘THAT’S MY MAN!’ during Thomas Lund’s final solo.

Others leave in bewilderment; this collection of five shorter works is far from the romantic era full-length Royal Danish Ballet is known for. They’re surprised by the shirtless men rolling in red dirt to rock band Apocalyptica’s orchestration of Metallica melodies in the final piece. It’s a strong statement on the opening night of the tour not to bring out the standard Napoli, or Sylphide. 


For me, it was a premiere with a different message, a premiere that says ‘We’re back, and there’s more to us than you’ve seen before!’

First reviews!

Today day of. Tomorrow Napoli. 


Spending the day reading the first reviews in the US:

LA Times:
"Can a 263-year-old ballet company be reinvented? Can its reliance on 19th-century nostalgia and Old World charm be dumped in favor of a bracingly contemporary muscularity and heat? And can its unique classical style emerge from this daring transformation looking stronger than ever? 
The answers proved triumphantly affirmative on Tuesday, when the Royal Danish Ballet opened its first Southland engagement in more than 15 years at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Under the artistic direction of Nikolaj Hübbe (best known in America as Copenhagen's gift to New York City Ballet), the Danes offered an audacious, five-part “Nordic Choreography” program emphasizing what has always been their pride and glory: male dancing." Read the whole review here


OC Register:
"It was all about the men on Tuesday at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Royal Danish men, to be precise." Read the whole review here 

Photos from the OC repertories

Photographer David Amzallag has followed the RDBallet for many, many years. He collected a series of photos from the ballets performed in Orange County. Click on the photo of soloist Alexandra Lo Sardo and principal Ulrik Birkkjær in Les Lutins (Alumnus) and see them all ...

Love to make the audience laugh

Tuesday means: first premiere at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County. First of 23rd performances in the US. 

Charlie Andersen is a dancer in RDBs corps de ballet AND he’s from Orange County, so let’s hear what he’s most excited about? 




 "I am looking very much forward to dancing our Nordic Choreographers program. I think it is a really nice mix of a lot of the work that we have been doing this season. There is a good blend of Bournonville in the Bournonville Variations and later in the evening we are dancing to Metallica music and rolling on the floor. It is a large challenge to show these two different techniques in one evening but it is great for us as dancers to go through those two stages of movement and hopefully it’s exciting for the audience as well. In the same program are new ballets by Johan Kobborg that are so much fun to dance. They both add a great bit of humor into the evening. It is great to feel the audiences excitement for the ballets but it is even more fun to hear them laugh and that happens easily in these two ballets by Johan."

Enjoy!

We are having a day of. Getting rid of jetlag and ready to dance.

Have you seen the piece in Vanity Fair yet?

Alternative ways ...

This is how (injured) soloist Sebastian Kloborg is trying to get on the tour. This cargo is being shipped to New York. Wish him luck …

Arrived in City of Angels

Sooooo - RDBallet finally arrived in City of Angels. After nearly 18 hours of travel. Now heading to Costa Mesa, Orange County.

Flight attendant before take off in Copenhagen:
‎"Welcome to Delta flight 119, we have approximately 74 members of a dance team on board....I'm sorry, I've just been told it's not a dance team, it's the Royal Danish Ballet."

It sure is The Royal Danish Ballet. And we are so ready for you America.

Remember you can read about the tour schedule here: www.kglteater.dk/ustour11

Take off

Royal Danish Ballet checking in to go to the US!

Interviews with Nikolaj Hübbe

Artistic director of The Royal Danish Ballet, Nikolaj Hübbe, has given a bunch of interviews to the American press lately.

Read the interview in LA Times about Napoli and how he became artistic director here



And one more ... 

The Orange County Register: What was the biggest challenge of leaving New York for Copenhagen?
Nikolaj Hübbe: To say farewell to dancing and City Ballet was not too hard. I think the hard part was moving from New York to Denmark and going from being a dancer to a director. I didn't miss the dancing, it was the new job. And the culture shock. I was 17 years in New York. I knew the language but I was self-conscious about speaking Danish. I didn't know the country and the ins and outs anymore.

Read the whole interview with The Orange County Register here

We got an App!

Today we released our tour app. It's free, it's for iPhones and you can read more and download it here: http://kglteater.dk/balletapp

What else? Countdown! Last performance at Old Stage tonight, dancers in shape and suitcases packed. 

America - we are ready for you.

Best

Camilla, PR Manager