The Royal Danish Ballet has not seen in London for some ten years. Rectifying that omission Soloist and Principals of The Royal Danish Ballet bring to The Peacock Theatre an August Bournonville programme featuring excerpts from works such as La Sylphide, Napoli, A Folk Tale and Conservatory.
The 19th century Royal Danish Ballet choreographer and ballet master created more than fifty works for the company. The Bournonville style lies in its rhythm, harmony, joie de vivre and easy elegance.
Bournonville saw La Sylphide (created for the romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni its world première took place at the Paris Opera in 1832) in Paris in 1834 and choreographed his own version in Copenhagen in 1836. The Company dances Act Two from La Sylphide.
One of Bournonville’s most important and popular works, constantly in the repertory of the Royal Danish Ballet, Napoli (1842) is a ballet in three acts. The third act with the pas de six, a purely classical composition, and the tarantella, inspired by Italian folk dance, has become a signature dance of the Royal Danish Ballet.
Conservatory (1849) was originally a ballet d’action in two acts. In 1926 the dances from the first act were presented alone as a divertissement showing a dance class at the Paris Opera, including the pas de trois to be seen in the London programme.
The romantic ballet A Folk Tale is from 1854. Set in Jutland in the 16th century, the ballet ends happily with a wedding celebration, where a group of dancers perform a festive pas de sept.
The full version of The Flower Festival in Genzano created in 1858, has disappeared, danced for the last time in Copenhagen in 1929, but its famous pas de deux has survived.
The Jockey Dance from From Siberia to Moscow, Bournonville’s last ballet, choreographed in 1876, final performances in Copenhagen in 1904, has been preserved thanks to some rare ballet films taken in Copenhagen at the beginning of the 20th century.
The company features principals and soloists Alban Lendorf, Gudrun Bojesen, Ulrik Birkkjaer, Susanne Grinder, Gregory Dean, Amy Watson, Marcin Kupinski, Diana Cuni, Andreas Kaas, Femke Slot, Sebastian Haynes and Kizzy Matiakis.