Copenhagen, from May to September - Vancouver Ballet Society
By Anne-Marie Elmby
After 14 month’s delay, the Royal Danish Ballet finally performed John Neumeier’s Mahler’s 3rd Symphony (1975) at Operaen, the largest stage of the Royal Danish Theatre, on May 19. COVID restrictions meant there was a limited-capacity audience and the compromise of the Royal Danish Orchestra playing live from a studio, transmitted to the auditorium.
Gustav Mahler was inspired by nature for his nearly two-hour symphony; in turn, Neumeier’s choreography conveys the feelings the music evokes in him, with its changing moods from grandiose to simple folk tunes. The choreography’s six sections are titled Yesterday, Summer, Autumn, Night, Angel, and What Love Tells Me, suggesting a life’s journey toward a spiritual world. Yesterday’s march rhythms suggest images of war in this opening section for an all-male corps, where one man (Jonathan Chmelensky) is singled out; throughout the ballet, he partakes in the action, but also observes and dreams. In flesh-coloured tights, Chmelensky radiated strength but also vulnerability as he wandered through the seasons of life. Marcin Kupiñski memorably incarnated desperation, and the petite, joyful Eukene Sagues as a guardian angel revived his spirit.
Flamenco dancer Selene Muñoz, flanked by Sebastian Haynes and Ask La Cour, offered an imaginative show, 7 Senses, in June, in Tivoli Garden’s Glass Hall. In the section titled Balance, the first sense explored, Haynes moved in and around a floating circle of light, while Sight featured an elegant ballroom twosome with Muñoz and La Cour. In Feeling, bodies and instruments were used to create percussion music with intricate rhythms, the dancers even engaging with the live musicians. Smell was illustrated when Haynes drowned himself in the flowery train of Muñoz’ dress. The sense of body awareness (or proprioception) was shown through two opponents slashing their jackets around like weapons, while a witty café scene, where the men as waiters mimed a crème brûlée recipe, represented Taste. In Hearing, Muñoz demonstrated true flamenco spirit with sensual stamping and swirling of her skirt.
On July 14, Verdensballetten (World Ballet) celebrated the first of 11 performances to scenic places in Denmark with pianist Alexander McKenzie, violinist Niklas Walentin and rising opera star Clara Thomsen to accompany and link the dance numbers. On a beautiful summer evening, Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli from London’s Royal Ballet created timeless serenity in Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and later sparkled in a flawless Nutcracker Adagio.
Danish Kim Brandstrup, now based in Britain, was inspired by the current opening up of the world after pandemic restrictions on social gatherings for his Awakening for Royal Danish Ballet siblings Ida and Tobias Praetorius. Lying on a table, Tobias was reluctantly awakened by his insistent sister and drawn into a caring and playful duet, before, standing on the table, he exultantly opened his arms to the sky.
Tobias Praetorius also danced his own solo, Where the Land Ends, set to piano music by McKenzie. The piece was originally a film, shot on an early June morning in 2020 at the most northern tip of Denmark, where two oceans meet. Another highlight was Ida Praetorius performing August Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano with airborne Marcelino Sambé. A principal with London’s Royal Ballet, Sambé later entertained with a lively improvisation to George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm.
A few days before the tour started, the pandemic situation in Russia prevented the Mariinsky Ballet’s Ekaterina Chebykina and Xander Parish travelling to join Verdensballetten. Instead, Royal Danish Ballet soloist Astrid Elbo leaped in to dance the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake with Alban Lendorf. Lendorf’s appearance was a wonderful surprise, since his career at American Ballet Theatre was cut short by an injury. Lately, he has pursued an actor’s career, and during the coming season will be touring Danish theatres in August Strindberg’s Miss Julie as Jean, a character fitting his dramatic gifts.
Copenhagen Summer Dance, which took place at Copenhagen’s harbour July 22-25, was blessed with fine weather. Danish Dance Theatre’s artistic director Pontus Lidberg premiered A Summer Dance, created during lockdown, with the duo Den Sorte Skole providing the electronic soundscape from a boat. In the work’s final moments, the dancers moved synchronously with a distance between them; one wonders if Lidberg, in his darkest hours, fears that social distancing will become a permanent condition.
In his Once I Had a Love, Sebastian Kloborg and partner Maria Kochetkova, in clear-cut movement images, illustrated the wide range of emotions that can surface when two human beings become one. For some years, both dancers have successfully pursued an independent international career; this was the real-life couple’s first appearance together on a Danish stage.
The most uplifting piece at Summer Dance was provided by Stephanie Thomasen and Mark Philip’s Danish company, Uppercut Dance Theatre, known for its gifted fusion of street and contemporary dance. Deep throat singing and Spanish guitars accompanied Thomasen’s bubbling Benched for five agile men, who jumped, slid, crawled, and balanced on a bench to find their place. The audience gasped at their feats and, during a hilarious air-guitar section, enthusiastically clapped along.
Looking ahead to the fall, 11 principals from San Francisco Ballet will open a new festival on September 2: København Danser (Copenhagen Dances) at Østre Gasværk Theatre, a former gasworks converted into an auditorium. København Danser was initiated by a Danish principal with San Francisco Ballet, Ulrik Birkkjær, together with Thomas Mieth, former stage and tour manager for the Royal Danish Ballet. Their first program will include works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and William Forsythe, as well as new creations by young choreographers Babatunji Johnson, Myles Thatcher, and Danielle Rowe intended to reflect contemporary topics, an aspiration Birkkjær and Mieth consider essential for their future festivals.
