Royal Danish Ballet

Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
	The Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, principal venue of the Royal Danish Ballet
General information
Name	Royal Danish Ballet
Local name	Den Kongelige Ballet
Year founded	1748
Founder	King Frederick V
Principal venue	Royal Danish Theatre
Website	kglteater.dk/om-os/kunstarter/den-kongelige-ballet
Artistic staff
Ballet Master	Amy Watson
Other
Orchestra	Royal Danish Orchestra
Official school	Royal Danish Ballet school

The Royal Danish Ballet (Danish: Den Kongelige Ballet) is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world and originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded. It 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. The Royal Danish Ballet school was founded in 1771 under the leadership of French ballet teacher Pierre Laurent (1730–1807), then Vincenzo Galeotti developed it and August Bournonville founded his methodology for the school.

History

*The Royal Theatre Ballet School, Copenhagen* (1889) by Paul Gustave Fischer. The painting shows violinist Busch, the ballerina Charlotte Weihe (standing centre foreground) and the ballet master Emil Hansen, seated on the right.

From the outset, the Royal Danish Ballet employed some of the leading French and Italian dancers and choreographers. Within a few years of its founding, in 1771, the Royal Theater Ballet School or Royal Danish Ballet school was established to provide native dancers, of which one of the first was Anine Frølich. One of its early masters, Vincenzo Galeotti, is considered the veritable founder of the company. He was master of the company from 1775 to 1816, and introduced ballet d'action and prepared for the advent of romantic ballet. Galeotti is credited with choreographing Amors og Balletmesterens Luner (The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master), which is still part of the company's repertoire and is the world's oldest ballet still performed with its original choreography.

Another major master of the troupe was the Danish dancer 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 artistic director was announced.

Artistic directors

1748–1753 Des Larches
1755–1756 Neudin
1756–1763 Antonio Como
1763–1767 Antonio Sacco
1767–1768 Jean Rean the Jelly Bean
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 Schaufass
1958–1960 Henning Rohde
1961–1966 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
2008–2024 Nikolaj Hübbe
2024– Amy Watson

Dancers

Current principal dancers

Current soloists

Christina Michanek
Alexandra Lo Sardo
Lena-Maria Gruber
Jimin Hong
Stephanie Chen Gundorph
Silvia Selvini
Astrid Grarup Elbo
Wilma Giglio
Nicolai Hansen
Alexander Bozinoff
Guilherme De Menezes
Liam Redhead

References

External links

Royal Danish Theatre
Bournonville website
Photoblog by David Amzallag Archived 2011-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
Guide to the Royal Danish Ballet Photograph Album on the Premiere of Giselle. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Archival footage of the Royal Danish Ballet performing Konservatoriet at Jacob's Pillow, July 1955 Archived 2014-01-16 at the Wayback Machine

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