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Those Dancing Danes: The Royal Danish Ballet and the Original 'Mr. B'
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13629 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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8 / 1988 |
1,496 Words |
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Todd Culbertson
Todd Culbertson writes editorials for the Richmond News
Leader. |
"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." The Royal Danish Ballet answers a balletomane's prayer. The company's two-week American tour gave rest--and peace, and joy--to ballet fans living far from Denmark.
What makes the Danes different? August Bournonville. The original "Mr. B" headed the Danish troupe from 1830 to the 1870s. He choreographed the ballets that have made the Danes' reputation. As George Balanchine created a company--the New York City Ballet--in his image and likeness, so Bournonville developed a company that, one hundred years after his death, still continues to reflect his personality and his vision.
Bournonville grounded his ballets in the bourgeois world. His works celebrate domestic values--family, nation, home. His heroes are not princes but fun-loving fellows who flirt with coltish or shy girls. "The purpose of art in general and of the theater in particular [whether its direction be comic or tragic]," wrote Bournonville, "is to elevate the soul and strengthen the spirit." The steps in his ballets pay candenced tribute to middle-class sense and sensibility.
Bournonville style
The Bournonville style is airy, light. The choreography emphasizes fast footwork and precise jumps. Danish dancers are famed for their ballon. They bounce; they float; they soar. One of the most beautiful Bournonville steps is the grand jet?en attitude en tournant in which the dancer leaps and turns, holding one leg in affixed position. The form combines gaiety and dignity; it is at once
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