"In the Future" - Junior Company's Fifth Anniversary Performance

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Dutch National Ballet Junior Company In the Future 15 April 2018, 19:30  Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam

In the Future is a triple bill to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company.  It takes its title from Hans van Manen's masterpiece of the same name which in turn takes its name from David Byrne's setting of his own words:

"In the future everyone will have the same haircut and the same clothes.
In the future everyone will be very fat from the starchy diet.
In the future everyone will be very thin from not having enough to eat.
In the future it will be next to impossible to tell girls from boys, even in bed ....."

This is a visually arresting but also a very witty piece.  It opens to a repetitive, pulsating score suggesting an industrial process.  The dancers enter the stage in pairs coalesce into larger groups then separate into smaller ones again.  Each and every movement in completely synchronized just like the equipment and components on an assembly line.

Van Manen created In the Future in 1986 for the Scarpino Ballet of Rotterdam but it could have been tailored for the Junior Company. It requires 12 very special dancers with very sharp minds and very agile bodies.  The young men and women who performed at the Stadsschouwburg on Sunday night are among the best on the planet.  Their artistic coordinator, Ernst Meisner, scored the world looking for them at competitions like the Prix de Lausanne and the Youth America Grand Prix and elsewhere. Watching those artists was a mesmerizing, awe-inspiring experience that swept the audience to their feet.

Of the towering choreographic geniuses of my youth - Ashton, Balanchine, Béjart, Cranko, MacMillan, Petit - van Manen is the only one left and he is still busy.  He is one of the reasons why the Dutch National Ballet is special.  He symbolizes its willingness to innovate and thereby renew itself. Van Manen's muse is the great ballerina, Igone de Jongh, and she was the Junior Company's ballet master for Sunday's performance.   In the trailer. Ode to the Master, de Jongh and van Mann dance together.  There could have been no stronger collaboration for this work.

© 2018 Jane Elizabeth Lambert
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The colours red and green were also used by the brilliant Spanish choreographer Juanjo Arqués in Fingers in the Air.  Click on the link to the left to see the video as it is the best way to explain the work.  Lamps no more than an inch long were distributed to the audience and carried by the cast. One emitted red light and the other green.  At various stages of the performance groups of dancers competed with each other - three men against three women or a soloist against a duet - and the members of the audience were asked to vote on which performance they preferred, Celebrity Big Brother style using their lamps. On the first vote, the women won. The jubilant females punched the air and continued to dance as the dejected males slunk away.  Perhaps this was the beginning of a whole new art form - reality ballet.

Towards the end of the work the lights went down. The dancers continued to dance but all that was visible was the movement of the reds and greens just like fireflies. The effect was magical and captivating especially when members of the audience lit their lamps too

I discussed the work with the choreographer after the show.  "What if the audience had chosen the men in the first vote?" I asked.  "The audience had been guided" Juanjo added. "Just like we were in the Brexit referendum," I suggested, "or the Americans who voted for Donald Trump?" The choreographer did not deny the possibility of a political dimension to his work though I got the impression he was more comfortable discussing the analogy with reality TV where the viewers are consumers.

Though the Dutch National Ballet is innovative it is also strongly rooted in a tradition and looks beyond Petipa to Bournonville.  The Junior Company's homage to that tradition was the Pas de Six and Tarantella from Napoli.  Though notionally set in Italy Napoli is associated primarily with the Royal Danish Ballet - much in the same way as Ashton's La Fille mal gardée is quintessentially English even though it is supposed to be located in pre-revolutionary France.  In their swirling skirts the women were enchanting.  The men in their breeches and white shirts and stockings were so dashing. This is a feel good ballet if ever there was. Coached by Ernst Meisner and Caroline Sayo Iura the dancers were magnificent.

I cannot think of a better choice of work than those three ballets to show off the qualities of the Dutch National Ballet.  It is that combination of innovation and classicism that distinguishes that company from the others.  From time to time representatives of the company thank me for my support.  "But I don't think I do" I explain "other than by sitting in the audience and being one of the company's Friends." I am not, alas, an industrialist or aristocrat who could donate what I would like to give and that company deserves.  All I can do is cross the North Sea to see its shows whenever I can.  Why wouldn't I?   This company has a je ne sais quoi that makes it great.  I say that in all seriousness and with all sincerity.

Junior Company - Five Tremendous Years

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In Ernst Meisner’s Work with the Dutch National Ballet 2 Dec 2014, Ernst Meisner. the Artistic Coordinator of the Dutch National Company Junior Company, told me how that company came to be formed:

“It has been a wish of Artistic Director Ted Brandsen for a long time to have a Junior Company to bridge the gap between school and company. While Christopher Powney was Director at the National Ballet Academy and placing the school on the international map, it seemed the right time to start such a young group. I was involved in setting the Junior Company up and it has been great to have the chance to develop the way we like this venture to go together with Ted and Christopher (now Jean-Yves Esquerre) during the years. We had a great start last year, with seven of the first group actually having joined the main company now."

I was lucky enough to attend the first performance of that company at the  Stadsschouwburg theatre in Amsterdam  which I reviewed in The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013.  On 15 April 2018 I am returning to the Stadsshouwburg to celebrate that company's fifth anniversary with a special performance of In the Future by the current members of the Junior Company.

According to the Dutch National Ballet's website, In the Future will be a triple bill consisting of the Napoli Suite (Pas de Six and Tarantella) by August Bournonville, Fingers in the Air, a new work by Juanjo Arques and In the Future by Hans van Manen.  it is described as "an attractive, yet daring programme for twelve dancers."  It differs from previous galas that I have seen where up to 8 new works were presented in a single evening.

Because I had been married for many years to a Sierra Leonean national who loved ballet as much as I do and knew a lot more about it, I was thrilled to learn about a young American dancer of Sierra Leonean origin.  She was already carving an enviable reputation for herself by winning the Youth America Grand Prix. her film First Position and early reviews of her performances in New York and her guest appearances in South Africa (see Michaela DePrince 4 April 2013).  When I learned that she had moved to Amsterdam my heart leapt (see No Holds Barred  4 Oct 2013).  I bought a ticket for the Junior Company's first show and booked a flight to Amsterdam.

When I eventually saw DePrince I described her as "quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while" but she was not the only dancer who impressed me that night. So, too, did Sho Yamada who partnered DePrince in Diana and Actaeon and all the other brilliant young people whom I saw on 24 Nov 2013 and subsequently.  On my last visit to Amsterdam just over a month ago I was overjoyed to see Yamada and Riho Sakamoto top the bill in Don Quixote (see A Day of Superlatives - Dutch National Ballet's Don Quixote 1 March 2018).

I have got to know several of those dancers.  When the outstanding young dancer and choreographer, Cristiano Principato, brought friends and colleagues from the Dutch National Ballet and other major companies to Trecate, a small town in Piedmont to raise funds for the charity Casa Alessia, I attended and reviewed their show (see From Italy with Love  1 July 2015).  The next year Principato arranged an even more ambitious programme of new choreography in Amsterdam called New Moves I was there for that too. One of the dancers who accompanied Principato to Italy was Thomas van Damme. Van Damme.  Van Damme also showed enormous talent as a choreographer in  New Moves 2017 but he also shows extraordinary talent as a film maker (see The Ballet Couple 8 Sept 2016). In that regard he reminds me so much of our own Kenneth Tindall.

If you can't make the Staddshouwburg next Sunday you get another chance to see it on 28 June 2018 at the Korzo Theatre in the Hague, The International Court, the International Criminal Court and a branch of the European Patent Office are also to be found there though only a lawyer would be interested in that kind of thing.  One of my ballet teachers danced there in The Lion King but he has now returned to Manchester.

If you miss In the Future  I recommend the opening night gala on the 8 Sept 2018 which is followed by a party a which you can meet the dancers and choreographers, Giselle, Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella and Rudi van Dantzig;s Swan Lake.  There is now a direct train to Amsterdam from St Pancras and yesterday The Guardian published the Top 10 affordable hotels, hostels and B&Bs in Amsterdam.   

Andersen's La Sylphide

I have often written about the close relationship between Manchester and English National Ballet (see Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company 29 Nov 2015). That relationship will be fortified on 11 Oct 2017  when the company performs La Sylphide and The Song of the Earth in our city.  Set in the Highlands and probably inspired by the novels of Sir Walter Scott, La Sylphide ought to be our national ballet (see La Sylphide 7 Aug 2015).

This is a beautiful ballet with a simple story of human frailty and a charming score.  It is important to the history of dance as it was the first ballet in which dancing en pointe was used to achieve an impression of flying.  English National Ballet has staged a version of this ballet before.  In 1979 it presented Peter Schaufuss's version and it was that version that the Queensland Ballet brought back to London (see Jane Lambert and Gita Mistry A dream realized: the Queensland Ballet in London 17 Aug 2015). The Royal Ballet also has a version but that has not been performed since 21 May 2012 (see La Sylphide on the Royal Ballet's website). Our only other experience of that ballet was in Jan 2015 when principals and soloists of the Royal Danish Ballet performed extracts from the work at the Peacock Theatre (see Royal Danish Ballet Soloists and Principals in celebration of Bournonville 11 Jan 2015).

Those principals and soloists reminded us that La Sylphide was created by August Bournonville for the Royal Danish Ballet where he was resident choreographer and ballet master. One of his illustrious successors in the Roya Danish Ballet is Frank Andersen who served as its artistic director of that company from 1985 to 1994 and from 2002 to 2008. Andersen has produced La Sylphide in many companies around the world (see La Sylphide in the Productions section of his website).  One of the countries in which he has staged the ballet is China where Andersen has a particularly strong following in China as a choreographer, director and teacher (see Frank in China on his website).

Andersen will create the version that the English National Ballet will dance in Manchester (see 2017-18 Autumn/Winter Season Announcement 9 March 2017 on the company's blog). The company will also dance the ballet in Milton Keynes between 17  and 21 Oct 2017 and at the Coliseum between 9 and 13 Jan 2018. I look forward to this production very much indeed.

La Sylphide

Basic Facts
Choreographer  Filippo Taglioni, August Bournonville
Composer Herman Severin Løvenskiold
Acts 2
Approximate length: 1 hour 55 minutes including intervals
First performed 1832
First performance of Bournonville's production 1836
Genre Romantic


Introduction

La Sylphide was first danced in 1832 when Europe fell in love with all things Scottish. This love of all things Scottish had all sorts of manifestations: the novels and other works of Sir Walter Scott, Donizetti's Lucia di Lamemoor, Scottish baronial architecture and lots of dramatic landscape painting like Jacob Moore's Falls of Clyde above. This ballet is in the news just now because it has been brought to London by the Queensland Ballet.

Reviews

The Australians have had good reviews from the press this week. Far better, indeed, than their cricketers though that may change as there are still three more days of play at Trent Bridge.   Louise Levene wrote in the Pink'Un "Peter Schaufuss’s version of the Romantic tragedy is a fine showcase for these well-drilled dancers" 6 Aug 2015. Zoe Anderson rejoiced in "Romantic tale features fleet-footed footwork from the Queensland Ballet" 6 Aug 2015 in The Independent. Judith Mackrell celebrated the company's "impressive mastery of a tragic fairytale" 6 Aug 2015 The Guardian.  It seems also to have gone down well on BalletcoForum. Whether that is because it is practically the only ballet in the United Kingdom this week or because it really is a good show remains to be seen. Gita and I shall see it on Saturday and I will review it on Sunday or shortly afterwards. My hunch is that it is a good show and having listened to the company's artistic director Li-Cunxin at the London Ballet Circle last Monday I think he will have made damn sure that it will be good.

Queensland Version

The show that Queensland Ballet has brought to London was created by Peter Schaufuss for what is now the English National Ballet in 1979. I was reminded of that production at Li-Cunxin's talk to the London Ballet Circle. I had completely forgotten about it and have now only the fuzziest recollection. The performance that sparkles in my memory is one by Carla Fracci as  the sylph. Here she is dancing with Schaufuss though I think the production I saw was by American Ballet Theatre and I can't remember whether I saw it on tour or when I was a graduate student in the USA.

 

However good the Australians may be the sad fact is that they will be on their plane back to Brisbane soon and this lovely ballet will hibernate again. So this resource page is my attempt to keep it alive a little in the public mind for a little bit longer.

Other Versions

First, The Royal Ballet have a version though it was last seen at Covent Garden in 2012 (see La Sylphide on the Royal Ballet's website). So, too, do the Bolshoi who ran four performances in June and will stage another on 3 Oct 2015 (see La Sylphide  on the company's website). I understand from Gillian Barton that Ballet West are planning a production for 2017. That will be really something because Taynuilt is actually in Gurn and Effie territory and the school and their teachers have so much talent.

Further Reading

For those who want to know more about the ballet there are pretty good synopses on the Bolshoi and Queensland Ballet websites. Both companies explain the historical significance of the ballet (see About Performance  on the Bolshoi site and The History on Queensland's). It was one of the first ballers (if not the first ballet) in which the ballerina danced on pointe. There are also useful articles on the ballet in Wikipedia, the Ballet Encyclopedia and The Ballet Bag.

Post Script

11 Aug 2015 There is a very interesting article by FLOSS on BalletcoForum mentioning some of the differences between the Schaufuss version of La Sylphide and the Koburg version.

Royal Danish Ballet Soloists and Principals in celebration of Bournonville

August Bournonville

Photo Wikipedia

Because ballet was introduced to us by Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes we tend to think of it as an art form that began in renaissance Italy, developed in 18th century France and flourished in 19th century Russia under Marius Petipa. Almost every classical company of any size includes at least some his works or those of his pupil Lev Ivanov in its repertoire. But there is another important tradition, that of the Royal Danish Ballet and its great choreographer August Bournonville. Principals and soloists of the Royal Danish Ballet have performed a selection of extracts from Bournonville's work at The Peacock Theatre off Kingsway on the 9 and 10 Jan  2015.

I saw the show on Friday the 9 Jan 2015 and was thrilled by it. It consisted of the following works:

• A Folk Tale (pas de sept)
• Flower Festival in Genzano
• Jockey Dance
• La Sylphide (Act II)
• Conservatoire (pas de trois) and
• Napoli (Act III).

All of the works were by by Bournonville and save for La Sylphide all were new to me. 

Through this show I was introduced to some remarkable dancers: Gudrun Bojesen who danced the sylph in La Sylphide,  Ulrik Birkkjaer who danced James and Sorella Englund who danced Madge, the witch. The scene that was chosen for the celebration shows James (who is supposed to marry Effie who is a real person) fall in love with the sylph. He is duped by Madge into acquiring a shawl that is poisonous to sylphs as a gift for the sylph. He wraps it around the sylphs body and she immediately expires. One wing falls from the sylph's tutu followed by another. She is carried away by her fellow sylphs. These are two fine virtuoso and one great character role which those dancers performed magnificently. As I have said many times before La Sylphide is my favourite Romantic ballet and I can't see enough of it. I already have my ticket for the performance of the Queensland Ballet in the summer (see Looking Forward to 2015 - My Choices 29 Dec 2014).

The other Bournonville work that is fairly well known in this country is Napoli. According to the programme

"Despite its southerly theme, Napoli has become the 'Danish National Ballet' - the costumes are Italian, but the joie de vivre is Danish, The third act with the pas de six, which is a purely classical composition, and the taratella, inspired by the Italian folk dance, has become the calling card of the Royal Danish Ballet."

This was the bit that we saw with glorious dancing by Susanne Grinder, Amy Watson, Kizzy Matiakis, Femke Slot, Andreas Kaas and Sebastian Haynes.

Haynes was impressive in Jockey Dance. Whenever one reads a biography of Bournonville or a history of ballet one is told that his great contribution was the development of an important role for the male dancer. Jockey Dance, which was Bournonville's last ballet according to the programme, is a great example of that. Two horsemen try to outdo each other in a race. The other was Marcin Kupinski, one of the company's principals. Needless to say he was exquisite.

My only criticism of the evening is that it was not enough. I would have liked to have seen the whole of La Sylphide and Napoli and I would have liked to have seen them on a big stage with scenery and an orchestra. In short I would like to have seen a season of their work at Covent Garden or The Coliseum. It has been 10 years since the company's last visit and I don't propose to wait that long until I see them again. I am getting used to crossing the North Sea to see the Dutch National Ballet and I am now checking out airline schedules for Copenhagen.