Royal Danish Ballet.

ROYAL DANISH BALLET ROYAL OPERA HOUSE COPENHAGEN, DENMARK NOVEMBER 14-15, 2003

Peter Martins, ballet master of the New York City Ballet, returned to his Danish homeland to create Octet, a dynamic piece that showcased the fleetness and strength of Royal Danish male dancers. The choreography for eight men and two women was performed to Felix Mendelssohn's Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20, conducted by Graham Bond.

The first movement exploded with male soloists and groups leaping along diagonal paths and contrasting horizontal trajectories, until the audience had seen all eight: Andrew Bowman, Kristoffer Sakurai, Ulrik Birkkjaer, Morten Eggert, David Kupinski, Cedric Lambrette, Julien Ringdahl and Martin Stauning.

Like life, ballet is made more interesting by the tension between yin and yang. Yao Wei--a new ensemble member from Shanghai--entered like a quicksilver breeze, tenuously anchored to earth by beautifully arched feet. Her lightness played off the provocative authority of Sakurai, a handsome Japanese-Danish soloist. Flying male formations filled the stage in anticipation of Silja Schandorff, a leggy, yearling beauty, who appeared and dominated Bowman's attention. At the center of the mostly male opening, the two women had a moment as the tornado's quiet eye, pressing palms, encircling wrists, and locking elbows.

Mendelssohn's Andante is a duet for Schandorff and Bowman, whose strength and elevation are impressive. He draped, poured and lifted her around his body, finally backing flora the stage and gently balancing her vertically across his chest. In the Scherzo, Wei fell delicately against Sakurai in a pas de deux often punctuated by, and in counterpart to, a vivid male trio. In a balletic equivalent of chest pounding, all eight men tossed off triple tours en l'air in unison before racing into homage-to-Balanchine moments. The danseurs hurtled feverishly in a circle, then pressed outward into two parallel lines, trisecting the original diagonal pathway. With six men poised upstage, the two couples struck a signature image as each woman arched backward, swooning over her partner's lowered arm and knee. On the second evening Gitte Lindstrom and Mads Blangshup--the latest Danish lightning bolt--danced in place of Schandorff and Bowman.

Octet was framed by two George Balanchine masterpieces. Set by Victoria Simon, Serenade (1934) opened the program as an ethereal vision with special Danish luster. Two sets of principals were equally compelling. Friday night's leading dancers were Rose Gad, Lindstrom, Christina Olsson, Jean-Lucien Massot and Peter Bo Bendixen. On Saturday, viewers saw Marie-Pierre Greve, Tina Hojlund, Diana Cuni, Julien Ringdahl and Bendixen. A flawless corps de ballet swept though both performances.

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (1941, Ballet Imperial) was staged by Patricia Neary, former principal dancer with New York City Ballet and artistic director of several classical troupes in Europe. With Blangstrup as her cavalier, American-born Caroline Cavallo appeared as the ballerina, blending deft musicality and charm with crystalline technique. Saturday's cast was headed by Gudrun Bojesen, a true Danish delight, and the dashing Massot. The corps dazzled again, with speed, precision and pure daring. Tchaikovsky's score, with Julian Thurber as piano soloist, crashed gloriously in the golden oval of the Royal Opera House. Margarethe II, Queen of Denmark, attended the premiere. From somewhere beyond the majestic ceiling's painted clouds, Balanchine must have beamed approval.

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