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July 6th, 2008
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Back to basics with Bournonville

The National Theater ballet shows flair with an imported style
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March 5th, 2008 issue

Photo by Pavel Hejný
Leads Richard Kročil and Nikola Márová turn in noteworthy performances in La Sylphide.
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La Sylphide/Napoli

When: March 11 and 12 at 7
Where: National Theater
Tickets: 30-800 Kč, available at National Theater box offices

“It is the mission of art in general, and the theater in particular, to intensify thought, to elevate the mind and to refresh the senses.”
These words were spoken by ballet legend August Bournonville as part of his “choreographic credo” explaining the driving purpose behind his creative efforts. One hundred fifty years later, they also serve as an apt elaboration on the merits of adding Bournonville’s work to the repertoire of Prague’s National Theater Ballet.
Bournonville’s La Sylphide, the epitome of Romantic ballet, and the third act of his Napoli officially entered the rotation Feb. 21. Wisely, the National Theater didn’t stop at importing Bournonville’s choreography and brought to town Frank Andersen, the international keeper of the Bournonville flame, to work with the company on his specific style.
Andersen is the longtime director of the Royal Danish Ballet, the same institution helmed by Bournonville in the mid-1800s. During his time as principal dancer, resident choreographer and ballet master, Bournonville created more than 50 original works that helped define the art form’s Romantic era. Today, 10 of his ballets survive intact. Bournonville is one of only two major classical ballet choreographers (along with Russian Marius Petipa) to have his creations performed in near-unaltered form.
For this reason, when modern-day companies perform Bournonville, they are beholden to history to do more than walk through the steps. Andersen and his team of ballet mistresses from the Royal Danish Ballet took over the National Theater Ballet’s rehearsal rooms for three weeks not just to teach the technicalities, but to imbue the performances with the spirit of Bournonville.
His works are not showy. They don’t impress with the athleticism of Balanchine, or the energetic technical precision of Petipa’s 32 fouettés. Rather, the Romantic ballets of Bournonville are revered for their grace, delicate footwork and storytelling. They radiate a manifest pleasure in beauty, and challenge dancers with the task of impressing the audience with seemingly simple movements.
From the opening act of the premiere, the benefit of a new director coming in and taking the helm was manifest. Synchronicity has not been a strong point of the National Theater’s corps du ballet. Under Andersen, the corps has been literally brought in line, staying precisely together from head to toe during rousing folk dances. For marked improvement in that area alone, the investment in Andersen’s residency was worth it.
Most dance aficionados will be familiar with the traditionally Romantic plot of La Sylphide — a short, simple tale of otherworldly overtures between James, a betrothed Scotsman, and a forest fairy. Nikola Márová is sweet, flirty and, well, spritely as the Sylph, with her graceful airiness en pointe providing an apt reminder of why ballerinas first ascended to their toes during the days when Bournonville’s style was new. It is a significant credit to Márová that she can so beautifully inhabit the Sylph. With a broad smile and fleet footwork, she stays true to the Bournonville style and far from the moodiness of, say, a melodramatic swan.
The star of the performance, however, is Richard Kročil, the stunning dancer portraying James. Though aided by movie-star good looks, Kročil has the difficult task of carrying the ballet. He spent a great deal of time working with Andersen to inhabit a man torn between daily life and an unknown, mysterious glen, and turns in a fabulously acted rendition. He also executed a near-flawless performance, technique-wise. Only an occasionally turned-in foot kept it from being perfect.
Napoli is a cheerful, though disappointingly danced, cap on the night. Andersen explained that he chose to include the third act of this ballet because it is “the trademark” of his company, and also to provide a happy ending to the night after La Sylphide’s tragic finale. While the spirit of the work is indeed high-energy and cheerful, the National Theater’s soloists fell notably short in the premiere performance.
However, as it is only one of three acts from the ballet, this segment of Napoli can be enjoyed just for the sheer pleasure of dance. It is one solo or pas de duex, quatre or six after another, surrounded by a corps of foot-stomping, tambourine-shaking villagers. While the two leads (Alexandre Katsapov and Zuzana Susová) are adorable, their supporting dancers are shaky. The women looked better than the men, but the general inconsistency of quality ended the evening with more of a letdown than a pick-me-up.
On the whole, the company does very well with the sweet, subtle style of Bournonville ballet. For decades, the National Theater Ballet has relied on the more heavy-handed Russian style of dance. So it’s encouraging for both the dancers and the audience to see a markedly different — and absolutely essential — interpretation of classical dance.


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