The Wings Stayed Put, But The Love Story Was Moving
Til Glæden
The Royal Ballet
Old Stage, The Royal Theatre
Copenhagen, Denmark
September 16, 2026
It is the desire of artistic director Amy Watson to reinstate Bournonville in the repertoire (he was never really gone, but that is for another day) and make new generations of theatre goers fall in love with the stories and steps of the master himself. Her first attempt at accomplishing this mission is 'Til glæden' ('For the Joy'), a programme of the Jockey Dance, the wedding pas de deux from 'Abdallah' and 'August 2.0' a choreography by Dinna Bjørn and Nikolaj Hübbe from 2020.
The Jockey Dance is a short and fun duet between two competing jockeys from Bournonville's 'From Siberia to Moscow' from 1876. Originally danced by two men, it is now cast with two women. Personally I find it works better with men because much of the choreography is jumping in quick succession, and here each jockey (Lena Maria Gruber and Tara Schaufuss) is left with each of their own spotlight on a darkened stage as though they are completely separate from each other, when the focus should be on the cheeky competitiveness of the jockeys, the glances, dirty tricks and reactions that usually makes the jockey dance so funny.
Likewise the wedding pas de deux from 'Abadallah' is also completely removed from the colourful scenography of the ballet, danced on an empty stage with a warm orange background. Eukene Sagues is a charming and wonderful dancer and possesses the Bournonville sweetness, and Liam Redhead is elegance personified in the entréchats. But is all feels a little unresolved when the story is removed from the dance.
'August 2.0' is a celebration of the male dancer in the Bournonville universe led by Tobias Praetorius with eight other male dancers in simple tights and tops with sheer back panels. The costumes are designed by former principal Kristoffer Sakurai who had a decadelong career in fashion after retiring early due to injury. He then went on the run the Tivoli Ballet School and has just returned to helm The Royal Danish Ballet School at The Royal Theatre. 'August 2.0' is aesthetically pleasing with formations and balances, and the deep pliés remind one of the shadow effect applied in 'Etudes' by Harald Lander.
Nikolaj Hübbe was responsible for three different stagings of 'La Sylphide'. The first in 2003 with Sorella Englund that stayed very true to the original, the other two during his long tenure as artistic director of The Royal Ballet in Copenhagen. It is his final attempt that was a part of the 'Til glæden' programme.
Gone is the 2010s version where all colour of the Scottish plaids was erased and replaced with a gray, black and white universe with a lot of Bournonville's original symbolism and storytelling was lost. It was quite frankly difficult to tell the characters apart from one another, as they were all wearing drab colours and James' escape into the woods was suddenly just a white nothingness.
In this version the plaid is back, sort of, though the essence of the story is at times muddled by the staging's choice to give the love story a more modern and straightforward turn. This however means that Effy is not at all the slightly frumpy young lady of the earlier stagings, and Gurn is now chiseled and prince-like. On this particular night, Sylvester Jønson was much more than just a consolation prize for left-at-the-altar-Effy, dancing like someone who knew he was better than just the second choice. Suddenly, it was no longer clear why Effy is so brokenhearted when James left, and it was also no longer as obvious why James would chase a romantic adventure in the woods with the sylphide, when Effy is in fact a pretty, very elegant and devoted young lady.
While the return to plaid designed by the incredible scenography and costume design duo Anja Vang Kragh (who worked at Dior and Stella McCartney) and Mia Stensgaard, who is responsible for many memorable costumes since 'Manon' in the 2000's, is appreciated, the scenography is overpowering. The trees and leaves in the woods are now replaced by big patterned brocade drapes, brown earth tones, and the traditionally white tutus of the sylphs are now a slight pinkish colour with faded rose print that from afar reads like tea stains and withered leaves. These were not pristine airy white costumes, and these sylphs seem to be rolling on the ground more so than hovering over it.
Rather than maintaining a naive curiosity and giddyness when first seeing James, Stephanie Chen Gundorph's Sylphide was serious, almost mournful as she watched James asleep in his chair by the fireplace. A demeanor much too mature and emotionally heavy for the ageless, airy sylphide. Thankfully she found the playful and enchanting lightness in steps as well as mood in the woods, and the love and desire for connection between her and Jón Axel Fransson's James was deeply moving.
Unfortunately, on this night Fransson managed to drape the sylphide in the poisoned veil so much so that the wings of the sylphide never came off, despite a struggle for it to happen leaving the death of the sylphide a little amputated.
Jón Axel Fransson has danced the part of James in 2021 and he cut a striking figure. Ease and pride in the jumps and he danced with exuberance in the quick footwork.
Principal Astrid Elbo shaped her Madge as a mature and incredibly erotic figure who seemed - at times - overly aroused in every meeting with James. Though she, in the end when she has defeated James, suddenly finds herself staring with a bewildered look that darts around aimlessly. It made her appear childlike surprised by her doing and deranged rather than calculated.
Copyright © 2026 by Signe Ravn
