I am in Copenhagen at the Third Bournonville Festival. The festival has occurred once every 13 years since 1979; we will have to wait until 2018 for the next one. It’s my first visit to the city, and it seems as clean and quaint as when Han Christian Andersen walked its canalled streets, yet modern in the spirit of the best European architecture. For whatever

reason, there is virtually no crime in the city. It is quite safe to leave a purse on a table in a restaurant without fear that it will disappear. The taxi drivers wear collar and tie and are as polite in an old-world manner as the many Danes I met during my stay.

 

This city, the legendary home of Andersen was also the home of dancer, teacher, and choreographer August Bournonville. Although the famous ballet master died in 1879 at the age of 74, what has become known as the    Bournonville style endures at the Royal Danish Ballet, which nurtures his ballets in the company and reveres his teaching in the school. "It is in the blood of Danish dancers," reads the school’s handbook.

 

I have always been fascinated by the Bournonville technique—the gentle arms of the girls as they dance with a delicate lightness, the appealing line of their head and eyes, the virtuoso batterie of the men, and the dancers’ speed and agility as they move across the stage. Here at the Royal Danish Ballet, the word "tradition" is defined by the personal experience of all those who are living it through the ballet.

 

Bournonville, a fine dancer, trained first with his father, Antoine, a teacher and choreographer for the Royal Danish Ballet, and then with Auguste Vestris in Paris, where he danced with the Paris Opéra Ballet for six years, often partnering Marie Taglioni. On his return to Copenhagen in 1830, Bournonville signed an 18-year contract as a soloist and choreographer with the Royal Danish Ballet, which began his 47-year tenure as the dominant force in the company. He retired from dancing in 1848 but remained as ballet master of the RDB until 1887, composing more than 50 ballets that reflected his years in Paris and the teachings of Vestris. The Royal Danish Ballet is probably the closest replica of 19th-century Romantic style existing today.

 

The festival was held at the Royal Danish Theater, built in the ornate, embellished style of the grand opera houses of 19th-century Europe. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, attended every performance and applauded enthusiastically from the royal box near the stage. Her support of the ballet is not only by way of audience participation: she has also designed décor and costumes for the company. At the end of each ballet, the dancers bowed to the Queen first, before bowing to the audience.

 

In addition to the festival, I also attended two demonstrations by Royal Danish Ballet students and company members. The director of the school, Anne Marie Vessel Schlüter, who has been with the company and school for 52 years (including her years as a student), spoke at each class. In a charming manner and with traces of humor, she explained the motivation of various steps and their importance for the dancers. Bournonville arranged structured classes for each day of the week; the demonstrations showed excerpts from four of them. I was impressed by the precise footwork, the expressive épaulement, and the fluency in the dancers’ movement. Compared to those of American teachers, the combinations were unusual—often jumps were placed in the midst of a long adage, their bursts of speed contrasting with the tranquility of the slower movement.

 

Although she had been rehearsing her students all morning, Ms. Vessel Schlüter graciously offered her time to speak to me about the school. At present, 42 girls and 29 boys, of which almost one-third are not Danish nationals, are enrolled in the year-round school; breaks from their daily training include 2 months in summer, 12 days at Christmas, and 6 days at Easter. Because the school is completely subsidized by the government, the

students pay no tuition.

 

The dance program consists of one and one-half hours of classical ballet daily, along with Graham technique, character, Bournonville technique, gymnastics for the boys, and pointe for the girls; academic classes are also part of the curriculum. Classes are taught by two teachers, one a staff member and one a trainee (all of the teachers were trained at the school and danced with the company), and are limited to five or six students. Younger children who live outside the city attend two nearby schools until they are old enough to make the trip to Copenhagen to attend classes. Although there is no residential schooling at present, a residence for the students will be ready by summer 2006.

 

Out of about 300 young children who audition each year, 60 are selected. They are required to respond to different musical rhythms as part of the audition, which is conducted by the entire faculty of 15 teachers.The children are also examined by a doctor and a physiotherapist. After two weeks of classes, another audition is held, from which 30 of the original 60 are retained; two weeks later, the group is further reduced to only 12 children. Every six months the students are tested, and those who have not fulfilled expectations are given another six months to improve. They know that if they do not improve, they will be asked to leave the school. The students remain at the school for 10 years, then graduate into the Apprentice Class, where they train for another 2 years. Almost all the students join the company; those who do not often gravitate toward other aspects of theater, such as drama or design.

 

Although the Royal Danish Ballet has kept pace with the times by including the ballets of contemporary choreographers in its repertoire, it takes pride in preserving the Golden Age of Romanticism as immortalized by Bournonville.

Given the high standards and small class sizes of the school, small wonder it is that its dancers are so well trained in ballet technique and that the classicism of the 19th-century style is so clearly recognizable, as artistic director Frank Andersen says, by the softly rounded arms, the gracious performance of each step, and the joyous expression of the dance.

 

 

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