A powerful evocation of the Romantic preoccupation with the natural and otherworldly, La Sylphide is a dance work of consummate formal beauty and irresistible emotional power. The distinctive and dazzling August Bournonville choreography, with its emphasis on intricate footwork and ballon, reach new expressive heights in the story of the young Scotsman, James, who forsakes the certainties of happiness of the peasant world he knows to pursue the beautiful and mysterious Sylph.
Bournonville’s La Sylphide was first produced at The Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, on November 28, 1836. The National Ballet of Canada premiered the work in 1964, staged and partly re-choreographed by Erik Bruhn, who later became Artistic Director. Over the years, National Ballet audiences have seen definitive interpretations in the leading role of James by Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshinkov, Nikolaj Hübbe and Bruhn himself.
In this production of La Sylphide, renowned Danish dancer and choreographer Johan Kobborg brings his long and intimate knowledge of Bournonville technique to his interpretation of the great master’s most famous ballet. His expressive and attentive new staging fully embraces the romanticism of the original and enlivens it in a way that few modern productions have.
La Sylphide and the National Ballet: A Long Tradition
Veteran National Ballet watchers will never forget New Year’s Eve, 1964. It marked the company premiere of August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, staged by Erik Bruhn, one of the greatest exponents of the Danish choreographer’s joyful, fleet-footed style. Bruhn danced the hero James. His Sylph was Canadian-born ballerina Lynn Seymour, by then an established star of England’s The Royal Ballet. This, in itself, was enough to generate excitement, but, when word spread that the great Soviet defector, Rudolf Nureyev, had arrived in Toronto to see his friend Bruhn’s first ballet production, balletomania reached fever pitch. When Bruhn later developed a troubling injury, National Ballet leading dancer Earl Kraul was hastily prepared for the role and danced magnificently. However, what understandably riveted public attention was news that Nureyev himself would make a double debut on January 5, 1965 – his first James and his first appearance with the company. Despite slipping on ice and spraining his ankles, the heavily bandaged Nureyev scored a personal triumph. It was altogether an exciting moment in the National Ballet’s early history.
The company performed Bruhn’s staging for many years. In 2005, Bournonville expert Nikolaj Hübbe, then Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet, staged a new production on the company in honour of the bicentenary of Bournonville’s birth. Hübbe, now Artistic Director of The Royal Danish Ballet, also danced the role of James for
one performance. This season marks the North American premiere of Johan Kobburg’s acclaimed version of this Romantic classic, originally created for The Royal Ballet in 2005. A former Principal Dancer with The Royal Ballet, Kobborg was trained in the Bournonville tradition in his native Denmark.