Royal Swedish Ballet
The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in
History
In 1773, the cultural professions of acting, opera-singing and ballet-dancing in Sweden were all performed by foreign troupes. The first ballet performance was performed at the Swedish court when the French ballet troupe of
Gustav III wanted to create and educate native talents in these professions. To accomplish this, he used the same method in the ballet as he was to use with the theatre; by having the first generation of native dancers educated by foreign professionals. When he fired the French theatre-company to create his national-stage in 1773, he kept many of the French dancers of this troupe. Dancers from France, Italy and Belgium, such as Antoine Bournonville, Louis Gallodier, Giovanna Bassi and Julie Alix de la Fay were hired to perform and to educate Swedish students. Most of the first students to the troupe were taken among children to the staff at the royal court and to professional musicians, as were the first students to the theatre and the opera. In the first ballet-troupe in the national stage of 1773, they were very few native talents with former professional experience; one of them was Charlotte Slottsberg, who could be counted as the first native Swedish ballerina known by name. The greatest triumph of the Swedish ballet during the 18th century is considered to be the Ballet performed by Gallodier to the Opera Gustav Adolf och Ebba Brahe (Gustav Adolf and Ebba Brahe) (1786); also the Ballet Fiskarna (The Fishes) by Antoine Bournonville (1789) became a great success.
The Ballet was from the beginning closely linked to the Opera; ballets were a part of the performances of the Opera, and the dancers were also active on the Royal Dramatic Theatre. When the Royal Swedish Opera were closed down between 1806 and 1809–1812, the Ballet was not closed, only moved over to the theatre.
During the 19th century, new ballets were made all the time, and older ones seldom performed; En komisk balett (A comic Ballet) by
The Kungliga Hovkapellet (Royal Swedish Orchestra), the orchestra of the Royal Swedish Opera, is the performing partner for the Royal Swedish Ballet.
Nicolas LeRiche is the director of the Royal Swedish Ballet. Birgitta Svendén is the general director of the Royal Swedish Opera. The members of Operans Balettklubb[1] are supporters of the Royal Swedish Ballet.
Ballet Masters
- 1773–1803 : Louis Gallodier
- 1803–1804 : Filippo Taglioni
- 1804–1806 : Federico Nadi Terrade
- 1806–1816 : Louis Deland (1st time)
- 1817–1818 : Filippo Taglioni
- 1818–1820 : Louis Deland (second time)
- 1820–1823 : André Isidore Carey
- 1823–1827 : Giovanni Battista Ambrosiani
- 1827–1830 : Sophie Daguin (jointly with Wallqvist)
- 1827–1833 : Per Erik Wallqvist
- 1833–1856 : Anders Selinder
- 1856–1862 : Sigurd Harald Lund (1st time)
- 1862–1870 : Théodore Martin
- 1870–1886 : Theodore Marckl
- 1887–1890 : Robert Sjöblom
- 1890–1894 : Sigurd Harald Lund (second time)
- 1894–1901 : Max Glasemann
- 1901–1905 : Otto Zöbisch (1st time)
- 1905–1908 : Robert Köller
- 1911–1913 : Otto Zöbisch (second time)
- 1918–1920 : Michel Fokine
- 1922–1926 : Gunhild Rosén
- 1926–1927 : Lise Steier
- 1927–1931 : Jan Cieplinsky
- 1931–1951 : Julian Algo
- 1949–1951 : Antony Tudor
- 1953–1962 : Mary Skeaping
- 1962–1963 : Antony Tudor
- 1964–1966 : Brian Macdonald
- 1967–1971 : Erik Bruhn
- 1971–1980 : Ivo Cramér
- 1980–1984 : Gunilla Roempke
- 1986–1993 : Nils Ake-Häggbom
- 1993–1995 : Simon Mottram
- 1995–1999 : Frank Andersen
- 1999–2001 : Petter Jacobsson
- 2002–2008 : Madeleine Onne
- 2008–2011 : Marc Ribaud
- 2011–2017 : Johannes Öhman
- Since 2017 : Nicolas Le Riche
Principal dancers
Soloists
- Katja Björner
- Jenny Brandt
- Ann Brattselius
- Jurgita Dronina
- Karin Forslind
- Nikolaus Fotiadis
- Tibor Horvath
- Magdalena Irigoyen
- Pascal Jansson
- Calum Lowden
- Eunsun Jun
- Irina Laurenova
- Andrey Leonovitch
- Nathalie Perriraz
- Nicole Rhodes
- Jens Rosén
- Oscar Salomonsson
- Lykke Håkansson
- Joakim Stephenson
- Hugo Therkelson
- Gina Tse
- Jenny Westring
- Johannes Öhman (on leave)
Stockholm 59° North
Stockholm 59° North is a chamber company of soloist dancers from the Royal Swedish Ballet.
Artistic Director is Mia Hjelte.
See also
- Royal Swedish Opera
- Drottningholm Palace Theatre
- Confidencen – Ulriksdal Palace Theatre
- Charlotte Slottsberg
- Hedda Hjortsberg
- Ulrika Åberg
References
- Kennedy Center Arts Edge
- Georg Nordensvan : Svensk teater och Svenska skådespelare. Första bandet 1773–1842 (1917)
- Tryggve Byström: Svenska Komedien, 1737–1754
- Klas Ralf, Prisma: Operan 200 år. Jubelboken
- Klas Åke Heed: Ny svensk teaterhistoria. Teater före 1800. Gidlunds förlag (2007)
External links
- Royal Swedish Ballet homepage on Operan.se (in Swedish) (click "language" for English translation)
- Archival footage of Stockholm/59 North performing Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven in 1997 at Jacob's Pillow
- NY Times review of Stockholm/59° North at Jacob's Pillow August 5, 2005