The Royal Danish Ballet 2023-2024 season, part of the Royal Theatre’s 275th anniversary, celebrates some of the greatest classical, neoclassical, and contemporary works.
Full-length ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Raymonda are complemented by Bournonville and Balanchine favorites, as well as Wayne McGregor’s 2021 masterpiece, The Dante Project.
The Royal Danish Ballet 2023-2024 Season Trailer
The Royal Danish Ballet 2023-2024 Season Schedule
Scotch Symphony and La Sylphide | September 2-21, 2023
The Old Stage
- Scotch Symphony by George Balanchine
- La Sylphide by August Bournonville
All eyes are on the Scottish Highlands when George Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony is performed for the first time in tandem with its original source of inspiration, August Bournonville’s ultra-romantic ballet, La Sylphide.
Balanchine spent a couple of his youthful years in Copenhagen, and here he was fascinated by Bournonville’s choreography – the mime, the effortless grace and the quick steps. This is evident in his ballet Scotch Symphony which has never previously been performed in Denmark and which is inspired by the sweeping Scottish hillscapes and by the ceremony of Scottish military tattoos complete with bagpipes and flying kilts.
In Bournonville’s Scottish tragedy, La Sylphide, James falls asleep in his armchair the night before his wedding, only to be suddenly awakened by the most seductive winged creature. Can you forsake your bride-to-be, purely because you have suddenly fallen in love with an otherworldly being? Indeed, James does, because when the alluring Sylph gently breathes on him, he simply cannot resist.
Swan Lake | September 23 – October 20, 2023
Copenhagen Opera House
- Swan Lake by Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe, after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Swan Lake’s immense popularity is due to three things: The amazing tale of the impossible love between a swan and a prince, as if taken from a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale; the masterful choreography that offers an abundance of bravura dance; and not least, Tchaikovsky’s magnificent and iconic score that poignantly brings the entire emotional register into play.
In this version, Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe have created the immortal steps, Mikki Kunttu the futuristic lighting inspired by the darkest depths of science fiction, and Mia Stensgaard the sumptuous costumes.
The Dante Project | November 4-18, 2023
The Old Stage
- The Dante Project by Wayne McGregor
The Dante Project premiered in 2021 to mark the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death and is an epic odyssey through the afterlife created by some of the most pioneering names on the contemporary international art scene: Choreographer Wayne McGregor, composer Thomas Adès and visual artist Tacita Dean. A team that brings this medieval fantasy to life through dance, creating a mesmerizing universe where sound, movement and light unite in enigmatically oscillating constellations.
The Nutcracker | November 24 – December 22, 2023
The Old Stage
- The Nutcracker by George Balanchine
When George Balanchine created his irresistible version of The Nutcracker in 1954, he stated that the ballet was intended for children and those still a child at heart: “In every person the best, the most important part is that which remains from childhood.”
Balanchine, who took his cue from German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann’s whimsical tale from 1816, imbues his ballet not only with the seasonal warmth of the Stahlbaum home at Christmas time but also the theatrical magic of the story’s enchanted wonderland. He offers the essence of the classic fairy tale, while reinterpreting it for a modern audience with contemporary elegance, clarity and poetry.
Cinderella | January 27 – March 10, 2024
Copenhagen Opera House
- Cinderella by Gregory Dean
Gregory Dean’s version of Cinderella is based on Charles Perrault’s 1697 story and features all the hallmarks of a true fairy tale – joy and sorrow, the triumph of good over evil, and lovers facing endless tribulations before reaching their happily-ever-after ending. Add in an especially evil stepmother and two scheming stepsisters, but fortunately also a fairy godmother, a flock of gentle fairies and an exceptionally charming prince.
Giant Steps | March 27 – May 3, 2023
The Old Stage
- Serenade by George Balanchine
- Sibelius’ 4th Symphony by Jorma Elo
- Etudes by Harald Lander
Serenade premiered in 1935 and is considered the first neoclassical abstract ballet, although in this masterpiece bathed in midnight blue one senses an impassioned, melancholic undertow. Balanchine said that in his ballets you should be able to see the music and hear the dance. Accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s beautiful score, Serenade fully lives up to his promise.
Finnish Jorma Elo is one of the most sought-after choreographers of our time. In an entirely new work created for the male dancers of the Royal Danish Ballet, he conveys the landscape of his homeland as represented by the sculptured bodies of the dancers. Sibelius’ 4th Symphony is a wholly abstract ballet characterized by Elo’s intense step vernacular and frenetic tempo.
Etudes is Harald Lander’s declaration of love for pure, classical dance and one of the greatest works in ballet history. It builds on classical ballet training, beginning with the five positions and concluding with a flying finale. Etudes is a timeless ballet about beauty and aesthetics as well as the joy and excitement of dancing.
Koreorama | March 22 – April 30, 2024
The Old Stage
- Trois Nocturnes by Tobias Praetorius
- Passengers of Passing Moments by Tara Schaufuss
- Don’t be scared by Matteo Di Loreto
With the Royal Danish Ballet’s latest initiative, Koreorama, up-and-coming talents enjoy the opportunity to express themselves creatively through groundbreaking choreography that seeks to instil in classical ballet the aesthetics of contemporary dance, allowing the art of ballet to embrace the future while preserving its unique magic.
The ambitions of Koreorama, a development project, is to nurture the choreographic talent pool at the Royal Danish Ballet in the coming years, allowing a group of modern choreographers to emerge with a new approach to dance. This season, Koreorama presents three entirely new works created by soloist Tobias Praetorius and corps de ballet members Tara Schaufuss and Matteo Di Loreto.
Under dybet | April 20 – May 10, 2024
Copenhagen Opera House
- Under dybet by Oliver Marcus Starpov and Sebastian Kloborg
Under dybet is a modern dance performance that conveys the transformative journey from childhood to adulthood, from perfect to the imperfect, from life to death.
Under dybet is divided into three acts – nature, sexuality and death – and is a tribute to both the enlightened and darkened forces of life. The performance is about love, grief, happiness and loneliness, and it unites the worlds of ballet, acting and music.
The ballet is staged by director of drama Anja Behrens and features a visual concept designed by Christian Albrechtsen. Choreographers Sebastian Kloborg and Oliver Starpov have created the step design attuned to the musical landscape of composer Jeanett Albeck.
Raymonda | May 17 – June 6, 2024
The Old Stage
- Raymonda by Nikolaj Hübbe after Marius Petipa
Raymonda tells the story of a dramatic love triangle with the beautiful Raymonda and her two admirers. She is engaged to a Hungarian nobleman, the gallant Otto, but the Moorish prince Abderam also seeks her favour. Since Raymonda fails to fall for his wooing, he resorts to harsher means. Luckily, higher powers come to her rescue.
The ballet is Marius Petipa’s last major work – a spectacular display of dance in its purest and finest form. Whereas Petipa’s original version takes place in the Middle Ages, Nikolaj Hübbe has opted to set his version in the southern Europe of the eighteenth century, during the Rococo period.
Featured Photo for the Royal Danish Ballet 2023-2024 season of Wilma Giglio as Odette and Alexander Bozinoff as Siegfried with the corps de ballet in Swan Lake. Photo by Costin Radu.
