Bournonville Style and Tradition

Abstract

Today, more than a century after his death, August Bournonville would be very surprised if he knew of the interest we have in his ballets. They are danced all over the world by The Royal Danish Ballet or by foreign companies. When he retired as artistic director for The Royal Danish Ballet in 1877, 21 of Bournonville's ballets were in repertory, but he did not believe that any of them would long survive him.' There were several reasons for this conviction: control of the theatre passed from the king to the state in 1849; Bournonville had encountered difficulties with members of the leading circles in politics who for economic reasons wanted to close down the ballet; Bournonville suspected that new people would have new tastes, for at one time he had not been too keen to preserve Vincenzo Galeotti's ballets. Finally, Bournonville felt that the stage in the new Royal Theatre, built in 1874, was too big for his ballets. They had been created for a smaller stage in the old theatre, built in 1748 and restored in 1774. Today we find the 1874 stage in The Royal Theatre most appropriate for Bournonville's ballets.