Postcards from Copenhagen #3: A First-Class Education

After a few days in the Bournonville intensive, OBT Soloist Candace Bouchard drops a line updating us on what the program so far has been like: Yesterday, we were let out early, as people are typically the most sore on the third day of the program. While the schedule is actually less dancing than a… Read More

Postcards from Copenhagen #2: Getting to Know the City

Six of OBT’s dancers are studying at a week-long intensive at Tivoli Ballet School in Copenhagen, Denmark. Soloist Candace Bouchard shares her experience so far: From my first moments in the city, Copenhagen has taken me by the hand and shown me its magic. Cobblestone sidewalks give way to pedestrian streets along the canals lined with… Read More

Postcards from Copenhagen #1: OBT Dancers Abroad

This fall, Oregon Ballet Theatre will present Act III of August Bournonville’s classic ballet Napoli. Preparation for this production began last February when former Royal Danish Ballet Artistic Director and Bournonville authority Frank Anderson visited Portland to instruct the company in the Bournonville style. The technique is characterized by fluid and graceful upper body movement… Read More

Act II of The Nutcracker: Inside Balanchine’s Candy Box

New York City Ballet's production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. The Spanish Hot Chocolate costumes include a small oval portrait of Balanchine. Photo by Andrea Mohin, The New York Times.

When we return after intermission we find ourselves transported to Konfituerenburg or the Land of the Sweets. Balanchine said, “When the curtain rises we are inside a huge box of candy!” He drew on his childhood memories of Eliseyevsky’s, a grand sweet shop that Balanchine said was as opulent as a palace and filled with… Read More