Gudrun Bojesen (born 1976) is a Danish ballet dancer. Since 2001, she has been a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet.
Born in Copenhagen, Bojesen grew up in the well-to-do district to the north of Sortedam Lake. Through her mother, she is related to Edel Petersen who is remembered for her interpretations and support of August Bournonville's ballets. She studied at the Royal Danish Ballet School from 1984, graduating in 1992. In addition to ballet, she has also studied Spanish, English and Italian. [1] [2]
Considered to be the Royal Ballet's leading classical ballerina, Bojesen joined the troupe in 1992, becoming a soloist in 2000 and a principal dancer in 2001. [3] [4] Known for her technique and radiance, she has been acclaimed for her roles in Bournonville's ballets, for example as Hilda in A Folk Tale . [5] Together with her partner Thomas Lund, she starred in the 2005 Bournonville festival. [2] Her pas de deux in The Nutcracker and her passionately presented Tatiana in John Cranko's Onegin have also impressed. [5] Other leading roles have included Marguerite in Lady of the Camellias , Odette/Odile in Swan Lake , and the title roles in Giselle , The Tin Soldier and Tarantella . [3] More recently she has danced Nikija in a new staging of La Bayadère by Nikolaj Hübbe. [4]
Bojesen has also performed modern dance with the Copenhagen International Ballet at Bellevue Teatret. [5]
Gudrun Bojesen has received several awards including: [3]
August Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.
Ib Andersen is a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, and painter. Admired as both a dancer and a choreographer, he is an artist who is comfortable engaging with both the classical and contemporary aesthetic of modern-day ballet.
Lucile Alexia Grahn-Young was the first internationally renowned Danish ballerina and one of the popular dancers of the Romantic ballet era.
Nikolaj Hübbe is artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet.
Thomas Lund is the head master of The Royal Danish School of Ballet in Copenhagen. Lund admitted to The Royal Danish School of Ballet in 1986 aged 11. He became apprentice in 1991, member of the corps de ballet of The Royal Danish Ballet in 1993, soloist in 1996 and was appointed principal dancer in 2000. In September 2012 Lund retired as a Principal Dancer to become the head master of The Royal Danish School of Ballet.
Amy Watson is an American ballet dancer. She joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 2000, becoming a principal dancer in 2007. In 2011, she was honoured with the prestigious Order of the Dannebrog.
Gitte Lindstrøm is a Danish ballet dancer and ballet teacher. She joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 1992, becoming a principal dancer in 1998.
Mads Blangstrup is a Danish ballet dancer. He became an apprentice with the Royal Danish Ballet in 1990 rising to the rank of principal dancer in 1998. In early 2014, he retired as an active member of the Royal Danish Ballet after performing in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon.
Sorella Englund is a former soloist and character dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet. She has been a keen supporter of August Bournonville, staging a number of his ballets in Denmark and abroad.
Bruce Marks is an American dancer, performing both in ballet and modern dance. He continues to work as a choreographer, coach and teacher and is a tireless advocate for the art form.
Anna Lærkesen was a Danish ballet dancer who was a soloist at the Royal Danish Ballet. She had her debut at the theatre in the Bournonville version of La Sylphide as the first sylph (1959). She was appointed soloist in 1964 and was promoted to 1st female soloist two years later, a title that had until then only been bestowed upon Margot Lander. After long periods of illness, she was dismissed from service shortly before her 25th anniversary where she would have appeared in a production of Livjægerne på Amager in which she would have portrayed the character of Louise.
Dinna Bjørn is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. She has specialized dancing and directing the ballets of August Bournonville. Bjørn has also created five Hans Christian Andersen ballets for the Pantomime Theatre in Copenhagen's Tivoli.
Elise Juliette Christiane Price, usually known as Juliette Price, (1831–1906) was a Danish ballet dancer. She studied under August Bournonville, becoming his favourite dancer.
Andrea Marie Krætzmer, née Møller (1811–1889), was a Danish ballet dancer. She became a soloist in the early ballets of August Bournonville.
Susanne Grinder is a Danish ballet dancer. She joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 1998, becoming a principal dancer in 2012.
Marcin Kupinski is a Polish ballet dancer. In 2002, he joined the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen becoming a principal dancer in 2011 after performing in August Bournonville's A Folk Tale.
Hans Brenaa was a Danish dancer, teacher, and ballet director. He studied at the Royal Danish Ballet School from 1918 and joined the company in 1928; promoted to principal in 1945. He created roles in George Balanchine Legend of Joseph (1931) and in numerous ballets by Lander, including Études (1948). He produced Aurora's Wedding for the Royal Danish Ballet in 1950. After retiring from the stage in 1955 he became a producer, staging the Bournonville repertoire in Denmark and elsewhere. He also taught at the Royal Danish Ballet School in Copenhagen from 1942 and was a tireless teacher of the Bournonville style throughout Europe and America. Among the Bournonville productions he staged for the Royal Danish Ballet are The Kermesse in Bruges, La Sylphide (1967), Konservatoriet (1968), The King's Volunteers on Amager (1970), Far from Denmark (1973), and La Ventana (1979). Brenaa made the more straightforward and ingenuous ballets dance across the stage with an infectious vitality. During the periods in which Hans Brenaa was absent from the theatre, Kirsten Ralov was the custodian of the Bournonville tradition. In 1979 she committed the Bournonville Schools to paper.
Silja Maria Wendrup Schandorff is a Danish ballerina who performed with the Royal Danish Ballet from 1985 to 2009. She has since served the Royal Theatre as ballet instructor and deputy ballet master.
Ida Praetorius is a Danish ballerina, and a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet since 2016.
Mona Elly Hou Vangsaae (1920–1983) was a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer and instructor. At the Royal Danish Theatre, thanks to her excellent technique and dramatic versatility she became a soloist in 1942, taking roles in Bournonville's productions and in works by the Danish choreographers Nini Theilade and Harald Lander. The roles of Julie in Frederick Ashton's Romeo and Juliet and Aili in Birgit Cullberg's The Moon Reindeer were created for her. After retiring from the stage in 1962, she became an instructor for Bournonville's ballets together with her son Peter Schaufuss.