Search

Search our website

    This section doesn’t currently include any content. Add content to this section using the sidebar.

    This section doesn’t currently include any content. Add content to this section using the sidebar.

    This section doesn’t currently include any content. Add content to this section using the sidebar.

    This section doesn’t currently include any content. Add content to this section using the sidebar.

    This section doesn’t currently include any content. Add content to this section using the sidebar.

    View bestsellers 

    Pre-order our new design

    Bespoke timepieces

    This section doesn’t currently include any content. Add content to this section using the sidebar.

    Johan Kobborg 2024

    Johan Kobborg

    Choreographer, Director, Dancer

    Interviewed by Rachel Holland
    American International Church, Tue 17th Sep, 2024

     

    Tonight’s guest was Johan Kobborg, Danish choreographer, dancer, and past principal of both the Royal Danish Ballet and Royal Ballet. He had recently returned from Cuba where he had been creating a production of his own work “Lucile” with the National Ballet of Cuba.

    2024 has been a hectic year for Johan. The COVID years were tough for a self-employed freelance creator, although providing him with plenty of free time. So, returning after this lull has been extreme and he did not have to worry that he would have no work post-COVID. He is still dancing, although he feels that maybe he shouldn’t be at his age. However, Alina Cojocaru, talked him into performing in “La Strada”, a full-length ballet based on the 1954 Federico Fellini film, choreographed by Natália Horečná. Over the years he has danced periodically but doing nothing as intense as this. However, for someone who has spent every day of his life dancing, it was relatively easy to “find a little bit of the old feeling”. It was a fun process and the production will be going on tour to Italy and Germany in 2025, so he will soon be back doing his pliés.

    For Johan, one of the interesting things about being freelance is that you are able to do different things and you are not constrained by someone else’s schedule. Now, when he is dancing, he is only responsible for how he wants to be remembered as a dancer and does not have to worry about the requirements of someone he works for. It is exciting to have the freedom to say ‘yes’ only to the projects that he finds inspiring. During the last six months, he has done three new productions back-to-back which has been somewhat overwhelming. The last was in Cuba and he is still recovering physically and mentally from the experience. When he dances, he prefers to leave things to the last minute because he thrives on the adrenaline rush and the excitement, but when he is creating and is responsible for the production and the creative team, he prefers to take his time and let ideas simmer. This made the last six months challenging because he had to forget his preferences and take a different approach, simply entering the studio and creating immediately.

    His first production was “Coppélia” in Poland, a classical ballet but taking a different angle by expanding on some of the narrative and characters. This was followed by a new production of “Napoli”, which remained 50% the work of the original creator, Danish choreographer August Bournonville, but was also 50% additions by Johan. Working on these two big ballets was equivalent to creating full original pieces. After that he went to Cuba at the request of David Bain who had asked him to create something for the Cuban National Ballet. David wanted something dramatic like “Onegin” or “Manon”. Since his days at the Royal Danish Ballet, Johan had had a dramatic story in his head and he felt that this was a good opportunity to bring it out and develop it. This was “Lucile”, a classical one hour, one-act ballet with music by Massenet, loosely inspired by August Bournonville’s “La Sylphide” in that it touches on the same ideas of chasing dreams and the fascination with something that is unobtainable.

    Johan’s idea of Cuban ballet was primarily based on his experience of meeting and working with phenomenal male Cuban dancers, so he believed that it was the male dancers who stood out and represented the strength and traditions of the company. His initial ideas were based on this pre-conceived notion, but when he got there, he found that it was the exact opposite, because there was much more female talent amongst the principals, soloists and the corps de ballet. He therefore had to change his male-oriented ideas for the choreography.

    In addition, things are difficult in the country and many good male dancers are leaving. All this made it quite difficult to create. In London or similar locations, you are sure of working with well-paid dancers and there will be no big logistical problems with technology or costumes etc. In Cuba, dancers are paid very little and it is hard to demand the best from them. It is also challenging to source the required technical facilities such as lighting or costumes.

    Having lived with the idea of this ballet in his head for so long, the situation created some insecurity for Johan as he wanted to make it the best production he could. When you are creating something, you become vulnerable. When you produce an existing ballet, like a Bournonville “La Sylphide”, for example, you already know that the ballet is good, so your job is to present it in an inspiring way. Creating something new, however, raises several questions: Will people like and understand it? Is this the worst thing you have ever done? So, he had to deal with this self-inflicted pressure as well as the technical constraints due to the lack of availability of the materials that we take for granted such as good lighting. On the first night, he was still unsure what he would see when the curtain went up as they had never managed to fully run through the whole performance. Now when he sees ballet companies online rehearsing in costume a full three weeks before production, he feels somewhat jealous as nothing like this was possible for his production in Cuba.

    He was able to work with four principal female casts but only two from the males which meant that the men had to work twice as hard. His four leading ladies were completely different from each other. The youngest was in her twenties and the oldest in her late forties but they all performed well and he did not prefer one style over another. It was also more interesting to watch a role that could be interpreted so differently and rewarding for the audience to see something that was not simply stereotypical.

    Johan feels that a work has to “live” on the dancer who is performing the role and he is very open to taking suggestions from them as long as they make sense and fit in with the framework and style of the piece. Again, there is a difference between producing an established piece versus a new piece. With an established piece he can provide the dancers with several different options, knowing full well that the majority will work because he has seen it and it has been well tested over time. When you are doing something new, you see dancers trying to “find” the character and to get it out of their body. They might struggle to discover the best way to convey the movement as they have never seen it before. This makes it difficult for the choreographer to decide whether to ask for a specific movement or whether to go with the dancers’ natural instincts because the movement has not existed before now.

    With regards to “Lucile”, he allowed the principal women, who had very strong characters, to take the lead even though, in some cases, he didn’t particularly like the character that emerged, because it worked for the ballet. With the lead male role, he was more proscriptive as he had had a defined idea of the character for over 35 years. But, in this, he was not talking about the steps, it was more about subtle movements – a turn of the head or the lifting of an arm, for example – as these movements can make or break or change the interpretation.

    The idea for the music also evolved 35 years previously during his time with the Royal Danish Ballet when he was injured and had time to listen to music on the radio. A few years later he was guesting in the National Ballet of Canada’s “Nutcracker” and Maina Gielgud, who was Director of the Royal Danish Ballet at the time, asked Johan to do a piece for one of their mixed programmes. His plan was to choreograph “Lucile”, so from this time, he had already decided on the music and had everything recorded on paper ready to begin rehearsals. However, just before he was due to leave for Denmark, he received a fax from Michael Corder, asking him to guest with the Royal Ballet and take the lead in “Masquerade” on one of their “Dance Bites” tours. Johan had to make the decision whether to create“Lucile” for the Royal Danish Ballet or guest with the Royal Ballet. He chose the Royal Ballet. Since then, the ballet has continued to exist in his head. He has mostly stuck with his original music choices, changing only two of the pieces. Part of creating a ballet is managing the flow of the performance and the editing, deciding whether scenes are too long or short, for example. In the process of doing this, he realised that some of the music did not enhance the production, so he had to replace it with other pieces (also by Massenet). He found some piano pieces which were then orchestrated.

    When he starts working on a piece, he always has a few ideas that he is confident about, either group pieces or pas de deux. He will always start teaching those pieces and worry about the rest later. He travelled to Havana twice for this reason. During the first visit he worked on the pieces he had already visualised in his head, but he also worked with the corps de ballet on some of the group numbers for which he did not have such a clear visualisation. So, it was more a testing of the dances. When he left Havana, after this first visit, he hoped that the dancers would continue rehearsing and refining the numbers during his absence. However, this is not what happened and when he returned, these group dances had not improved in the slightest, which meant that the timing of his plan for the production was completely thrown out.

    In retrospect, he would have had a different approach to the group dances. He feels that dancers’ response to new choreography very much depends on which part of the world you are working in and the repertoire of the company. Partnering is something that fascinates him because it did not come easily to him. He is a small dancer and not tall, so lifting and partnering ballerinas is something he had to learn and has become something of an obsession for him. He realised that in Cuba, the corps de ballet dancers did not do much partnering because the repertoire did not demand that of them. The repertoire is more traditionally Russian, with two main leads doing the dancing in front and the corps in the background, but not really interacting with each other. They can all do the double tours, pirouettes and fouettés, but tricky partnering is not their strength. In other places, notably London, the corps de ballet is constantly challenged and learn to do tricky partnering early in their careers, so that, as a choreographer, you do not have to worry about such things. For this reason, the group dances were perhaps a little too complicated for the Cuban Ballet style and, if he had a chance to redo anything, he would likely redo these scenes. It was a learning process for both sides.

    He returned to Cuba two and a half weeks before the premiere of “Lucile”. The costumes arrived the day before, as there were only two ladies working on the thirty-seven costumes needed for the production. Materials (even buttons and sewing needles) had to be flown into Cuba by Johan, David and others in their suitcases. This meant that huge amounts of planning and preparation had to be done in advance. This is why Johan had not seen the full production or the set and lighting when the curtain went up for the premiere. The lighting designer was an American, Joseph Walls, with whom he had worked before on a production of “Giselle”. Before he arrived, he had sent them detailed information about the different lamps and spots he would need. No-one even looked at those plans but simply asked him on arrival what the general colour washes should be. So, some simplification was required. Everything was very last minute. For example, integral to the last scene was a theatre curtain in the background which needed to be raised. Johan had specifically asked about this curtain from day one, as it was important to him. He was continually reassured that the curtain would be there and, indeed, it was but they were still sewing the essential curtain rings onto the curtain on the day of the premiere.

    Rehearsals were done with taped music and every other day there would be power cuts because of storms. Also, dancers were picked up by the company and driven to the theatre on buses. If the bus broke down, which was a frequent occurrence, dancers could not get to work so no rehearsal could take place on those days. There was no hot water from midday to the evening. Everything was a challenge and it certainly was a different world. Johan will definitely be going back, however, because he loves it, as ballet is really appreciated there. Every Sunday at 8 p.m., the national television station has a one-and-a-half-hour slot dedicated to ballet. That’s how important ballet is for the Cubans, so it is very inspiring working in an environment where people are so appreciative of what you are doing.

    Sometimes choreographers work with choreographic assistants. Johan, however, prefers to work alone and, in the past, has only used an assistant once in 2008 when he produced “La Sylphide” for the Bolshoi Ballet. For a re-staging he feels that he can do the required teaching himself. For a new ballet, it is useful to have someone to bounce ideas off and get feedback from. He did not bring an assistant to Havana, but he was assisted by Linnet González, one of the repetiteurs. He had hoped that Linett would be teaching the corps de ballet whilst he was away, but what he did not realise at the time is that the Cuban Ballet is constantly on tour, and during his absence they had travelled to Spain or Portugal which made it impossible to rehearse “Lucile”.

    Being a dancer is exhilarating but a lonely profession as you are out there on the stage on your own needing to meet your audience’s expectations. However, you don’t need anyone to tell you whether your jumps, double tours, pirouettesetc. are good or bad. Being a choreographer is equally lonely, but you cannot judge good or bad in the same way, so having people around you whose opinion you trust is important. Some people bring whole teams to work on various aspects of the production, but Johan prefers to do most of this himself. Linett was a good ear and eyes and, as not everyone speaks English in Cuba, he could not have managed without her help.

    Johan was able to watch the first two performances but then he had to leave before the remaining four performances. He will be returning to Cuba after his up-coming Sarasota visit to attend the International Ballet Festival in Havana where there will be a performance of “Lucile”.

    After the first Cuba visit, Johan moved on to Poland to produce the new version of “Napoli” which is set one year prior to the original three act ballet. This new ballet is in two acts with August Bournonville appearing as a character. Act 2 is completely re-choreographed as is most of Act 1. The big, famous dances have been kept but the story has been changed somewhat. It was very exciting to work on this ballet which he had performed in since 1988 and knew very well. Because of the work involved this piece was challenging for Johan and with everything else this has meant a very exhausting period of work from which he is still trying to recover. Next month he is going to the Sarasota Ballet to produce the third act of the original “Napoli” and that is what he considers resting as he will just be passing on knowledge that he already possesses.

    He enjoys creating and adapting and because ballet is his passion, he feels that he respects the works that he adapts and does not “mess around” too much with them. In fact, he enjoys adaptations even more than creating brand new works from scratch.

    When asked about the differences or similarities between the various ballet companies that he has worked with, Johan responded that there are a few companies that maintain a distinct style but, in the main, the ballet world is becoming more and more similar and the biggest difference is in the quality of productions - due to equipment, lighting, theatre costumes etc. - and much less in the repertoire. This is partly because the ballet world is becoming more commercial and costly, so failure is not an option. If something works then that production is hired by several companies, or companies co-produce to save costs, so that the same production is seen across various companies. However, he feels that it is important to maintain some elements of uniqueness. As a director, you want your dancers to experience the best works and your audience to be the most excited. But, as a choreographer, you want to sell your work to the whole world, so it is can no longer be unique to a particular company. For example, the Royal Danish Ballet now appears to be more like an American ballet company rather than a Danish company with one of the oldest ballet traditions in the world. This is because they have streamlined their repertoire.

    As previously stated, Johan will soon be flying to Florida to work with the Sarasota Ballet. He has known Iain Webb and his wife Maggie Barbieri since the mid-90s. Iain organised galas in the UK and, having seen Johan dance in Denmark, he invited him to over to dance. He has been to Sarasota on several occasions, most recently producing “La Sylphide” for them plus an original piece called “Salute”. For him, it is like coming home. It is the complete opposite of London, with a relaxed atmosphere and beautiful weather. He had previously staged Act 3 of “Napoli” for them ten years ago but now he will be working with new dancers. He will enjoy doing this as he has recently done so many productions of “La Sylphide” which has been in demand by several ballet companies such as the Czech National Ballet, the Atlanta Ballet as well as the Sarasota Ballet.

    Asked whether there is any ballet he has a secret longing to stage, Johan replied that he has at least a couple which he needs to get out of his system. He would love to do a production of “The Nutcracker” which is a ballet that he loves but he feels that it has lost the spirit of Christmas. He would develop the role of Drosselmeyer and is ready to start work on it tomorrow! Since COVID and the war in Ukraine, a huge part of the ballet world has been removed from us. For dancers, Russia is somewhere that was always admired. Johan found it a magical place with the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Ballets, for example. He guested there several times. In 2017 he produced “Don Quixote” in St. Petersburg and there were plans for him to return to for a production of “Nutcracker” but then the war started. So “Nutcracker” is one of the ballets that he has been wanting to do for a while.

    Are there any ballets he would still like to perform? One ballet that he would like to dance again is “Onegin”, particularly Acts 2 and 3 as he has great memories of the role.

    On the other hand, although he loves watching “Symphonic Variations”, he did not enjoy dancing it and would not like to dance it again. Recently, he performed the role of “Madge” during his production of “La Sylphide” in Atlanta. It was quite a scary experience because he had spent a month teaching dancers how to perform their roles and now he would be exposed, as dancers watched him and maybe wondered if he were dancing the role correctly.

    Obviously, he is also now dancing in “La Strada” with Alina and as they have two young girls, aged 3 and 6 years, managing everything can be difficult. Both he and Alina are freelance. The children often travel with them and the 6-year-old is already on her second passport due to stamps and visas. Both girls have travelled the world and there are not many countries they have not visited. Currently, Alina is away and Johan is responsible for the children for a couple of months so it is fortunate that his next trip is Sarasota where he is simply doing a re-staging of something that he knows well so there will be less pressure on him. The main advantage of travelling with the children is that they get to see their mother dance, but they also have to juggle with schooling.

    An audience member asked why the lead female dancers were not fleeing Cuba in the same way the male dancers do. Johan surmises that it is because there are many more female dancers in the market, so opportunities are fewer. Also, there is generally more interest in Cuban male dancers. Some female dancers have left but some have also returned. As a female dancer you need to be very lucky to succeed and, nowadays, with everyone promoting themselves online, that makes it even harder as the world becomes a smaller place. That is not to say that is it easy for male dancers. For example, Johan himself did not get into the Royal Ballet on his first attempt.

    Report written by Herma John and edited by Johan Kobborg and David Bain.

    © The Ballet Association 2024