Royal New Zealand Ballet Return to US after Two Decades with Giselle

For the first time in 21 years the Royal New Zealand Ballet is touring the United States, performing “a fresh production of the classic” Giselle, premiering in Los Angeles at The Music Center on 31 January.

The company then takes the production to Santa Barbara, Minneapolis and New York.

A feature film about the production, directed by Toa Fraser, has been released commercially at home and will make its US premiere as part of the Dance on Camera festival in New York on 2 February.

Artistic director of the RNZB, Ethan Stiefel and Danish dancer and choreographer Johan Kobborg have performed in dozens of Giselle productions over the years. Kobborg alone estimates he’s danced in 25 versions of the beloved Romantic classic, created in 1841.

So when these stellar danseurs and longtime friends joined forces to create a new Giselle production in late 2012, the three dozen dancers of the RNZB were benefiting from considerable combined experience and insight.

Full-length classics feature in every RNZB season, rotating in and out of the repertory. “Giselle hadn’t been done for five or six years. Johan and I had discussed collaborating on several different productions,” Stiefel said. “It seemed this was a great opportunity – also something that’s good for the company, early in my tenure.”

Original article by Susan Reiter, Los Angeles Times, January 18, 2014.