Royal Danish Ballet

From the outset, the Royal Danish Ballet employed some of the leading French and Italian dancers and choreographers. Within a few years of its founding, in 1771, the Royal Theater Ballet School or Royal Danish Ballet school was established to provide native dancers, of which one of the first was Anine Frølich. One of its early masters, Vincenzo Galeotti, is considered the veritable founder of the company. He was master of the company from 1775 to 1816, and introduced ballet d'action and prepared for the advent of romantic ballet. Galeotti is credited with choreographing Amors og Balletmesterens Luner (The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master), which is still part of the company's repertoire and is the world's oldest ballet still performed with its original choreography.

Another major master of the troupe was the Danish dancer August Bournonville. During the half-century that Bournonville led the company (1828–1879), he choreographed some fifty ballets, of which about a dozen are still part of the company's repertoire. The works are highly influenced by the French school of dance, since Bournonville studied in that country, and include key roles for male dancers, undoubtedly written with himself in mind. After his death, one of his successors, Hans Beck, used the basic steps he learned in Bournonville's classes to create the Bournonville school to teach contemporary dancers the tradition of the old master.

The third great period of the Danish Royal Ballet came in 1932, when Harald Lander took over the helm of the corps. Trained in the United States and the Soviet Union, he both adapted traditional ballets and choreographed original works for the company. He encouraged local choreographers, who went on to create prominent works that won international acclaim. Among them was Børge Ralov, who choreographed the first modern Danish Ballet, The Widow in the Mirror, in 1934. He also trained many prominent international dancers, including Erik Bruhn.

A prominent company director was Henning Kronstam (1978–1982), who directed the 1979 Bournonville Festival.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the Royal Danish Ballet underwent another transformation, with many internationally prominent choreographers, including George Balanchine, commissioned to work with it. Though modern works assumed increasingly important stature in the repertoire, the ballet continued to remain loyal to its classical roots as well, earning it the reputation as one of the finest corps of dancers in the world, incorporating foreign as well as native-born talent.

In 2007 the appointment of New York City Ballet principal dancer Nikolaj Hübbe as artistic director was announced. In October 2024 Hübbe stepped down after having received a formal reprimand from the board of the Royal Danish Theatre, following a legal investigation which concluded that he had failed in his responsibilities as the leader of the theatre's ballet school by not adequately ensuring a proper educational environment.^[1] Former principal dancer Amy Watson was announced as the new artistic director.^[2]

The Royal Danish Ballet employs approximately 90 dancers separated into three ranks: Corps de Ballet, Soloists, and Principal dancers.

Principal dancers

More information Name, Nationality ...

Name	Nationality	Training	Other companies (inc. guest performances)
Caroline Baldwin[3]	Denmark  United States	Faubourg School of Ballet, Chicago School of American Ballet San Francisco Ballet School Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy Royal Ballet School
Alexander Bozinoff[4]	Canada	Canada's National Ballet School John Cranko School	Staatstheater Nürnberg
Stephanie Chen Gundorph[5]	Denmark	Odense Ballet School Royal Danish Ballet School
Jonathan Chmelensky[6]	France	Paris Conservatoire Cuban National Ballet School	Norwegian National Ballet
Holly Dorger[7]	United States	School of American Ballet Vienna State Opera Ballet School	Grand Rapids Ballet
Astrid Elbo[8]	Denmark	Royal Danish Ballet School
Jón Axel Fransson[9]	Iceland	Royal Danish Ballet School
Wilma Giglio[10]	Argentina	Teatro del Libertador General San Martin Canada's National Ballet School	Teatro Colón
Andreas Kaas[11]	Denmark	Royal Danish Ballet School	National Ballet of Canada
Emma Riis-Kofoed[12]	Denmark	Royal Danish Ballet School
Silvia Selvini[13]	Italy	La Scala Theatre Ballet School	Covent Garden Dance Company
Ryan Tomash	Canada	Canada's National Ballet School	Tivoli Ballet Hamburg Ballet New York City Ballet

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• List of productions of Swan Lake derived from its 1895 revival