by Lone Nyhuus

Magic seduction

For 19th century man, the supernatural aerial spirits, the Sylphs, were dangerous creatures. The Sylph comes to the man, preferably when he is asleep. With her beauty and grace she blows a desire for eroticism and passion into his soul, and when he wakes up, he rushes out into the wood as if he were obsessed. He rushes out to find this supernatural woman, out into the wild forest to sense and dance. Back in civilisation a (boring and) earthly fiancée finds herself deserted.

375px_Fra Den Kongelige Ballets opsætning af Sylfiden i sæsonen 20042005 med solodanser Thomas Lund som James_Foto Martin Mydtskov RønneA mysterious ballet
August Bournonville was the great director of the Danish Royal Ballet in the 19th century. He created more than 50 ballets, most of them idyllic or romantic. The Sylph is Bournonville's version of a French ballet, created from Charles Nodier's romantic short story Trillby ou le lutin d'Argail. And here we are, right in mysticism: the hero, James, sadly leaves his homely hearth in the quest for magic.

Grace and force
In the Danish version of the ballet, the Sylph dances her seductive solos with the characteristic, gracefully rounded arms of the Bournonville style. Through the codes of pantomime, her counterpart, the witch, tells of her hateful heart and her wish to punish James for having cast her off, away from the heat of the hearth. And James, our hero, leaps, dances and spins in front of our gaping eyes. Precisely in the same way as Bournonville, who was an excellent dancer, impressed the audience of his time.

She must die
Bournonville's style and his ballets have been handed down from one dancer to the next. From generation to generation. That is why we can still, to this very day, witness James' split between the supernatural Sylph and the earthly girlfriend. And witness how James helplessly watches the Sylph fall down, take her last breath and die. Because he doesn't know how to unite the two aspects of himself: the carnal with the ethereal, the erotic with the spiritual.

Lone Nyhuus is a former dancer and choreographer. As a freelance journalist she works for the DR P2 radio programme Teatermagasinet (The Theatre Magazine).

The Sylph, 2004/2005 with solodancer Thomas Lund as James. Photo: Martin Mydtskov Rønne.