This new production of Bournonville’s La Sylphide at the Bolshoi is by the Dane Johan Kobborg who is eminently qualified to do the job. He was trained to dance Bournonville’s works from the cradle. At 18, he was chosen as a model for a demonstration of the Danish ’designer label’ technique, to be recorded on video under the title The Bournonville Technique. He has danced in nearly all the Bournonville ballets which have come down to us and he became one of the world’s leading interpreters of the role of James in La Sylphide. Finally, he produced his own version of the ballet for London’s Royal Ballet and received an excellent press.
