Denmark’s New National Ensemble for Children's Theatre
 
Headed jointly by Jørgen Carlslund (born 1959), Lotte Faarup (born 1962) and Marc van der Velden (born 1956).  Jørgen Carlslund is a self-taught dancer, choreographer and director – and artistic director of Corona Danseteater since 1988. Lotte Faarup is a director, and she is trained actress from the Mime and Body Theatre School, Copenhagen, and Campo d´azione teatrale, Koreja, Italy. Marc van der Velden is a director, with a graduate degree in theatre science from the Universiteit Utrecht in Holland. Both are co-founders of Theatre La Balance in 1988. The National Ensemble for Childrens' Theatre was established on July 1, 2005, merging Corona Danseteater with Theater La Balance.

Sensuous, poetic, wry, musical, raw, visual and subtle are some of the words used to describe the style of Corona La Balance, National Ensemble for Children’s Theatre.

These are productions for children and young people on the frontier between theatre and dance.  There are two main prongs to the performances:  on one hand, interpretations of classic works and literary dramatizations and, on the other, performances created as original works.  Common to both forms of challenging and relevant performances is that they meet the audience at eye level. 

As central elements, the theatre uses stories with something to say, scenography that is part of the narrative, physical theatre, modern dance, and newly-composed – often live – music. 

The theatre places a high priority on developing works through laboratories and workshops – in part, aimed at developing specific performances and, in part, as open laboratories to encourage exchange between Danish and foreign theatrical and artistic circles, such as Compagnia Abbondanza (Bertoni/IT).

Current Productions

Energi / Energy
(2006)
Through dance, words and movement, three very different friends tell the audience what energy is.  But because they are so different, they have three different views of what energy is. Resulting in both problems and fun …
Age group: 6 – 12 years old
Language versions: Danish and English
Max. audience number: 80

Tre nætter varer døden / Death Lasts Three Nights
(2005)
A tragicomic story about life – a story, told through the eyes of a child, about how an encounter with death provides a chance for the living to find themselves and each other once again. A filmic performance with wry words and images, based on a real-life story from Italy.  
Age group: 10 years old and up
Language versions: Danish and Italian.
Max. audience number: 100

Elefant og Krokodille / Elephant and Crocodile
(2005)
A musical rendition of a full-blown feud between neighbours. Elefant og Krokodille is a modern fable, virtually without words but with plenty of humour, mime and music. This little, philosophical tale about discord and harmony is based on a picture book by the Dutch writer Max Velthuijs.
Age group: 5 – 9 years old
Language versions: Danish, Finnish, English, Swedish and Serbian
Max. audience number:100

Soldans og månespil / Sundance and Moonplay
(2005)
Wordless dance theatre for fledgling people.  This piece creates a universe for the very small, filled with music, movement, forms and colours that appeal to as wide a range of children’s senses as possible. 
Age group: 1 – 4 years old
Max. audience number: 60

Prinsessen på ærten / The Princess and the Pea
(2004)
This dramatization of the fairy tale shows Hans Christian Andersen in a new, different and more modern light. You can look forward to a Princess and the Pea with a strong visual performance that improvises on the well-known story with daring and delight.
Age group: 7 – 12 years old
Language versions: Danish and French
Max. audience number:125

Review Extracts

”A successful, loving and very child-friendly experience that, in a series of pure, clear and visual scenes, unites comedy and music in an exemplary way….  In one moment, there is a heavenly silence; in the next, infernal noise – but splendidly entertaining always.”
Jyllands Posten (DK), Elefant og Krokodille

“This is fun theatre, this is.  Comic and far out, but also with a few sharp raps on the nose ….  The framework for this production’s touching story is absolutely Italian – with shouts and screams in Italian and an Italian rosary and Italian ghosts, to boot.  And the most beautiful drag-cleaning lady Rosita, who expresses all the anger and sorrow that everyone else in the play only brood upon.”
Information (DK), Tre nætter varer døden

”The music organically interweaves Marie Lalander’s dance story about the sun, who dances, and the moon, who shines – and the mussel shell that contains all the secrets of the world.  The scenography here is … a silk boat in which the children ride.  My companion was only just about 16 months and so blinded by the goddess that he never got around to playing with the most elegant, fairytale turquoise prince’s carpet, provided to the audience.”
Børneteateravisen (DK), Soldans og månespil

”The energy is effervescent – and infectious.  The audience can hardly sit still ….  Like an unforgettable physics lesson about kilojoules, spiced with a fairy tale about a little boy who wants to dig to the centre of the earth.”
Information (DK), Energi

International Tours

2007
January: “Theatre for the Children of Beslan” (Vladikavkaz/RU)
May: New Victory (New York/US)

2006
Februar: Nordic Assitej (Oulu/FI)
May: Swedish biennial of young people’s performing arts (Lund/SE)
June: TIBA(Belgrade/CS)

2005
10th International Children and Youth Theatre Festival (Bursa/TR)
Zelenograd International Theatre Festival (Moscow/RU)

These two theatres, which now constitute the National Ensemble for Children’s Theatre, each toured extensively to the leading festivals at home and abroad.