Harald Lander

Harald Lander Choreographer

Biography

Born in 1905, Harald Lander was trained in the Royal Danish Ballet School. He entered the Company in 1923 and was nominated Etoile in 1929. He also studied under Fokine in New York. Lander was then appointed Dance Director at the Royal Theatre of Copenhagen from 1932 to 1951. In 1952, he was invited at the Paris Opera to show Amors og Balletmesterens luner (The whims of Cupid and the ballet master). He became headmaster of the Paris Opera Ballet School from 1956 to 1963. Lander also contributed to preserve Bournonville’s work: he revived many of his ballets, first in Denmark and then abroad. For his own creations, Lander worked with numerous artists, including writer Kjeld Abell, painter Svend Johansen, and above all composer Knudåge Riisager, with whom he staged his masterpiece Études, in 1948. Among his major projects, we can name Boléro (1934), which he performed with his wife Margot Lander, The Waltz (1940) and Qarrtsiluni (1942). Lander died in 1971.

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