Thomas Lund (TL)

Principal dancer

Born: Copenhagen, Denmark, 1974

Education Admitted to the Ballet School at the Royal Danish Theatre in 1986, apprentice in 1991, member of the corps de ballet in 1993, soloist in 1996 and principal dancer since 2000.
Is also a ballet master and teacher at the Royal Danish Ballet. And teaches at Bournonville seminars around the world.

Principal appearances at the Royal Danish Ballet Prince in Swan Lake, James in La Sylphide; Gennaro in Napoli; Carelis in The Kermesse in Bruges; the title role in Abdallah; the Ballet inspector in La Conservatoire; The Flower Market in Genzano; the Prince in The Nutcracker; Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; solo dancer in Etudes; Bim in Gaité Parisienne; King Christian VII in Caroline Mathilde; Tarantella; Symphony in C, 3rd movement; Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra (Rubies); Festpolonaisen; Zakouski; and Fancy Free as well as Brown Boy in Dances at a Gathering.

Principal soloist appearances The Jockeydans; Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle; Le Corsaire; Shy boy in The Concert; the Bluebird Pas de Deux in The Sleeping Beauty; Benno; Russian dance; the Narog Pas de Quartre in Swan Lake; the Waltz Project; twin in The Odyssey; Mercutio and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet; Lensky in Onegin; Fritz in The Nutcracker; Otto in The King’s Volunteers on Amager; In the Middle; Somewhat Elevated; drummer in Graduation Ball; Return to a Strange Land; Suite en Blanc; Ash; Fearful Symmetries; Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven and Jazz.

Other important assignments Galla performances in Europe and the USA. Among others: The Flower Festival in Genzano with the New York City Ballet, USA; James in La Sylphide at Teatro dell’Opera, Rome; guest performance at the Operetta Theatre, Moscow; The Flower Festival in Genzano and Napoli, 3rd Act at MEB Hall, Ankara, Turkey; the Prince in The Nutcracker, Inoue, Tokyo, Japan; Zakouski and The Flower Festival in Genzano at the 7th International Ballet Festival in Riga; visiting performer with Twyla Tharp Dance, performing Diabelli in Paris and London; Tim Rushton’s Carmina Burana at the Marie Brolin Tanis Dansekompagni, Aarhus, Denmark; Frants in Coppelia at the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle, USA; and a tour of South America and South Africa with Principals and Soloists from the Royal Danish Ballet.

Creations Octet by Peter Martins; the Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Ballads Enclosed - for Ayla by Kevin O’Day; Sense of Spring and Concerto in Pieces by Lila York; Turandot’s Dream by Alexei Ratmansky; the principal part in All we need to know by Lar Lubovitch; Quasi una Fantasia and Symphony and Transformation by Anna Lærkesen; Swan Lake by Peter Martins; Horatio in Hamlet by Peter Schaufuss; and Inside Party by Kenneth Kreutzmann.

Principal awards The 2004 Danish Reumert stage award as Dancer of the Year; Leonid Massine Premio Positano per l’Arte della Danza 2001; the 1998 DANCE Award; the Bournonville Award; the 2001 Pegasus Award as Artist of the Year at the Spoleto Festival; and the Award of the Foundation of HRH the Prince Consort in 1998.
In 2005 Thomas Lund received the Tänzer des Jahres from the German dance magazine Ballettanz, and The Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards made him Best Male Dancer in 2005. 
In 2006 Thomas Lund got the prestigious Bikubens prize of honour at the Danish Reumert stage award, and in 2007 he received the Wilhelm Hansens prize og honour.

Additional information Thomas Lund has staged La Conservatoire as stage director and Napoli, Onegin and Swan Lake as assistant director where he featured a new rendition of the 2nd act entitled Another Act. He has created Hands of love performed in concert with Die Herren at Vega in Copenhagen as well as at the Choreographer’s Workshop. He teaches at the Royal Danish Ballet and has formerly taught at the school of ballet in Hiroshima and has worked as a teacher at the New York International Competition. He has also been assigned as visiting teacher at the New York City Ballet and Twyla Tharp Dance. 
In 2008 he choreographed Teddy goes ballet!, a ballet made especially for the children of the Royal Danish Ballet School.

Thomas Lund has furthermore played the piano since he was 7 and plays the keyboard in the Royal Danish Ballet rock band.