Festive season 19/20Pippi Longstocking, one of Nordic families’ favourite characters, has finally been turned into a ballet. Pär Isberg’s choreography is a journey to author Astrid Lindgren’s world, a small town where the world’s strongest girl gets into mischief with her friends Tommy and Annika, her pet monkey Mr Nielsson and her horse Little Old Man.
Recommended for children over the age of 5.
Photos Alexander Kenney, Christina Ottosson / The Royal Swedish Ballet
Pippi is a natural at every style of dance: in this ballet, she dazzles the audience with street dance, breakdance, step, and capoeira. Brushes as skates aren’t a problem either. When joining local ladies for a high-brow afternoon coffee, Pippi dresses for the occasion and performs a dance in pointe shoes.
While working as the Artistic Director of the Royal Swedish Ballet, Madeleine Onne, now the Artistic Director of the Finnish National Ballet, was given permission by heirs of author Astrid Lindgren to have Pippi Longstocking made into a ballet. The world premiere took place in Stockholm in 2005.
The music of the ballet has been composed by Stefan Nilsson and Georg Riedel. Riedel had already garnered fame as a Pippi composer, as he took over the famous television series and films in 1968 after the demise of Jan Johansson. He also composed music for the children’s television productions of Emil of Lönneberga and The Children of Noisy Village. The ballet includes several excerpts of popular tunes from the Pippi television series.
The visual aspect of the ballet, which stays true to the original story, has been designed by a team of Swedish professionals. During her career spanning nearly 50 years, costume designer Ann-Mari Anttila from Northern Sweden has created costumes for not only opera and ballet but also for productions of the Swedish Television SVT. Set designer Bo-Ruben Hedwall and choreographer Pär Isberg have collaborated extensively on both television and theatre productions. In addition to this, Hedwall has designed exhibitions for major museums such as the Nordic Museum, Vasa Museum and Dansmuseet – Museum of Dance and Movement in Stockholm. Torkel Blomkvist has designed the lighting for several Swedish opera and theatre productions.
Pippi Longstocking moves to Villa Villekulla, a wooden house in a small town, together with her monkey Mr Nielsson and her horse Little Old Man. She makes friends with the children who live next door, Tommy and Annika. Pippi invites Tommy and Annika to Villa Villekulla and makes them pancakes. After their departure Pippi goes to bed. The burglars Thunder-Karlsson and Bloom break into the house, having heard that Pippi has a bag of gold coins. Pippi, however, catches the burglars and forces them to learn dance moves before she lets them go.
When Annika’s mother invites the local ladies for an afternoon coffee, Pippi joins in. With no idea how to behave at such occasions, she causes chaos. During a treasure hunt with Tommy and Annika, she picks up the arm of a mannequin, which makes a wonderful dance partner. The children also meet Miss Bannister who, together with policemen Kling and Klang, attempts to force Pippi to go to school.
School is not for Pippi, however. Instead, she dreams of seeing her father, Efraim, a king in the South Seas. Tommy and Annika are unhappy to hear about Pippi’s plan to travel to the South Seas to meet her father, but their parents promise they can join in on the adventure.
On their way on a ship, the children dive into the sea to explore the exciting underwater world. As they arrive on the island of the South Seas, the locals perform a welcome dance for the guests. Mr. Nielsson gets to meet other monkeys. Thieves try to steal the pearls the children have collected from the sea, but Pippi banishes them with ease. King Efraim organises a party in honour of his daughter. Tommy and Annika feel homesickness and it’s time for the trip to come to an end. The children return to the small town, which has been covered in snow in their absence.
You can read the full synopsis and other background information in the programme leaflet.
Ballet is based on books by Astrid Lindgren.
The copyright of Astrid Lindgren’s works in the production of derivative works in Finland is managed by Nordic Drama Corner.
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