NIKOLAJ HÜBBE

Nikolaj Hübbe Artistic Director Designate Royal Danish Ballet Photo © Paul Kolnik

Nikolaj Hübbe was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. He began his dance training at age 10 with the Royal Danish Ballet School and became an apprentice with the Royal Danish Ballet in 1984, joining the corps de ballet in 1986.  In 1986 he was awarded the Silver Medal in the Paris Ballet Competition, as well as the French Critics Prize, and in 1987 he won first prize in the Eurovision Ballet Competition.  In 1988 he was promoted to the rank of principal dancer.  Mr. Hübbe danced many of the works in the Royal Danish Ballet repertory, ranging from romantic leads in Romeo and Juliet and August Bournonville’s La Sylphide to the neo-classical works of George Balanchine such as Apollo and Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux.

Mr. Hübbe is the Artistic Driector Designate of the Royal Danish Ballet. He will take on the position full-time in July 2008. He gave his farewell performance as a dancer at the Royal Danish Ballet on April 2 in the role of James in La Sylphide. On the afternoon of February 10, he gave his final performance as a New York City Ballet principal dancer dancing Apollo, Zakouski and Western Symphony.  He returns as a guest artist this May for three performances of Watermill as part of the Jerome Robbins Celebration.

Mr. Hübbe joined New York City Ballet in July of 1992 as a principal dancer.  He made his debut with the Company during its annual season in Saratoga Springs, New York.  His first performance was in Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, a work that exhibits much of the clarity and purity associated with the Bournonville style, in which Mr. Hübbe was trained.  He has also performed leading roles in Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, Bourrée Fantasque, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, Concerto Barocco, Coppélia, Cortège Hongrois, Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée,” Duo Concertant, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Harlequinade (Harlequin), “Rubies” from Jewels, Liebeslieder Walzer, Mozartiana, Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze,” Scotch Symphony, La Sonnambula, La Source, Square Dance, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Sylvia Pas de Deux, Symphony in C, Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3, Tzigane, Vienna Waltzes, Western Symphony, and Who Cares?; Peter Martins’ Jeu de Cartes, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake; Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, Andantino, The Cage, The Four Seasons, Gershwin Concerto, I’m Old Fashioned, In the Night, Moves, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Other Dances, Suite of Dances, and West Side Story Suite; Robert La Fosse and Robert Garland’s Tributary; Sean Lavery’s Romeo and Juliet; and Richard Tanner’s A Schubert Sonata.  Mr. Martins created roles for Mr. Hübbe in Adams Violin Concerto, Jazz (Six Syncopated Movements), Quartet for Strings, Symphonic Dances, Todo Buenos Aires, and Zakouski. Mr. Hübbe originated principal roles in David Allan’s Pastoral Dances, Anna Laerkesen’s In the Blue, and Mr. La Fosse’s Danses de Cour during the Company’s Diamond Project in 1994. In addition, he originated roles in Stephen Baynes’s Twilight Courante, Kevin O’Day’s Huoah, Robbins’ Brandenburg, and Twyla Tharp’s The Beethoven Seventh.

For NYCB’s premiere of Robbins’ West Side Story Suite in spring 1995, Mr. Hübbe danced and sang in the role of Riff.  He has appeared frequently in print fashion spreads and advertisements in major magazines.  Among the photographers Mr. Hübbe has worked with are Bruce Weber, Annie Liebowitz, Karl Lagerfeld, Richard Corman, Peggy Sirota, David Seidener, and Mark Hom.  He has studied acting with Laurie Kennedy, Sheila Gray and at the HB Studio.  In the fall of 1998, Mr. Hübbe played the role of Puck in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Denmark with Gladsaxe Theater.

Mr. Hübbe has been invited to dance throughout the world as a guest artist.