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Alexei Ratmansky creates a parallel universe of rigor and peaceful coexistence, in Copenhagen

Back in October of 2025, I went to Copenhagen to see the final stages of creation of Alexei Ratmansky’s ballet “The Art of the Fugue,” for the Royal Danish Ballet. I had a feeling it might be an important work, and that was the way it turned out. The rehearsals I observed were incredibly intense, requiring amazing focus, energy, stamina, imagination, probelm-solving, and musicality from everyone. The ballet took time to take shape, even, it seemed to me, to Ratmansky himself. Because of this, the results were almost a surprise: an amazingly dense, stark, uncompromising work that overflowed with ideas; a structure of unfolding corridors and spaces of meaning, like the music itself. It also felt like a moment of order and peace within a world of chaos and violence. My piece about the making of the ballet is in the March 12 issue of the New York Review of books. The art is by James McMullan. It is in the Arts section of the issue. Here is a direct link to the article on the NYRB website.

And a little snippet.