Harald Lander (1905–1971). Danish-born French dancer, choreographer, director, ballet master and teacher

Born in Copenhagen in 1905, Harald Lander studied at the Royal Danish Ballet School under Christian Christiansen, Hans Beck and Gustav Uhlendorff, and joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 1923. However, his studies did not end there. He took several years leave of absence in which he studied folk dance in Russia, and with Mikhail Fokine, Ivan Tarasoff and Juan de Beaucaire in the United States of America and Mexico. He returned to the Royal Danish Ballet as a soloist in 1929. By 1930 he was ballet master there and became director of the Royal Danish Ballet School the following year. He remained with the Royal Danish Ballet until 1951. During his tenure the company saw a remarkable development in its fortunes. It was a very creative time, with approximately 30 new ballets from Lander himself, the inclusion of some of Fokine’s great works into the repertoire and perhaps most important, and to lasting effect, the beginning of a renaissance of works by August Bournonville.

Lander was ballet master at the Paris Opéra Ballet for ten years from 1953, as well as working as director of the Paris Opéra Ballet School in 1959. He became a French citizen in 1956 and opened a studio in Paris in 1964. He returned to Denmark in 1970 and reinstated some of his ballets into the repertoire. Harald Lander was married three times and was highly decorated by the governments of Denmark, France and Belgium for his work. He died in 1971 and his ballet Etudes, created in 1948, remains a test for any classical company to this day.