Thursday, July 23, 2009

Queen Margrethe II designed costumes and scenography for „The Swineherd“

Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark attended a press conference at the Pantomime Theatre in the Tivoli amusement park on July 15th, to discuss the costumes and scenography she designed for the ballet „The Swineherd“.

Queen Margrethe said that she took inspiration from royal caricatures when designing the costumes. Using colours like acid green, pink and purple, Margrethe told how she was inspired ”rather more from outsiders’ comments about my world than from my own.”

The Queen also told how as a young school-girl, she played the prince in her school theatre’s version of „The Swineherd“. “For the one thing I certainly would not be was the pink princess,” Margrethe II said with a big grin. She also told how important the works of Hans Christian Andersen are to her, reading several to her two eldest grandchildren, Princes Nikolai and Felix.

This ballet is the fourth Pantomime Theatre performance since 2001 that Queen Margrethe has been the scenographer for. The ballet features dancers from Denmark, neighbouring Norway and Finland, Spain and Portugal, France, England and the United States. It had its first show at Tivoli on July 16th, and will run until September 20th.

„The Swineherd“ is a fairytale written by the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story revolves around a poor prince who dresses as a swineherd to woo the Emperor’s daughter.

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