a ballet fit for a queen

my history of european ballet class took its final trip to the royal danish theatre to see the royal danish ballet's premiere production of la ventana/ the kermesse in bruges. the former was a short, lighthearted and spanish-inspired bournonville piece; the latter was a comic ballet also choreographed by bournonville, following the story of three brothers who receive magic gifts from an alchemist with a stage and backdrop that looked like a massive brueghel painting.

however, while my intention was to lose myself as an audience member one last time to the incredible talent and beauty onstage, my eyes were wandering far too often. for to my right sat nikolaj hübbe, artistic director of the royal danish ballet and a legendary (and super handsome) bournonville dancer himself. he sat, intently watching his dancers, in a perfectly fitted tuxedo, a silver fox. and 20 feet to my left sat another danish icon. as the doors to the theaters closed just before the start of the performance and everyone began to settle into their seats, some sort of commotion caused everyone to hurriedly get up again. i looked around unsure of what was going on to find that not far from me, an older woman, all smiles wearing a pink ball gown and tiny bows in her hair, had walked into the royal box. she looked over the audience and proceeded to seat the entire theatre as she sat down on a plush red velvet chair on top of which was perched a small crown. and so, i watched my final royal danish ballet, at the royal danish theatre, on a pleasant may evening, in copenhagen, with margrethe II, queen of denmark.