Opera on the Move in the Nordic Countries during the Long 19th ...

Gendered agendas and the representation of gender …
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a wall into the courtyard of the monastery to meet her. Following their
meeting, the prioress discovers his forgotten hat and returns Aline to her
parents. However, they do not find his love letter particularly disturbing.
After a brief fainting episode and more intrigues, it appears that the parents
have already promised Aline to a young man: the chevalier. The engagement
is celebrated with a party, a ballet and the performance of mythological
scenes.
Neat ballet rhythms rocking themselves forward
Before the premiere Griebel had already given a solo performance of her
piano arrangements of the ballet as part of an interview (Dannebrog 2 August
1895). A description the forthcoming performance of her ballet on 28
August at the Dagmar Theatre ran as follows:
The rhythms of the ballet neatly rock themselves forward with their
swirling rococo motifs along with their ancient, fragile and pure harmonies.
Then we hear a graceful and elegant children’s minuet, intended for
a Mozartian spinet. From a painting of a shepherd in the style of Wattau
come the sounds of Diana’s hunting party, which consists of nymphs and
cupids and the sleeping Endymion. The alluring horn signals distract the
hunter from his path to follow the goddess deep into the woods. I Rosentiden
reveals soul, imagination and an affinity with the past. The music is
composed by a quiet, modest girl in an old-fashioned room furnished in
her great-grandfather’s style and with a ticking Bornholm clock on the
wall.
Tardini-Hansen had arranged a series of dances about the power of love
for the ballet’s premiere. The main parts were assigned to Emma Nielsen,
who looked lovely as the gallant chevalier and evoked encouraging applause.
Valborg Jørgensen danced the part of his beloved mistress, a partly
open rosebud, mischievous and modest. Together they created a lavishlydressed
loving couple in pastoral style. The press considered their gavotte
the main event of the evening. At least Dannebrog’s critic could not imagine
anything more delightful than their dancing together. In one of the mythological
scenes Agnes Harboe danced a dark and cruel huntress Diana, who
was infatuated with the slumbering Endymion. In addition Tardini-Hansen
allowed a group of adorable cupids, danced by children, to intervene in the
plot. A stylish, beautiful and big Kehraus dance concluded the ballet. The
reception of the ballet plot was lukewarm, and the plot was described by
Dannebrog as “very flimsy”. On 29 August 1895 the Socialdemokraten critic
praised the Shepherd’s Dance. According to the critic in Københavns Adresse