Danish Queen shows versatility with Nutcracker designs

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II showed her versatility Thursday in unveiling the costumes and decor she had designed for the classic Nutcracker ballet to be performed in Copenhagen for Christmas. "We tried to transform Tivoli into a magical world", the monarch said of her work, set to hit the stage at the Tivoli Gardens amusement park for a month from November 22. The queen, 71, had worked in a team with three other people for a year to design the costumes and sets for the ballet. The Nutcracker tells the story of young Clara, who receives a painted wooden nutcracker shaped like a soldier for Christmas. At night, the toy comes to life and fights against the mice until the nutcracker-turned-prince defeats the evil mouse king in a battle and carries the little girl to his magical kingdom. The costumes have yet to be made and the choreography worked out to ensure that "the vision of the queen is executed as magically as we had want it," said choreographer Peter Bo Bendixen, who has collaborated with the monarch on several projects. Margrethe acceded to the throne on January 14, 1972, becoming the first woman to take the helm of Europe's oldest monarchy. She has since the 1980s been involved in scenography for theatre and television, as well as painting and illustrating books. Known affectionately as "Daisy," the queen is widely popular, with a poll late last year showing that nearly eight out of 10 Danes are in favour of the monarchy. "I never followed a theatre production course," but "learnt through practice," said the queen, describing herself as a huge ballet fan and an admirer of German scenographer Juergen Rose. "He is magic. There is nobody else like him. I cannot compare myself to him, but he is a source of extraordinary inspiration."