The Kermesse in Bruges
The Kermesse in Bruges, or The Three Gifts is a
Plot summary
At a
Characters
- Adrian, brother to Geert and Carelis.
- Geert, brother to Adrian and Carelis.
- Carelis, brother to Adrian and Geert.
- Johanna, sweetheart of Adrian.
- Marchen, sweetheart of Geert.
- Trutje, mother to Johanna and Marchen.
- Mirewelt, an alchemist.
- Eleonore, Mirewelt's daughter and Carelis' beloved.
- Madame von Everdingen, a beautiful widow.
Music
The music is composed and arranged by
History
The Kermesse in Bruges is composed of equal parts folk tale and contemporary satire. Bournonville's burlesque ballet about Flemish life in the seventeenth century was first performed in 1851, two years after the introduction of Denmark's first liberal constitution, at a time when Europe was in turmoil. The Kermesse in Bruges is, in its own way, Bournonville's comment on a period which had to learn to administer freedom. The alchemist Mirewelt cannot predict the consequences when, out of sheer gratitude, he gives the three brothers a share in his magic powers, but his three gifts quickly prove to be all it takes to turn the social order in Bruges upside down. The moral of the tale is that success in battle and love are short-lived gifts whereas the cheerful disposition will, as Bournonville himself wrote, always triumph and endure. There is indeed much cheerfulness in this Danish classic which also contains one of Bournonville's most beautiful dance compositions, the pas de deux in Act I, Carelis' declaration of love to Eleonore. This pas de deux received its definitive form when Bournonville restaged the ballet in 1865.
Later important productions are Harald Lander's and Valborg Borchesnius' version from 1943, where some scenes were omitted in an attempt to tighten the structure. In 1966, Flemming Flindt and Hans Brenaa made their own treatment. The costumes were in bright colours in the fashion of the day, but the performance also had a brush of something mysterious and medieval in the lighting and grouping.
In 1979 Brenaa created a new version, in which the ballet received a cinematic speed and a cheerful energy. This version was kept until 2000, when Dinna Bjørn, Anne Marie Vessel Schlüter, and the stage producer Jan Maagaard injected a serious shade into the cheerful lightness of the earlier production.
In 2000, Peter Schaufuss also created a version of The Kermesse in Bruges for his own company, The Peter Schaufuss Ballet.
See also
Notes
- ^ Walter Terry, Ballet Guide, 1976, p. 199