The Kermesse in Bruges

To illustrate the young couple's love for one another Paulli lets Carelis, in the scene in which he is alone with Eleonore, play the romanesca, a 17th-century aire de danse, on the viola da gamba.

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 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.

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 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.