Anne Marie Vessel Schlüter (born 1 May 1949) is a Danish ballet dancer who joined the

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Danish Ballet ( Danish: ''Den Kongelige Ballet'') is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world a ...

in 1965. After retiring from the stage in 1988, she headed the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

's ballet school until 2006, maintaining the traditional Danish style of

August Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the ne ...

. In 1989 she married

Poul Schlüter Poul Holmskov Schlüter (; 3 April 1929 – 27 May 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993. He was the first (and to date, only) member of the Conservative People's Party to become Prime Minister, ...

who served as

Prime Minister of Denmark The prime minister of Denmark (, , ) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Before the creation of the modern office, the kingdom did not init ...

from 1982 to 1993.

Biography

Born on 1 May 1949 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Anne Marie Vessel is the daughter of the ballet dancer Tove Schultz and the ballet director Poul Vessel Christensen. She first performed on the stage of the Royal Theatre when she was just four in the opera ''

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

''. When she was seven, she became a pupil at the Royal Danish Ballet school. That year her parents divorced but maintained a friendly relationship, contributing to her pleasant upbringing. She danced her first solo part while still a student in

Elsa-Marianne von Rosen Countess Elsa-Marianne von Rosen (21 April 1924 – 7 September 2014) was a Swedish ballet dancer, choreographer and actress. Biography Family and education Von Rosen was born in Stockholm. She was the daughter of the artist Count Reinho ...

's ''Jomfrukilden''. She also undertook study trips to

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. As a dancer, she performed widely in Bournonville's works, especially ''

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

'', ''Blomsterfesten i Genzano'', '' Konservatoriet'', '' Sylfiden'', ''Fjernt fra Danmark'' and '' Kermessen i Brügge'', but she also took many other leading roles including Swanhilda in ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'', Helena in

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He was the director and principal choreographer of Hamburg Ballet from 1973 to 2024 and the artistic director of the ballet at the Hamburg State ...

's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', Clara in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' and both the pupil and the pianist in

Flemming Flindt Flemming Flindt (30 June 1936 – 3 March 2009) was a Danish choreographer born in Copenhagen. He studied at the Royal Danish Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet schools, joined the Royal Danish Ballet and was promoted to soloist in 1955. He guested w ...

's ''

The Lesson ''The Lesson'' () is a one-act play by French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. It was first performed in 1951 in a production directed by Marcel Cuvelier (who also played the Professor). Since 1957 it has been in permanent showing at Pari ...

''. In 1988, she retired from the stage to join the Royal Theatre's ballet school where she served as director until 2006. In 1991, together with

Frank Andersen Frank Andersen (born 15 April 1953 in Copenhagen) is a former Danish ballet dancer who was twice artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. He has been an influential supporter of the Danish choreographer August Bournonville. Biography Anders ...

, she produced '' Et Folkesagn'' with Queen Margrethe's scenography. She continued to give lessons at the ballet school and acted as ballet instructor at the Royal Theatre. When she was 64, she embarked on choreography with a solo for the character dancer Lis Jeppesen in ''242 år i trikot''. As of May 2019, Vessel Schlüter is still active in the theatre, with plans for a further production of ''Et Folkesagn''.

Personal life

From 1976-1982 she was married to Kim Ry Andersen, lawyer at the Danish Ministry of Justice and Danish Ministry of Culture, deputy director at the Royal Theater Copenhagen. Then her partner was the ballet dancer Alexander Kølpin, who was 16 years her junior. When she was 36 and Kølpin was 19, she gave birth to Niclas Vessel who is now an actor. On 21 July 1989 she married Poul Schlüter who was then the Prime Minister of Denmark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vessel Schlyter, Anne Marie 1949 births Actresses from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish ballet dancers Danish choreographers Danish women choreographers Ballet choreographers Danish dance instructors Spouses of prime ministers of Denmark Knights First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog Living people