The Pantomime Theatre () is an open-air theatre located in the

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli (), is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...

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 ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. As indicated by the name, it is primarily used for pantomime theatre in the classical Italian

commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

tradition which is performed daily. Besides this original function, the theatre leads a second life as a venue for

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

History

When the Tivoli Gardens first opened in 1874, a small theatre was already found at the site of the current building just inside the main entrance. It was made out of timber and painted

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

and after a series of rebuilding and major repairs, it was finally decided to replace it with a more up-to-date building in 1873. The architect

Vilhelm Dahlerup Jens Vilhelm Dahlerup (4 August 1836 – 24 January 1907) was a Danish architect who specialized in the Historicist style. One of the most productive and noted Danish architects of the 19th century, he is behind many of the most known buildings ...

, at that time working on the design of 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 ...

was commissioned to make a proposal and the year after in 1874, the same year as the Royal Theatre, the present Peacock Theatre in Chinese style was inaugurated. Dahlerup had never been to China but he sought inspiration from pictures of buildings, borrowed from an engineer who had been stationed in the Far East. The technical side of the project was constructed by the theatre's director and Pierrot Niels Hendrik Volkersen and timber and assistance with the cordage was obtained from the

Holmen Naval Base Naval Station Holmen () is one of several naval stations of the Royal Danish Navy, supplementing the two Danish naval bases in Frederikshavn and Korsør. Founded in the late 17th century, it is also a visitor attraction with many historical b ...

Architecture

It is a toy-like

Historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

theatre built in Chinese style and noted for its mechanical front curtain that takes five men to operate and unfold the

peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

Repertoire

The repertoire consists of a mixture of traditional pantomimes, ballet performances and contemporary and more experimental performances.

Pantomime

The pantomime tradition of the theatre is a mixture of many elements that are apparently quite unrelated. When the peacock folds down its wings, the stage is obviously set somewhere in old Copenhagen, at the home of stodgy Cassander who lives alone with his beautiful daughter, Columbine. It remains unclear what has happened to her mother. Cassander is assisted by his servant,

Pierrot Pierrot ( , ; ), a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a hypocorism, diminutive of ''Pierr ...

, who has a white face like the clown he really is. And Cassander's adversary with whom he is constantly struggling is

Harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

– a charming, masked scoundrel with little money to his name but who is deeply in love with Columbine and often well-connected to a friendly sorcerer or fairy. Like the characters, the music comes from many different sources. Musical sources include Strauss, Mozart and Gounod and

Hans Christian Lumbye Hans Christian Lumbye (; 2 May 1810 – 20 March 1874) was a Danish composer of waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and galops, among other things. Beginnings As a child, he studied music in Randers and Odense, and by age 14 he was playing the trumpet ...

, Tivoli's in-house composer during the 1800s. Music has been selected to underpin the plot and movements of each pantomime.

Ballet

The programme also include ballet performances, including examples of the distinctive Danish Bournonville style and modern dance. HM Queen Margrethe created costumes and scenography several times, including for ballets based on

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

's ''

The Little Match Girl "The Little Match Girl" (, meaning "The little girl with the matchsticks") is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dreams and hope, was first published in 1845. It has been ...

'' and '' The Swineherd'' in 2007 and 2009. Choreographers who have created works for the Pantomimeteatret include

Dinna Bjørn Dinna Bjørn (born 14 February 1947) is a Danish ballet dancer and Choreography (dance), choreographer. She has specialized dancing and directing the ballets of August Bournonville. Bjørn has also created five Hans Christian Andersen ballets for ...

, Louise Midjord, Paul James Rooney and

Tim Rushton Timothy John Rushton MBE (born 18 March 1963 in England) is a British choreographer and from 2001 to 2018 artistic leader of the Copenhagen-based Danish Dance Theatre, Denmark's largest modern dance company. Tim Rushton was trained at The Royal ...

Other performances

Since 2003 the programme has also involved more contemporary genre like

jazz dance Jazz Dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the early 20th century. Jazz Dance may allude to vernacular Jazz, Broadway or dramatic Jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of dance that ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

pantomimes.

Artists

Artists who have worked with the Pantomime Theatre include: * Helgi Tomasson, ballet dancer *

Nola Rae Nola Rae MBE (born 1950) is a mime artist. Biography Early life and education Rae was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1949 and migrated to London with her family in 1963. Originally hoping to become a dancer, at 16 she began training at the Roy ...

, mime artist * Ronald Smith Wilson, mime artist, dancer * HM Margrethe II of Denmark, scenography, costumes * Palle Jacobsen, ballet master

References

{{Copenhagen 1874 establishments in Denmark Ballet in Copenhagen Contemporary dance in Copenhagen Historicist architecture in Copenhagen Listed theatres in Denmark Outdoor theatres Pantomime Theatres completed in 1874 Theatres in Copenhagen Vilhelm Dahlerup buildings