I couldn't resist posting this. It had my stomach churning more than a little...<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Princess Diana ballet to be staged</B><BR>Peter Schaufuss, also a former star of the New York City and Bolshoi ballets, has created the show, called Diana - the Princess, for his Danish company. UK ballerina Zara Deakin will play the role of the princess in the production, which will tour Denmark in the autumn...He has refused to reveal many details of his new show, but has said he is hoping to get a UK pop group to provide the music.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>More <A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1962000/1962748.stm" TARGET=_blank>here</A>.<P>If it weren't for the two Princess Diana musicals in Germany and New York and German opera that have already been staged I'd have thought this was a late April Fools joke. I'm sorry but the idea makes me go "bleh". But I'm sure it'll be a hit.<BR>

From the Houston Chronicle:

Danish troupe dances in honor of Princess Diana

This link is now broken

<small>[ 25 February 2003, 02:30 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

WElllllllll.......sigh!

Cassandra, posted 21 February 2003

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There is an article about a new ballet on the subject of Princess Diana in todays Evening Standard. (Sorry, can't find a web link) It will be choreographed by Peter Schaufuss and has its premiere in Denmark next Thursday with a lady called Zara Deakin as Diana.

Not quite a first as I seem to remember Anastasia Volochkova dancing a Diana-inspired solo a few years ago.

No mention of other members of the Danish cast though. Does anyone have some ideas on Diana: The Ballet, who would you cast as Charles, Camilla and James Hewitt? Not to mention a dancing Prince Phillip, Paul Burrell and maybe even Fergie. I can think of a member of the Trocks who would bring the house down as Camilla!

Dane says ballet about life of Diana, Princess of Wales, a tribute
From Telus (Canada)

COPENHAGEN (AP) - Turning the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, into a ballet was not an easy project for Peter Schaufuss.
Schaufuss, a former international ballet star who has created dances based on Elvis Presley and the Beatles, said Friday that it would have been easier to do a ballet about Hans Christian Andersen, the famous Danish author of fairy tales. "We all believe we know him, we have read about him and that allows us to add some more to his character," he said in an interview.

"With Diana it was a different situation. I knew both persons - Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, and the person behind that. Knowing her made it more difficult to make the show."

Schaufuss spent a year creating the two-hour work, Diana - the Princess, which opens Feb. 27, in Holstebro, 300 kilometres northwest of Copenhagen.

click for more

While I am not a Diana devotee, I have a lot of respect for her work for a variety of causes and the way she had of winning people over. This project does make me uneasy and I suspect that the UK tabloid newspapers will have a field day with circulation-enhancing indignation.

I don't know Peter Schaufuss, but I know a few people who do and decribe him as "single-minded" or perhaps use somewhat stronger words. Given that he receives strong financial support from the Danish authorities, I'd like to believe that it is not a gratuitous audience winning piece. However, it does seem ill-judged.

<small>[ 22 February 2003, 07:39 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>