THE PEOPLE'S AMUSEMENTS
"Have you been in Tivoli?" is the first question a Copenhagener would
ask you on your arrival in the gay capital. If not, your Danish friend
will carry you off to see these beautiful pleasure-gardens. Tivoli is
for all classes, and is the most popular place of amusement in Denmark.
This delightful summer resort is the place of all others in which to
study the jovial side of the Danish character. Even the King and his
royal visitors occasionally pay visits, incognito, to these fascinating
gardens, taking their "sixpenn'orth of fun" with the people, whose good
manners would never allow them to take the slightest notice of their
monarch when he is enjoying himself in this way. To children Tivoli is
the ideal Sunday treat. Every taste is catered for at Tivoli, and the
Saturday classical concerts have become famous, for one of the Danes'
chief pleasures is good music. Tivoli becomes fairyland when illuminated
with its myriad lights outlining the buildings and gleaming through the
trees. The light-hearted gaiety of the Dane is very infectious, and the
stranger is irresistibly caught by it. The atmosphere of unalloyed
merriment which pervades when tables are spread under the trees for the
alfresco supper is distinctly exhilarating. These gardens have
amusements for the frivolous also, such as switchbacks, pantomimes of
the "Punch and Judy" kind, and frequently firework displays, which last
entertainment generally concludes the evening.
The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen is a national school of patriotism, and
the healthy spirit of its plays has an ennobling effect on the people.
Everything is Danish here, and Denmark is the only small nation in
Europe which has successfully founded a national dramatic art. The
"Molière of the North," Ludwig Holberg, was the father of the Danish
drama, and the first to make the people realize the beauty of their own
language. This gifted Dane was a great comedy-writer, and had the
faculty of making his fellows see the comic side of their follies.
The "Royal Ballet" played at this theatre is quite distinctive.
Bournonville, its creator, was a poet who expressed himself in motion
instead of words, and these "dumb poems" appeal strongly to the
Scandinavian character. This poet aimed at something more than
spectacular effects upon the people: his art consisted in presenting
instructive tableaux, which, while holding the attention of his
audience, taught them their traditional history. The delicate daintiness
of the Danish ballet everyone must appreciate. The exquisite and
intricate dances, together with the magnificent tableaux, are
accompanied by wild and magical music of Danish composition.
Bournonville ballets represent scenes from classical mythology, as well
as from ancient Scandinavian history, and the Danish people are much
attached to this Northern composer of ballet. "Ei blot til Lyst"--Not
only for pleasure--is the motto over this National Theatre door, and it
is in the Ballet School here that the young Danes begin their training.
These young folk take great pleasure in learning the beautiful dances,
as well as in the operatic and dramatic work which they have to study,
for they must serve a certain period in this, as in any other
profession.
Another place of amusement which gives pleasure to many of the poorer
people is the Working Men's Theatre. Actors, musicians, as well as the
entire management, are all of the working classes, who are trained in
the evenings by professionals. The result is quite wonderful, and proves
the pleasure and interest these working people take in their tuition,
and how their artistic abilities are developed by it. On Sundays, and
occasionally in the week, a performance is given, when the working
classes crowd into the theatre to see their fellows perform. This
entertainment only costs sixpence for good seats, drama and farce being
the representations most appreciated. Notwithstanding that smoking is
prohibited during the performances--a rule which you would think no Dane
could tolerate, being seldom seen without pipe or cigarette--it is a
great success, and denotes that their love of the play is greater than
their pleasure in the weed.