A tale of two birthdays

First: a riddle. What is the common denominator of the following celebrities: Tamara Rojo, Australian  athlete Cathy Freeman, Roger More, Isabel Allende, Suzanne Vega and Pelé? Answer: They have all been nominated “Hans Christian Andersen Ambassadors“ by  the Danish Hans Christian Andersen 2005 committee, together with, among many others, John Neumeier, Sasha Waltz and Nina Hagen.

A staggering 233 million Danish Crowns, slightly more than 30 million Euros (which would keep the Staatsballet in Berlin afloat for two-and-a-half years at their going rate of 12 million Euros per year) have been donated by the Danish government and private sponsors in order to letting the world get acquainted with the genius of Andersen. The main event will be a Fairy Tale Weekend, culminating in the “Once Upon a Time“ television show from the football stadion “Parken“ on the 2nd of April, 2005, where the Danish Royals, the ambassadors and “official Danmark“ (as the website calls it: see www.hca2005.dk) will watch Nigel Kennedy, René Fleming, Harry Bela­fonte and The Royal Danish Ballet do – well, something, to celebrate the actual birthday. It could easily be singing and dancing in a blizzard, as Danish ...