Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, popularly known as ‘Die Bruder Grimm’ (The Brothers Grimm), were German authors and lexicographers who collected and published folklore in nineteenth century Germany. Their most popular fairy tales were Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin. Another fairy tale, ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’, also named ‘The worn out dancing shoes’ or ‘The shoes that were danced to pieces’, was published by the Grimms in 1812 as part of ‘Grimms’ Fairy Tales’. Of the many fairy tales that have entertained young and old alike, ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’ is perhaps the only exclusive dance-based fairy tale written by the Grimms. The variants of this story are found in many countries, including India. A number of adaptations have also been written, including the 2007 Emmy Award-winning animated film of Greg Richardson titled ‘Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses’. This is an undiscovered bedtime story, which has been directorially tweaked in the television shows ‘Super Why’ and ‘Fairy Tale Theatre’.
The Story: “Once upon a time, in a prosperous kingdom, there was a king who had twelve beautiful daughters, who slept in a palatial room that was locked up at night. But every morning, much to his surprise, he would discover that their shoes had been worn out. The princesses would not reveal the ‘secret’ behind this to the king. He therefore announced, far and across, that any person who would discover this secret, while staying in the princesses’ palace room for three consecutive days, could take one of the princesses as his wife and would also inherit the kingdom; but the penalty for failure would be death. A number of royals flocked to the kingdom, only to attempt and fail in their task and be condemned to death. An old wounded soldier, who had nothing to look forward to in life, decided to try his luck. As he passed by the woods on his journey to the kingdom, he met an old woman with whom he shared his plans. She advised him not to drink the wine offered to him by the princesses and offered him a cloak that would make him invisible. He thanked her profusely and confidently moved forward. He was warmly received, fed with sumptuous food and dressed up in luxurious robes. As he was led to the princesses’ room, they offered him wine. He did not decline, but discreetly threw it away when they were not looking. He then went to bed and soon began to snore loudly, to fool them into believing that the sedated wine had done the trick. The princesses dressed themselves up in fine clothes and new shoes. The eldest one then clapped her hands, and the beds gave way to a trap door – through which the princesses disappeared. However, this time they were followed (invisibly) by the soldier, who had put on the cloak that the old woman had given him. On the way he stepped on the youngest princess’ dress by mistake. Startled, she attempted to warn the others that they were being followed, but was only mocked by them. Soon the princesses passed through a grove of silver and gold trees. The soldier broke a branch of each, as proof of his ‘visit’. Each time there was a noise the youngest sister would warn the others - only to be rebuked, repeatedly. Finally, on reaching a deep lake the princesses climbed into twelve boats, which were rowed by twelve handsome princes. The youngest princess felt the presence of the invisible soldier in her boat, but could not still convince her sisters that something strange was going to befall them. They all walked into an illuminated castle and the twelve handsome princes danced with the princesses till dawn. They then returned, taking the same path, to their kingdom, and checked on the soldier - who had run back to his bed and pretended to be fast asleep. The princesses undressed and went to bed, leaving their worn shoes outside the room. Even though the soldier had been able unravel the mystery of the worn out shoes, he was curious to know more about the strange adventure and so followed the princesses for the remaining two nights also. On the third night he carried back one of the golden cups from the castle. The next day the king summoned him, to question if he had indeed found the ‘secret’. As the princesses waited for the soldier to be put to death, he proceeded to show the king the gold and silver branches and also the golden cup, as proof of his success. He declared to the king that he had discovered the ‘secret’ and related to him the princesses’ magical journeys to the illuminated castle. Confronted by the king with this proof, the princesses had no option but to confess their dancing adventures. The king kept his promise and asked the soldier to choose his bride. Being an old soldier he chose the eldest princess, and was also anointed the future heir to the kingdom.”
The Writer is a renowned Kuchipudi Danseuse and Choreographer
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