The renowned choreographer August Bournonville considered A Folk Tale not only his most perfect ballet but also his most Danish. Though this 1854 concoction shares plot points with many better-known story ballets, A Folk Tale is true to its name. It does not sweeten or bowdlerize its folk sources. Like his friend and fellow Dane Hans Christian Andersen, Bournonville does not extract the violence from the magical, or the sinister from the otherworldly. In fact, there is no other world in Bournonville: the trolls in A Folk Tale are us. And yet the ballet is unusually joyous. Bournonville ramps up the jubilation with his characteristically surprising little jumps and persuasive, unaffected mime. Only the Royal Danish Ballet performs A Folk Tale, and the company rarely takes it anywhere. Time to head to Copenhagen. —Apollinaire Scherr