Due to a fortuitous error which saw an email to Coco waylaid to the illustrious N at the Brick offices, I was sent this background (as cited on Wiki, i think), which inspired Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes.
I love it. I love also the thought that such old old fairy tales have their origins in real life incident, which is evidence of just how much life has gone on, and what it has resulted in, even so long ago.
But to the origin of The Red Shoes:
Andersen explained the origins of the story in an incident he witnessed as a small child. By his report, his father was sent a piece of red silk by a rich lady customer, to make a pair of dancing slippers for her daughter. Using red leather along with the silk, he worked very carefully on the shoes, only to have the rich lady tell him they were trash. She said he had done nothing but spoil her silk. "In that case," he said, "I may as well spoil my leather too," and he cut up the shoes in front of her.
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