Long before The Lily of Life was imagined as a ballet, there was a piece of music—and an enduring connection to the remarkable life and spirit of Queen Marie of Romania.
In 2013, composer and pianist Vanda Mary Khadem created an original piano work, Queen Marie of Romania, as a musical tribute to a woman whose courage, compassion, strength, and humanity had deeply inspired her.
What began as an intimate expression of admiration would, more than a decade later, become part of something Vanda could never have imagined.
In October 2025, Vanda’s composition was given new life on one of Romania’s most celebrated stages.
As part of the gala commemorating the 150th anniversary of Queen Marie of Romania’s birth, Queen Marie of Romania was presented at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, accompanied by choreography inspired by the luminous, flowing movement associated with pioneering dancer Loïe Fuller.
Music written twelve years earlier to honor Queen Marie had come full circle—returning to Romania and becoming music in motion.
It was more than a performance.
It was the beginning of a new chapter.
That experience awakened a larger artistic vision.
Vanda returned to the writings of Queen Marie and discovered in her 1913 fairy tale The Lily of Life a story of extraordinary emotional depth—a story of sisters, devotion, courage, healing, and the profound sacrifices we are willing to make for those we love.
She began to imagine what might happen if Queen Marie’s words could move beyond the page.
What if the story could be told through music?
Through movement?
Through the extraordinary language of ballet?
From those questions, The Lily of Life began to bloom.
Today, The Lily of Life is being envisioned as an original ballet that brings together Queen Marie’s literary imagination with newly created music, choreography, and theatrical artistry.
Yet its origins remain deeply personal.
It began with Vanda Mary Khadem, sitting at a piano in 2013, moved by the life of a queen she had never known.
Twelve years later, that music traveled to Bucharest and was transformed through dance in celebration of Queen Marie’s 150th birthday.
And from that remarkable journey came the inspiration to give another of Queen Marie’s creations a new life.
From a queen’s pen, to a composer’s piano, to the movement of dancers on a stage—The Lily of Life continues a story begun more than a century ago.
We invite you to become part of what comes next.
The journey of The Lily of Life has also been shaped by the friendship and creative collaboration between Vanda Mary Khadem and Neda Najibi, a poet, writer, and journalist whose love of storytelling and the arts brought a unique perspective to the project.
Neda became a catalyst in helping Vanda see the possibilities within Queen Marie’s story by encouraging the vision to grow.
Her contribution is rooted in friendship, curiosity, and a shared belief in the power of art to connect generations and a desire to honor the legacy of Queen Marie.