Emilie Walbom
Johanne Emilie Margrethe Walbom née Egense (1858–1932) was a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. During her exceptionally long term of 61 years with the Royal Danish Ballet, she progressed for ballet dancer to the company's first female choreographer in 1878. In 1915, she became its first "ballet mistress", albeit under the ballet master Gustav Uhlendorff.[1][2]
Biography
Born on 27 October 1858 in Copenhagen, Emilie Egense was the daughter of the cloakroom manager at the Royal Theatre Frederik Ludvig Egense (1829-1901) and Anna Thora Maria Stendrup (1829-1907). Her aunt, Emilie Liebe, was an opera singer at the theatre when Walbon entered the ballet school at the age of five.[1]
Walbom made her début as the cadet Poul in Bournonville's Fjernt fra Danmark in 1873. While she lacked the looks and the movement of a first-class ballet dancer, she was a fine actress and soon took on mime roles with success.[1]
In 1881, she married the dancer and opera singer Arnold Alfred Constantin Walborn but following his death in 1898, she was left with three children to raise. She therefore decided to increase the family income by becoming a ballet teacher. She quickly attracted the daughters of Copenhagen's more affluent families, especially those who wished to making dancing their career. In 1910, she established a ballet school (Fru Walboms Balletskole) which she headed until 1928. Every year, the season finished with a matinée featuring her own choreographic creations based on her trips to Berlin, Vienna and Paris.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Vedel, Karen. "Emilie Walbom (1858 - 1932)" (in Danish). Kvinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ Carter, A.; Fensham, R. (2011). Dancing Naturally: Nature, Neo-Classicism and Modernity in Early Twentieth-Century Dance. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 129–. ISBN 978-0-230-35448-7.
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