Jean Borlin

Erik Satie , Francis Picabia , René Clair and Jean Börlin in Entr'acte , prologue to the ballet Relâche (1924)

Jean Börlin (born March 13, 1893 in Härnösand , †  December 6, 1930 in New York City ) was a Swedish ballet dancer and choreographer . During the existence of the ballet troupe Ballets Suédois, founded in Paris (1920 to 1925), he was their first soloist and choreographer.

Life

Jean Börlin was the son of a captain. However, his mother soon separated from her husband and Börlin grew up with her brother's family. In 1902 he became a student of Gunhild Rosen at the Stockholm Opera Ballet School. From 1905 he was a dancer at the Royal Stockholm Opera , from 1913 second soloist in the ensemble there. As protégé of the Russian choreographer Michail Fokine , he left Stockholm in 1918 to continue working with him in Copenhagen. This also introduced him to Rolf de Maré , who was to become his life partner.

Börlin took on a leading role in the ballet troupe Ballets Suédois, founded by Rolf de Maré in Paris in 1920. At the premiere on October 25, 1920, he presented four ballets and five more the following month. In the five years that the Ballets Suédois existed, Börlin choreographed a total of 24 ballets, in all of which he played the leading role. The Ballets Suédois made a name for themselves in the ballet avant-garde of the early 20th century and toured Europe and the USA. Börlin worked with leading artists of his time, including Erik Satie , Jean Cocteau , Francis Picabia , Fernand Léger and Paul Claudel . His ballets included Les Mariés de la tour Eiffel on music by Germaine Tailleferre , Georges Auric , Arthur Honegger , Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc (1921), Skating Rink (music: Honegger, 1922), La Création du monde (music: Milhaud , 1923) and Relâche (music: Satie, 1924). Börlin also appeared in two films by René Clair ( Entr'acte , 1924; Le Voyage imaginaire , 1925).

After two years, Börlin showed increasing symptoms of exhaustion, followed by increasing alcohol or drug addiction and weight gain. In addition to the fact that Maré was heavily in debt, this contributed to the dissolution of the Suédois ballets in 1925. In addition, there was a falling out between Börlin and Rolf de Maré.

In 1925 Börlin became a dancer at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, later he made guest appearances together with two dancers from the former Ballets Suédois in various cities in North and South America. In 1929 he returned to Paris again. In 1930, at the age of 37, he died of heart failure in New York.

literature

• Debra Craine, Judith Mackrell: Börlin, Jean . In The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Web links

• International Dictionary of Ballet. Gale, 1993. Biography In Context (Eng.)
• Colin de la Motte-Sherman: Jean Börlin (Engl.)