Marie-Renée Frossard, née ''Malter'', was a French ballerina with an international career. She was active in Sweden in 1764–76, where she was regarded as one of the stars of the Royal Swedish Ballet. Marie-Renée Frossard was married to her colleague Louis Frossard. She was engaged at the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne or Théâtre-Italien are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were commedia dell'arte companies employed b ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1757, in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1759 and in Brussels in 1761–62. From 1764 until 1770, she and her spouse were engaged at the

Du Londel Troupe The Du Londel Troupe was a French 18th-century theatre troupe. From 1753 to 1771, it was active as the French Theatre of Sweden, where it played a great part in that country's theatre history. The French troupe performed in Copenhagen in Denmark ...

in Sweden, where they were regarded as two of the most noted members. The French theater was dissolved by

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

in 1771, who wished to establish a native theater, opera and ballet. When the Swedish Royal ballet was founded in 1773, however, there were almost no native ballet dancers at all, with the exception of the very few, such as Charlotte Slottsberg, who had been trained in the French theater. Ballet master Louis Gallodier therefore recommended the king to recall some of the French dancers to perform and educate native dancers as students. The Frossard couple were among those French artists employed in the first pioneer troupe of the Swedish Royal Ballet. These French dancers were the first stars of the Swedish Royal Ballet until their native students had matured as artists, and Marie-Renée Frossard, Louis Frossard, Elisabeth Soligny and Ninon Dubois Le Clerc, were referred to as the foundation of the royal ballet. Aside from their position in the ballet, they also participated in the French Theater of Gustav III. The Frossards were specialists in the art form "danse de caractére et pantomime". During the 1774-75 season, they made a success as members of the Sami people in the opera ''Birger Jarl'' written by the king himself. Their status as elite stars is exemplified by their salaries: in 1774, the Frossards were given a salary of 25.000 $. This compared to the salary of the opera singer

Lovisa Augusti Lovisa Sofia Augusti (born Ester Salomon; 1751 or 1756 – 25 June 1790) was a Swedish opera singer (soprano). She was regarded as one of the most noted opera singers of the Royal Swedish Opera during the Gustavian era. She was appointed '' Hovs ...

who, though a star at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern sid ...

, only had $6000. The Frossards left Sweden in 1776. They were engaged at Lyon in France in 1782-85, and at the

in Paris in 1785-91.

References

* Klas Ralf: Operan 200 år. Jubelboken. Prisma (1973) * Klas Åke Heed: Ny svensk teaterhistoria. Teater före 1800, Gidlunds förlag (2007)

* Forser, Tomas & Heed, Sven Åke (red.), Ny svensk teaterhistoria. 1, Teater före 1800, Gidlund, Hedemora, 2007 * Jonsson, Leif & Ivarsdotter, Anna (red.), Musiken i Sverige. 2, Frihetstid och gustaviansk tid 1720-1810, Fischer, Stockholm, 1993 (Music in Sweden. The age of Liberty and the Gustavian age 1720–1810) * Oscar Levertin: Teater och drama under Gustaf III, Albert Bonniers förlag, Stockholm, Fjärde Upplagan (1920). Teater och drama under Gustaf III' {{DEFAULTSORT:Frossard, Marie-Renee 18th-century French ballet dancers 18th-century Swedish ballet dancers Royal Swedish Ballet dancers Gustavian era people