Jeanne-Élisabeth Le Clerc Soligny (née ''Malter'', 1749), known also under her stage name Elisabeth Le Clerc, was a French
ballet mistress and ballerina. She was a premier dancer at the French Ballet of 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 and of the
Royal Swedish Ballet
The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian dominance in this fi ...
.
Life and work
Le Clerc was employed at the Ballet of the French Theatre in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, where she debuted in 1764. She was admired for her beauty, talent and grace. She was also known for her affairs with
Arvid Horn and Henrik Johan von Düben. She was soon noted as one of the stars of the ballet and was appointed premier dancer and ballet mistress. She married the actor
Pierre-Claude Soligny from the same theatre in 1770.
In 1771, the French Theatre was dissolved. When the Royal Swedish Ballet was founded in 1773, however, there were not yet enough Swedish dancers and many of the first members of this troupe consisted of dancers from the old French Ballet troupe. The most prominent of these dancers were
Louis Gallodier
Louis Gallodier (c. 1734 – 6 June 1803) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer who spent the majority of his career in Sweden, where he was to have a great importance for the development of the ballet in Sweden as the ballet master ...
,
Ninon Dubois Le Clerc
Ninon Dubois Le Clerc or Ninon Leclaire (1750 in France - 4 May 1779, Stockholm), was a French ballerina and courtesan. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Ballet and regarded as one of the stars of the royal ballet during her career there. As a ...
,
Louis Frossard and
Marie-Renée Frossard and Elisabeth Soligny; Soligny was Gallodier's dance partner in the ballets. She lost her position in the ballet in 1782, at the age of 33.
Soligny held an
extramarital affair with
Henrik Jakob von Düben
Henrik Jakob von Düben (; May 1733 – March 25, 1805) was a Swedish diplomat, Master of Ceremonies and Hofmarschall. Notably, he served as an envoy to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1767, during which time he headed the Embassy of S ...
.
See also
*
Sophie Daguin
*
Marguerite Morel
Marguerite Du Londel or Dulondel (''Jeanne-Pierre-Marie–Marguerite Morel''; La Rochelle, France, 1737–1804) was a French ballerina, actress and singer (soprano). She was active in the French theater in Sweden and at that time attracted great ...
References
Sources
*
Further reading
* 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)
* Löfgren, Lars, Svensk teater, Natur och kultur, Stockholm, 2003
External links
Cesar.org.uk:
French ballerinas
Swedish ballerinas
18th-century French ballet dancers
Ballet mistresses
French ballet masters
1749 births
Year of death missing
Gustavian era people
Royal Swedish Ballet dancers
Court of Gustav III
{{Ballet-bio-stub