Elisabeth Schooling (27 April 1915 – 22 June 1998) was a British

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

Early life

Elisabeth Schooling was born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, London in 1915.

Career

From 1928, Schooling studied with Marie Rambert, and she danced in

Ballet Club Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

's (which later became

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

) first seasons. Her first solo role was as the Bride in a 1934 ballet entitled ''Mermaid'', which was choreographed by Susan Salaman and Andrée Howard, using music by Ravel. Also in 1934, it was noticed that Schooling had a very similar appearance to the barmaid in

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

’s painting '' Un bar aux Folies Bergère''. Marie Rambert’s husband Ashley Dukes suggested there might be a ballet around the picture, also introducing can-can dancers. '' Bar aux Folies-Bergère'' was first performed on 15 May 1934 at the

Mercury Theatre The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also r ...

, Notting Hill, London. Although the role was created by

Pearl Argyle Pearl Argyle (born Pearl Wellman; 7 November 1910 – 29 January 1947) was a South African ballet dancer and actress. She appeared in leading roles with English ballet companies in the 1930s and later performed in stage musicals and in films. ...

, Schooling danced it subsequently.Rambert, Marie. ''Quicksilver: an autobiography.'' Papermac (Macmillan Publishers Ltd), London, 1983, p157. In 1938, her future husband Frank Staff did his first choreography for Ballet Rambert, in ''The Tartans'', a new version of

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositio ...

's ballet of the same name, for three dancers, being himself, Schooling and

Walter Gore Walter Gore (8 October 1910 – 16 April 1979) was a British ballet dancer, company director and choreographer. Early life Walter Gore was born in Waterside, East Ayrshire Scotland in 1910 into a theatrical family. From 1924, he studied a ...

, with music by Boyce. In 1939, Staff created ''Czernyana'' which used Czerny's

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

exercises as the basis for a series of dances which caricatured different ballet styles. Its success led to ''Czerny 2'' in 1941. Schooling had solos in both. ''Czernyana'', a compilation of the best of both ballets featured in the Rambert repertory for many years.

Personal life

Schooling finally married her fellow Ballet Rambert dancer Frank Staff in 1942, having appeared in his early choreographed works. She retired in 1948, and they had one son together, although the marriage was eventually dissolved. Schooling later married the Devon farmer, Michael Chaplin. After he moved back to South Africa, Staff married the dancer Heather Lloyd-Jones, although they later divorced.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schooling, Elisabeth 1915 births 1998 deaths British ballerinas Rambert Dance Company dancers People from Hendon