Emma Amalia Virginia Palladino (1861–13 April 1922) was an Italian ballet dancer who for seven years was the prima ballerina at the

Alhambra Theatre The Alhambra Theatre was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

in London where she danced to the ballet music of the theatre's resident composer and conductor Georges Jacobi.

Early life

Born in 1861 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in Italy the daughter of Andrea Palladini, a dancer at the

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

who chose to change his surname.Ivor Guest, ''Ballet in Leicester Square'', Dance Books, (1992) pg. 52 She trained at

La Scala Theatre Ballet The La Scala Theatre Ballet () is the resident classical ballet company at La Scala in Milan, Italy. One of the oldest and most renowned ballet companies in the world, the company pre-dates the theatre, but was officially founded at the inaugura ...

in Milan and from 1873 to 1876 danced in the same theatre, first as a pupil of the school in choreography by Antonio Pallerini including ''Le due twelle'' (1873), ''The Seven Deadly Sins'' (1873) and in Ferdinando Pratesi's ''La temptation'' (1874) before taking on larger roles.Biography of Emma Palladino - Dizionario-Biografico
/ref>

Dancing career

In 1877 she moved to the United States where she made her début in New York in Offenbach's operetta ''

Le voyage dans la lune ''A Trip to the Moon'' ( , ) is a 1902 French science-fiction adventure trick film written, directed, and produced by Georges Méliès. Inspired by the Jules Verne novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' (1865) and its sequel '' Around the Moon' ...

'' while in 1878 she performed in the ballet '' Le papillon'', staged by the Mapleson Opera Troupe in New York City. In the late 1870s she returned to Europe and settled in London where she built a brilliant career as "a petite and fascinating, graceful dancer". She performed at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

in 1879 and at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

from 1881 to 1887 where she danced in opera ballet. For seven years Palladino was the prima ballerina at the

in London under the baton of Georges Jacobi in a ballet choreographed by the Italian Carlo Coppi. After making her début in ''Endymion'' she played, among others, the title roles in ''Nina'' (1885) and ''Nadia'' (1887) by Joseph Hansen. From 1888 to 1893 she danced at the Empire Theatre of Varieties in

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

where she danced in Katti Lanner's ''Diana'' (1888), a performance which earned her the nickname "the Complete Palladino"; ''A Dream of Wealth'' (1889), ''Dolly'' (1890), ''Nisita'' (1891), and ''By the Sea'' (1891).

Later years

In the summer seasons of 1889 and 1890 Palladino performed at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

as the principal dancer in some operatic repertoire titles, while in 1895 she interpreted ''Pastoralea'' to choreography by Léon Espinosa at the Palace Theatre in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. In 1894 she attempted to launch a singing career - with modest results - at the Manchester Palace of Varieties. She also worked in Paris in the newly built Éden-Théâtre, in Moscow and St. Petersburg during a tour with the

company in 1886, in Berlin and finally in Munich, as well as in Italy. In 1899 she played in ''Messalina'' by Luigi Danesi and in ''Rodope'' by Raffaele Grassi. She married bookkeeper Arthur Roger Carter in London in 1901. Emma Palladino retired in 1899 and died in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

in London in 1922. In her will she left £3,405 15s 10d to her husband.Emma Amalia Virginia Carter in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995
-

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palladino, Emma 1861 births 1922 deaths La Scala Theatre Ballet dancers Italian ballerinas 19th-century Italian ballet dancers 20th-century British ballet dancers