Gyda Martha Kristine Christensen (née Andersen; 21 May 1872 – 20 August 1964) was a Norwegian

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and managing director.

Biography

Christensen was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

(now Oslo), Norway. She was the only child of Ole Andersen and Cathrine Saabye. She received music and singing lessons during adolescence. She was part of the ensemble at

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the fir ...

from 1894 to 1899 and again from 1920 to 1928, and at

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo () is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was ...

from 1899 to 1919. She played a number of major roles, most often in the light genre. In 1915,

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

saw one of her plays in Oslo and was so enthused that he hired her as a choreographer for the

Deutsches Theater Berlin The Deutsches Theater is a theater in Berlin, Germany. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street (Schumannstraße), the Deutsches Theater consists of two adj ...

and as a teacher at the acting school there, where she taught until 1919. She was engaged as dance and artistic director at

Det Nye Teater Det Nye Teater was a theatre that opened in Oslo, Norway, in 1929, and operated independently until 1959, when it merged with Folketeatret to form Oslo Nye Teater. Its original purpose was to support contemporary Norwegian drama. History The ...

from 1928 to 1945. From 1936 to 1939 she was the artistic director at Nationaltheatret. In 1909 she became the managing director for the Nationaltheatret ballet school. In 1937 she directed the film '' To levende og en død'' with her son-in-law

Tancred Ibsen Tancred Ibsen (11 July 1893 – 4 December 1978) was a Norwegian military officer, aviator, film director and screenwriter. Background Ibsen was the son of Sigurd Ibsen and Bergljot Bjørnson. He was the grandson of both Henrik Ibsen and Nobel ...

Personal life

In 1893, she married engineer Georg Monrad Krohn (1865–1934). They were the parents of dancer and actress

Lillebil Ibsen Lillebil Ibsen (born Sofie Parelius Monrad Krohn, 6 August 1899 – 22 August 1989) was a Norwegian dancer and actress. Personal life Lillebil was born in Kristiania, as the daughter of engineer Georg Monrad Krohn and actress Gyda Martha Krist ...

(1899–1989) who was married to film director

(1893–1978). In 1905, she married theater director

Halfdan Christensen Halfdan Christensen (12 December 1873 – 17 September 1950) was a Norwegian stage actor and theatre director. Biography Christensen was born at Porsgrunn in Telemark, Norway. His family moved to Kristiania (now Oslo) where he attended Aars ...

(1873–1950). In 1946, she married political leader Carl Joachim Hambro (1885–1964).

References

1872 births 1964 deaths Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian female dancers Norwegian choreographers Norwegian women choreographers Ballet mistresses 19th-century Norwegian actresses 20th-century Norwegian actresses Norwegian film directors Norwegian women film directors {{Ballet-bio-stub