Maria Christina Sophia Strömberg née Ehrnström (1777 – 17 September 1853) was a Swedish ballet dancer, actress and instructor in dance and drama. She was married to

Johan Peter Strömberg Johan Peter Strömberg (19 August 1776 – 20 September 1834) was a Swedish stage actor, dancer and theatre director. He was the founder of the first public theatre and acting school in Oslo, Norway. Biography Johan Peter Strömberg was bor ...

(1773–1834) and active with him in Norway, where the couple both made a pioneer contribution within their fields.

Biography

Maria Christina Strömberg was a student of

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 of ...

at the

Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Gustav III of Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian ...

in Stockholm. She was not given a position at the

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

, but was employed in smaller theatre companies touring Sweden. She is known to have both performed as a dancer, as well as an actress. In Norrköping in 1797, she married Johan Peter Strömberg, after which she followed him in the theatre companies in which he was employed. She was engaged in the theatre company of her spouse, and thus in the pioneer theatres he attempted to establish in

Uddevalla Uddevalla is a Stad (Sweden), town in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It’s the seat of Uddevalla Municipality. In 2015, it had a population of 34,781, making it the largest town fully in Bohuslän. Uddevalla is located where the river Bäveån ...

in 1798–99, and in

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

in 1800–02. Between 1802 and 1811, the couple toured Norway, where there was yet no established professional theatre activity. She and her husband gave lessons in dance and drama in Trondheim (1803–05), in Kristiansund (1804–05) and in Det Dramatiske Selskab in Oslo (1806–09); she instructed the female students, while her husband instructed the male students. While ballet dance as well as dance instructions had been offered previously in Norway (by Madame Stuart), Maria Christina Strömberg was possibly the first woman with confirmed formal ballet training to do so. In 1817–21, the Strömberg couple resided in Gothenburg, where she was active as a dance instructor. They returned to Norway in 1822. Between 1826–27, her husband founded and managed the first permanent professional theatre in Norway,

Christiania Offentlige Theater Christiania Offentlige Theater ('Christiania Public Theatre') or ''Det Strømbergske Teater'' ('Strömberg Theatre') was a historic theatre in Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county a ...

. Maria Christina Strömberg died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

References

Other sources

* Næss, Trine. (2009, 13. februar). Johan Peter Strömberg. I Norsk biografisk leksikon. Hentet 11 September 2018 fra * Wilhelm Berg:
Anteckningar om Göteborgs äldre teatrar / Band 2. 1794–1816
' (1896–1900) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stromberg, Maria Christina 1777 births 1853 deaths 18th-century Swedish actresses 18th-century Swedish ballet dancers 19th-century Swedish actresses Swedish stage actresses 19th-century Swedish ballet dancers 19th-century Norwegian actresses Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian ballerinas Deaths from cholera