Per Johan Vilhelm Pettersson (1814–1854), was a Swedish ballet dancer. He was an elite member of first 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 ...

during the mid-19th-century, and a deputy ballet master. Vilhelm Pettersson was reportedly from a poor background as the son of laborers. During his childhood, he was once asked to perform a simple extra role in a ballet performance, and liked it so much that he wished to become a dancer. He became a student of the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1826, a premier student in 1834, a second dancer in 1835, and a premier- and grotesque dancer in 1838–54. During the 1830s, he was referred to as one of the male stars of the ballet alongside

Anders Selinder Anders Selinder (4 November 1806, in Stockholm – 6 November 1874, in Stockholm), was a Swedish ballet dancer, choreographer and director. He was ballet master of the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1833–1856. Life Anders Selinder was the son of the j ...

, Per Christian Johansson and Carl Wilhelm Silfverberg. He was deputy Ballet Master of the Royal Ballet from 1846 to 1851. It was said of him: :"Pettersson had quite long legs, which he displayed around him in his

Grotesque dance Grotesque dance ( French: ''danse grotesque''; Italian: ''ballo grottesco'' or ''danza grottesca'') is a category of theatrical dance that became more clearly differentiated in the 18th century and was incorporated into ballet, although it had its ...

with careless extravagance, and when he toured the countryside during the summer vacation with

Edvard Stjernström Carl Edvard Stjernström (11 October 1816 – 10 February 1877) was a Swedish stage actor and theater director. In 1833, he was accepted as a student at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. From 1842 to 1850, he was employed at Nya Teatern. He was th ...

and mrs Friebel, the

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

Newspaper announced that a new theater building should be erected to make more room for the pas de chasse of mr Pettersson and a smoother floor for the pretty little feet of the

Sylph A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...

ic Mrs Friebel."Nils Personne:
Svenska teatern : några anteckningar 7. Under Karl Johanstiden : 1835-1838
' Aside from his dance career, he is described as a self-educated autodidact, and was offered an office as an assistant

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

expert at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademien abbreviated KVHAA ( or or ) is the Sweden, Swedish Swedish Royal Academies, royal academy for the Humanities. Its ...

in 1854, shortly before he died of an illness.

References

*Fredrik August Dahlgren:
Förteckning öfver svenska skådespel uppförda på Stockholms theatrar 1737-1863 och Kongl. Theatrarnes personal 1773-1863. Med flera anteckningar.
' *Nils Personne:
Svenska teatern : några anteckningar 7. Under Karl Johanstiden : 1835-1838
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettersson, Vilhelm 1814 births 1854 deaths 19th-century Swedish ballet dancers Royal Swedish Ballet dancers