Elisabeth Schooling (27 April 1915 – 22 June 1998) was a British ballet dancer.
Early life
Elisabeth Schooling was born in
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...
, 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 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 to Impressionism.
Born ...
’s painting ''
Un bar aux Folies Bergère
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizin ...
''. 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 ...
, Notting Hill, London. Although the role was created by
Pearl Argyle, 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's ballet of the same name, for three dancers, being himself, Schooling and
Walter Gore, with music by Boyce.
In 1939, Staff created ''Czernyana'' which used Czerny's piano 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