Sophie Marguerite Daguin (26 March 1801 – 13 March 1881) was a French

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. She spent her career in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, where she became a star ballerina and ballet mistress of the

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

, and the principal of the ballet school.

Life

Sophie Daguin was born in Paris, France. After six years education under

Didelot Charles-Louis Didelot (28 March 1767, Stockholm - 7 November 1837, Kiev) was a French dancer, the creator of the ballet shoes and a choreographer. The son of Charles Didelot, the dance-master of the King of Sweden, he studied dance with his f ...

in her hometown Paris, she was employed in the Ballet of the Royal Swedish Opera in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, where she made a successful debut in ''

La fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'' by

Jean Dauberval Jean Dauberval, a.k.a. Jean D’Auberval, (born Jean Bercher in Montpellier, 19 August 1742 – Tours, 14 February 1806), was a French dancer and ballet master. He is most noted for creating the ballet, ''La fille mal gardée'', one of the ...

in 1815. She was a premier dancer in 1820–43, ballet master for the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1827–30, principal for the Ballet School in 1830–56 and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

dancer in 1843–56. In 1827 she was appointed the first female ballet master of the Royal Ballet, though she did not hold this position alone but shared it jointly with Per Erik Wallqvist. She left her position before him to become the principal of the ballet school in 1830. Among her students were Charlotta Norberg and

Thérèse Elfforss Antoinette Thérèse Elfforss (née Öberg; 30 November 1823 – 16 April 1905) was a Swedish stage actress and theatre director. She was the managing director of the travelling Elfforss Theater Company between 1869 and 1888.Nordensvan, Georg, ...

. Until her forties, she was considered one of the greatest dancers in

, and she is referred to as the primadonna of the Royal Swedish Ballet in the 1830s, alongside

Adolfina Fägerstedt Adolfina Fägerstedt (31 August 1811-1902), was a Swedish ballerina. She was considered as one of the leading members of the Royal Swedish Ballet in the 1830s and 1840s. She became a student of the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1821, a figurante in ...

, Carolina Granberg and Charlotta Alm.Nils Personne:
Svenska teatern : några anteckningar 7. Under Karl Johanstiden : 1835-1838
' She was seen as a role model in her role interpretations. In her own choreographs, such as ''Max och Emma'' (Max and Emma) (1842), she introduced traditions from Paris. Sophie Daguin never married. During this epoch, unmarried women where formally minors who needed a guardian to manage their finances, but the law allowed for unmarried women to apply for

legal majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contro ...

, and Sophie Daguin successfully did so in 1832. Among her parts where the main part in the ballet ''Jenny'' or ''Engelska inbrottet i Skottland'' (The English burglary in Scotland), her part in the operas ''Den lilla slavinnan'' (The Little Slave) and ''

Fra Diavolo Fra Diavolo (lit. Brother Devil; 7 April 1771–11 November 1806), is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an "inspirational practitioner of popular insurrect ...

'', in ''Dansvurmen'' (The Dance Craze) by Selinder, ''Hemkosten'' (The Return) by Bournonville, ''Le Lac des fées'' by

Filippo Taglioni Filippo Taglioni (aka Philippe Taglioni; 5 November 1777 – 11 February 1871) was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. (He had another child who also danced ballet, ...

and as the abbess in the famous ballet in the convent scene in '' Robert av Normandie'', and in 1836 she studied the part of Fenella in '' Den stumma från Portici'' by

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...

for

Johanne Luise Heiberg Johanne Luise Heiberg (; née Pätges; 22 November 1812 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish actress of the 19th century. She is most famous for her work at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where she achieved great success. Though she was cl ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

References

* Österberg, Carin et al., ''Svenska kvinnor: föregångare, nyskapare''. Lund: Signum 1990. () {{DEFAULTSORT:Daguin, Sophie Dancers from Paris 1801 births 1881 deaths French ballerinas 19th-century Swedish ballet dancers 19th-century French ballet dancers Ballet mistresses French ballet masters Royal Swedish Ballet dancers

Life

See also

References