Katti Lanner (14 September 1829 – 15 November 1908) was a Viennese ballet dancer, choreographer, and ballet mistress who found fame in Germany and England, where she staged many productions at the Empire Theatre in London.

Early life in Austria

Katharina Josefa Lanner, known as Katti, was the daughter of Josef Franz Karl Lanner (1801–1843) and his wife Franziska Jahns Lanner. Her father was director of dance music at the Viennese court and was celebrated as a composer and conductor, a great rival of the elder Johann Strauss, known as the Waltz King. She began her dance training at the age of 14 with Pietro Campilli and André Isidore Carey at the ballet school of the Wiener Hofoper (

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

). Having made her debut at the Theater am Kärntnertor in 1845 in the title role of ''Angelica'' by Antonio Guerras, she had her first great triumph in 1847 as Fennela, the title role of Daniel Auber's opera ''Die Stumme von Portici'' (The Dumb Girl of Portici). Thereafter, she appeared in ballets with

Fanny Elssler Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 181027 November 1884) was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period. Life and career She was born in Gumpendorf, a neighborhood of Vienna. Her father Johann Florian Elssler was a second ge ...

Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in th ...

, and Paul Taglioni, dancing Myrtha in ''Giselle'' to great acclaim. Other principal roles in her repertory included those in ''Die Verwandelten Weiber'' by Paul Taglioni and ''Der Toreador'' by August Bournonville.

Dancing in Germany and on tour

After her widowed mother died in 1855, Katti Lanner decided to leave Vienna and seek employment in Germany. Early in 1856 she had a great success in Berlin in the title role of ''Giselle'', after which she went on to dance in Dresden, Munich, and Hamburg, where she choreographed her first major work, ''Uriella, der Dämon der Nacht'' (1857). In 1862, she was engaged as ballerina and ballet mistress at the Stadttheater Hamburg. Among the ten ballets she staged at the Hamburg Opera House were ''Die Rose von Sevilla'' (1862) and ''Asmodeus, oder Der Sohn des Teufels auf Reisen'' (1863). She also organized a children's ballet troupe, took the Hamburger Ballett on tour to Berlin, and made guest appearances elsewhere. Around 1865, Lanner founded her own company, the Viennese Ballet and Pantomime Troupe, which toured extensively in 1869–1872 in Scandinavia, Russia, France, Portugal, the United States, and England. Everywhere she was acclaimed for her performances as Giselle. A critic for a Lisbon newspaper called her simply "the best ballerina known," In 1872, heading a troupe called the Kathi Lanner Choreographic Connection, she returned to New York to perform at the famous theater called Niblo's Garden. In the extravaganza ''Leo and Lotus'' and particularly the pantomime ''Azarel'', her company received critical praise. A writer for ''The Spirit of the Times'' described its performance as 'well proportioned, harmonious, exact in time, graceful in its evolutions, and beautiful in its groupings." The following year, 1873, Lanner choreographed a ballet for fifty children as part of

Augustin Daly John Augustin Daly (July 20, 1838June 7, 1899) was one of the most influential men in American theatre during his lifetime. Drama critic, theatre manager, playwright, and adapter, he became the first recognized stage director in America. He exer ...

's revival of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.

Working in England

Lanner settled in London in 1875 and the next year took on direction of the National Training School for Dancing. Founded by J. H. Mapleson at Her Majesty's Theatre, the school had been moved to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in 1867, after Her Majesty's was destroyed by fire. Lanner was thus instrumental in establishing an institutional basis for English ballet. For the next eleven years, from 1876 to 1887, she supervised productions at the Theatre Royal, to the enthusiastic approval of audiences. After the

Empire Theatre of Varieties The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld on the north side of Leicester Square, London. The Empire was originally built in 1884 as a variety theatre and was rebuilt for films in the 1920s. It is one of several ...

, a music hall, opened on Leicester Square in 1887, Lanner became the ballet mistress of the resident company. During her twenty years in this post, she produced thirty-four ballets, many in collaboration with composers Hervé (Florimond Ronger) and

Leopold Wenzel Léopold de Wenzel (23 January 1847 – 21 August 1923), also known as Leopold Wenzel, was an Italian conductor and composer. Born in Naples, Wenzel spent most of his career working in London, with the exception of some years spent in Paris. Wenz ...

and designer C. Wilhelm (William James Charles Pitcher). Among them were ''The Sports of England'' (1887), ''Cleopatra'' (1889), ''The Paris Exhibition'' (1889), ''Orfeo'' (1891), ''Round the Town'' (1892–1895), ''On Brighton Pier'' (1894), ''Faust'' (1895), ''The Dancing Doll'' (1904–1905), and ''Sir Roger de Coverly'' (1907). She also worked closely with

Adeline Genée Dame Adeline Genée DBE (born Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen; 6 January 1878 – 23 April 1970) was a Danish-British ballet dancer. Early years Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen was born in Hinnerup north of Aarhus, Denmark. ...

, ''prima ballerina'' of the company, who appeared in notable productions of ''Les Papillons'' (1900), ''High Jinks'' (1904), ''Cinderella'' (1906), and the British premiere of ''Coppélia'' (1906). Although Lanner had to make concessions to music hall audiences, she and Dame Adeline kept classical ballet alive in Britain during the Edwardian era, a somnolent period of activity. Jeffrey Richards, ''Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876–1953'' (Manchester University Press, 2002). Lanner is a notable figure in dance history as she was the first woman to make a career as a choreographer.

Personal life

Katti Lanner married ballet master and company director Johann-Baptist Alfred Karl Viktor Geraldini in 1868. They had three daughters—Katharina, Albertina, and Sophie—before their marriage ended in divorce. She died at

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, in southwest London, and was buried with fellow dancer Giuseppe Venuto de Francesco at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

References

External links

Newsletter 50
Friends of West Norwood Cemetery

Carte de visite photograph at Picture History * J. Gilliland
Lanner, Katharina Josefa (1829–1908)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 2004 (Subscription required) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lanner, Katti 1829 births 1908 deaths Austrian ballerinas Ballet choreographers Austrian choreographers Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Dancers from Vienna Burials at West Norwood Cemetery 19th-century Austrian ballet dancers