Elna Eleonora Fobian Ørnberg, also Elna Jørgen-Jensen, (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1969) was a Danish ballet dancer and instructor who as a soloist starred in

Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the ne ...

's productions at the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

from 1907. After receiving further training with

Mikhail Fokin Michael Fokine ( – 22 August 1942) was a Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant and at the age of 9 was accepted into the Saint Petersburg Imperial Ballet Sch ...

, she choreographed the once popular but now forgotten ''Strauss i Paris'' in 1932. In 1933, she retired as a dancer but continued as a trainer. As a result of her support of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s under the German occupation in World War II, she was imprisoned for six months. In the late 1940s, she left Denmark together with her husband Leif and settled and taught in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Biography

Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

on 20 March 1890, Elna Eleonora Fobian was the daughter of Alexander Theobald Larsen and Joachimine Beate Emilie Fobian (1866–1935). She was adopted by her mother's second husband, the parliamentary official Axel Lauesgaard (1870–1944). From the age of seven, she attended the

's ballet school where she became prominent at an early age when performing Amor in

Vincenzo Galeotti Vincenzo Galeotti (5 March, 1733 – 16 December, 1816) was an Italian-born Danish dancer, choreographer and ballet master, who was influential as the director of the Royal Danish Ballet from 1775 until his death. Life Vincenzo Tomasselli was ...

's ballet ''Amors og Balletmesterens Luner'' (''The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master''). As she advanced, she was introduced to the Bournonville style by

Hans Beck Hans Beck (6 May 1929, Greiz – 30 January 2009, Markdorf) was the German inventor of Playmobil toys. He is often described as "The Father of Playmobil". He began to make toys at an early age and trained as a cabinet maker, before being recrui ...

and Valborg Borchsenius. She debuted in 1907 as the Good Fairy in

Emilie Walbom Johanne Emilie Margrethe Walbom née Egense (1858–1932) was a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. During her exceptionally long term of 61 years with the Royal Danish Ballet, she progressed from ballet dancer to the company's first female ch ...

's '' Harlekins Millioner''. She achieved further recognition the following year when she performed Pierrette in the same ballet. After becoming a soloist in 1910, she soon established herself as the company's most competent female dancer, performing the leading roles in Bounonville's '' Sylfiden'', ''Brudefærden i Hardanger'', '' Et Folkesagn'', ''Fjernt fra Danmark'' and ''Toreadoren''. Thanks to her outstanding technique and imposing personality, she excelled as Swanhilda in ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' when performing in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. She is also remembered for performing the title role in '' Sylvia'' and for playing erotic roles in ''The Veil of Pierrette'' (1911) and ''Scaramouche'' (1922). After training with Mikhail Fokin when he visited Copenhagen, she became particularly interested in modern ballet, playing Tabor in Walbom's ''En Nat i Ægypten'' in 1918 and

Hakon Børresen Axel Ejnar Hakon Børresen (2 June 1876 – 6 October 1954) was one of the foremost Danish composers of the 20th century. Life Børresen was born and died in Copenhagen, and was descended from a merchant family. As a child, he was given vi ...

's ''Tycho Brahes Drøm'' (1924). She also collaborated with

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

when he introduced new works to Denmark in 1930–31. After retiring in 1933, she and her husband opened a ballet school in Copenhagen in 1936. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, influenced by her husband Leif, she collaborated with the Germans, participating in propaganda-based radio plays and sketches. As a result, in 1946 both she and her husband received prison sentences. In the late 1940s, the couple settled in

where they opened a ballet school. Elna Ørnberg also worked as a ballet instructor. She died in Madrid on 18 March 1969.

Family

On 3 July 1910, Elna Fobian married director Erik Jørgen-Jensen (1885–1958). The couple had a son (Thorkild) in 1911. They divorced in 1929. On 30 May 1932, she married Johannes Leif Ørnberg (1904–1977), a solo dancer at the Royal Danish Theatre.

Awards

In 1922, she was awarded the Ingenio et arti medal but it was confiscated in the mid-1940s for her collaboration with the Nazis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ornberg, Elna 1890 births 1969 deaths Dancers from Copenhagen Danish ballerinas 20th-century Danish ballet dancers Danish choreographers Danish women choreographers Ballet choreographers Recipients of Ingenio et Arti