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

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

. She spent her career in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where she became a star ballerina and

ballet mistress A ballet master (also balletmaster, ballet mistress, ''premier maître de ballet'' or ''premier maître de ballet en chef'') is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In mo ...

of 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 ...

, and the principal of the ballet school.

Life

Sophie Daguin was born in Paris, France. After six years education under Didelot in her hometown Paris, she was employed in the Ballet of the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where she made a successful debut in ''

La fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. 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 Smi ...

'' 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 m ...

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, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

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 Maria Charlotta "Charlotte" Norberg also known as ''Charlotte Törner'' (27 December 1824 in Stockholm – 25 February 1892 in Stockholm) was a Swedish Ballerina and ballet teacher. She was a star of the Royal Swedish Ballet in the mid 19th-centur ...

and Thérèse Elfforss. 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 ...

, 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 a person ceases to be considered a minor, and assumes legal control over their person, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the ...

, 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'', 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 whe ...

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 ( ) 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 ...

References

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

Life

See also

References