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Marie Miller (dancer)

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Mme Gardel
Born
Marie Miller

8 April 1770
Auxonne, France
Died18 April 1833 (aged 63)
Paris, France
Nationality France
Other namesMademoiselle Miller
Madame Gardel
Occupation(s)Dancer
Years active1789-1816
SpousePierre Gardel

Marie Miller (8 April 1770 – 18 April 1833), or Marie-Elisabeth-Anne Houbert,[1] known professionally as Mlle Miller and later Madame Gardel, was an 18th century French ballet dancer at the Opéra de Paris and the wife of Pierre Gardel.

Biography

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Early life

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Marie-Elisabeth-Anne Houbert was born on 8 April 1770 in Auxonne, France.[2] Marie's father was a musician in the Royal Artillery Corps (French: Corps Royal de l'Artillerie) and died when she was a young girl.[3]

Entertainment life

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On 13 January 1786, the young ballerina made her debut at the Académie Royale de Musique (known as Paris Opéra) in Antonio Sacchini's opera Dardanus.[2][4] Marie quickly earned the rank of première danseuse before the French Revolution.[5] Shortly afterward, she succeeded Marie-Madeleine Guimard, who retired in 1789.[2]

Miller was dancing at the Académie Royale de Musique and in London under the stage name Mlle Miller and Miss Millard.[6][3] French dancer and choreographer Pierre Gardel had assumed the role of ballet master at the Opéra after his brother Maximilien's death in 1787. In 1790, Miller performed in one of the earliest full-length ballets by the Opéra's newly-appointed ballet master titled Psyché.[7] Her mother's husband, Jean Gaspard Krasinski, referred to as "Miller," was the composer behind Le Déserteur, Télémaque, and Psyché, pantomime ballets that filled the Opéra, each starring the young Houbert, in the lead.[2]

In Paris, Marie married Pierre Gardel in 1795, becoming his second wife and muse.[6] After his first wife, Anne Jacqueline Coulon, passed away, he decided to remarry.[3] Following her marriage to Pierre, now known on stage by Madame Gardel, she was active as a principal dancer at the Opéra de Paris, alongside Mlle Chevigny.[8] She began to perform in all of Pierre's ballets.[9]

In 1816, Mme Gardel concluded a stage career that spanned nearly thirty years.[5]

Death

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Marie Gardel died on 18 April 1833 in Paris, France.[10] Her husband Pierre lived until 1840.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Phillips, L. B. (1871). “The” Dictionary of Biographical Reference: Containing One Hundred Thousand Names Together with a Classed Index of the Biographical Literature of Europe and America. United Kingdom: Sampson Low, Son & Marston.
  2. ^ a b c d Biographie Universelle, Ancienne Et Moderne: Ou, Histoire, Par Ordre Alphabétique, de la Vie Publique Et Privée de Tous Les Hommes Qui Se Sont Fait Remarquer Par Leurs Écrits, Leurs Actions, Leurs Talents, Leurs Vertus Ou Leurs Crimes. (1856). France: A. T. Desplaces.
  3. ^ a b c Highfill, P. H., Burnim, K. A., Langhans, E. A. (1978). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 5, Eagan to Garrett: Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. United States: Southern Illinois University Press.
  4. ^ Dardanus : tragedie en trois actes : représentée devant Leurs Majestés à Fontainebleau, le 20 octobre 178[3] et a Paris, sur le Théatre de l’Académie-Royale de Musique, le vendredi 13 janvier 1786. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/item/2010663574/
  5. ^ a b Tomko, L. J. (1998). Proceedings Society of Dance History Scholars. United States: Society of Dance History Scholars.
  6. ^ a b The Library of Congress. (n.d.). Gardel, Marie-Elisabeth-Anne Houbert, 1770-1833 - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n97858352.html
  7. ^ Chazin-Bennahum, J. (1988). Dance in the shadow of the guillotine. United States: Southern Illinois University Press.
  8. ^ La grande encyclopédie: inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres et des arts par une Société de savants et de gens de lettres. (1885). France: Société anonyme de la Grande encyclopédie.
  9. ^ Over 9000 Thousand! (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/magazine/350-years/jean-georges-noverre-1727-1810/pierre-gardel-1758-1840
  10. ^ Pitou, Spire. “Miller, Mlle.” In (Ed.), The Paris Opéra: An encyclopedia of operas, ballets, composers, and performers (2016–). Article first published 1985. Retrieved from https://rme.rilm.org/rme/stable/526464
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