2 3 Throwback Thursday and Ellen Price | Ballet Webb

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Throwback Thursday and Ellen Price

Throwback Thursday and Ellen Price

Ellen Juliette Collin Price de Plane came from a long line of performers in Denmark. Born on June 21, 1841, she is a descendant of James Price, and English circus performer whose granddaughter Juliette was the first ballerina to dance Giselle for the Royal Danish Ballet. Ellen’s mother and father were principal dancers with the company as well.

She trained at the school of the Royal Danish Ballet from 1889-1895, and it was Ellen’s performance in The Little Mermaid in 1909 that led her to model for Edvard Eriksen’s famous statue of the same name. He only copied her face because she refused to pose nude.

But posing for this statue wasn’t Ellen Price’s only claim to fame. She was one of the first ballerinas to have her dancing preserved on film (see today’s link). Ultimately, in 1913, she left ballet to pursue a career in film.

She died on March 4, 1968, and fittingly for a “little mermaid”, is buried on an island (Bornholm) surrounded by the Baltic Sea.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid # 94
“Ellen Price was the model for the famous Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen.”

Links of the Day:


Quote of the Day:
“Change is the end of something you know and the beginning of something else that you don't know. Something new that holds opportunities.” 
 
Kholoud Yasser

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