Dame Adeline GenéeDBE (bornAnina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen; 6 January 1878 – 23 April 1970) was a Danish-Britishballet dancer.
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Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen was born inHinnerup north ofAarhus, Denmark. Her uncle, Alexandre Genée, gave her dancing lessons from the age of three. When she was eight, Alexandre and his wife, the former Antonia Zimmerman, adopted her. As well as changing her last name to Genée, she changed her first name to Adeline in honour of the Italian opera starAdelina Patti. Genée's debut was with her uncle's touring company at the age of ten inOslo (at that time called Christiania).
In 1895, she became the principal dancer of theRoyal Danish Ballet inCopenhagen. Subsequently, in 1896, she danced with theBerlin Royal Opera Ballet and theMunich Opera Ballet.
In 1897, she accepted a booking for six weeks to appear inMonte Cristo at theEmpire Theatre of Varieties in London.[1] She was so admired for her classical style in that ballet,[citation needed] that she was offered the position ofprima ballerina at the Empire, and stayed there for ten years.[2]
The Empire's ballets were mostly choreographed byKatti Lanner, but Genée supplied much of her own choreography,[2] in conjunction with her uncle Alexandre.[3] Her further successes there includedThe Press (1898),Les Papillons (1900),High Jinks (1904),Cinderella (1906),[4] and the Britishpremiere ofCoppélia (1906).
TheEdwardian period probably represents the lowest point in the history of English ballet. It consisted of short dances in variety programs. Genée did much to raise the status of ballet by reviving earlier productions and creating an audience for more elaborate works. She was versatile enough to dance light musical hall roles and in more severe classical roles. Slender and elegant, she was often described as like "Dresden china". In one respect she was very backward-looking, preferring a style of costume that belonged to the 1830s.
From April 1905, Genée danced in 400 performances of themusical playThe Little Michus atDaly's Theatre.
In November 1907, Genée sailed to the US to perform inThe Soul Kiss at theNew York Theatre. The producer,Florenz Ziegfeld, described her on the posters as "The World's Greatest Dancer." In the United States at that time, many people were entirely unfamiliar with ballet, so a ballet performance needed to be presented as part of a musical spectacular.
For several years, Genée alternated between a season in London and one in America, although after her marriage to Frank S. N. Isitt in 1910 she gradually reduced the frequency of her appearances.Sergei Diaghilev saw her dance and immediately offered her a contract, but she refused it.
When she returned to America in 1908 she toured withThe Soul Kiss. In subsequent American tours, she danced inThe Silver Star (1909),The Bachelor Belles (1910),[5] andRoses and Butterflies (1911). In the latter she was partnered byAlexis Kosloff,[2] who presented her with a silver trophy, inscribed "To the World's Greatest Dancer".
On 3 December 1912 she made her debut at New York'sMetropolitan Opera, with a program of divertissements which includedLa Camargo,[6] which had premiered earlier in 1912 at theLondon Coliseum. In it she recreated the dancing of the great ballerinaMarie Camargo.[7] On 17 December 1912, the Met saw the premiere ofLa danse, subtitled "An Authentic Record by Adeline Genée of Dancing and Dancers between the Years 1710 and 1845".[8] Its seven tableaux portrayed past ballerinas fromFrançoise Prévost toMarie Taglioni.[9]La Camargo andLa danse were original ballets by Genée, created in collaboration with the composerDora Bright and the designerC. Wilhelm. She took these on her subsequent tours of America, Australia and New Zealand, as well asThe Dryad,[10] an earlier collaboration with Bright which had been a success at the Empire in 1908.[11]
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On 21 June 1913, she returned to her greatest role, as Swanilda inCoppélia, this time inMelbourne. On 6 August 1913, Genée danced inSydney.
In 1916, she went on a sixteen-week tour of Australia withJ. C. Williamson's company. The Australian navy wildly cheered her dancing a hornpipe in abenefit show billed as "Navy Night". On returning to London, she gave her last major performance in April 1916 at the Coliseum inThe Pretty Prentice. Thereafter, she appeared only in occasional charity performances and commemorations. In 1923, Genée was awarded theIngenio et Arti medal by the King of Denmark.
Her last performance was on 15 March 1933, for the early television service of theBBC. Partnered byAnton Dolin, she danced inThe Love Song.[12] This was an original ballet, created for an earlier, special appearance at the London Coliseum, with period dance music composed by Bright.[13] It was broadcast to London on theBBC National Programme, via theBaird process.[14]
Genée became aDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1950. She gave her name to the Adeline Genee Theatre inEast Grinstead (built in 1967, but now sadly demolished) and the Genée studio in theRoyal Academy of Dance,Battersea, London.
In 1920, Genée collaborated with Philip Richardson of theDancing Time magazine, with the aim of improving the standard of dance and the teaching of dance in the United Kingdom. This led Richardson to organise a meeting of eminent dance professionals at the formerTrocadero Restaurant inPiccadilly, with Genée as one of the special guests representing what were, at the time, recognised as the leading methods of classical ballet training.
This meeting ultimately led to the formation of theAssociation of Teachers of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain, which was officially founded in December 1920. The association grew in size and influence, withQueen Mary consenting to become its Patron. Aroyal charter was eventually granted byKing George V in 1935, with the association becoming theRoyal Academy of Dancing. Genee's friendJennie Brenan used the methods in Australia and in 1936 she became the first oversea's member of the Academy's grand council.[15]
In 1953, Genée instituted theQueen Elizabeth II Coronation Award. She was president of the academy until her retirement in 1954, when she was succeeded byDame Margot Fonteyn.
The association is known as theRoyal Academy of Dance (RAD), withDarcey Bussell as president.[citation needed] It has grown to become one of the largest dance teaching and examination boards. The RAD now has over 14,000 members, and operates in 79 countries. As of 2025, there are over 1,000 students in full-time or part-time teacher training programmes with the academy and each year,[16] the examination syllabus is taught to more than a quarter of a million students.[citation needed]
In 1931, the association established the Adeline Genée Gold Medal Awards, as a scholarship scheme for aspiring young dancers. Initially, medals were only awarded to female dancers, but awards for men were later introduced in 1939. Today, the Royal Academy of Dance continue to offer the awards; however, they have become known as the Genée International Ballet Competition. The Genée competition attracts candidates with recent finals being held in Australia, Canada, Greece, Hong Kong and Singapore. In May 2019, a week after the would-be 100th birthday of Dame Margot Fonteyn, the Genée International Ballet competition was renamed the Margot Fonteyn Ballet Competition, in honour of the RAD's longest-serving president.[citation needed]
