Harriet Augusta Sinden (1877–1950), known professionally asTopsy Sinden, was an English dancer, actress and singer. She was best known for her performances inEdwardian musical comedy andpantomime, both in London and on tour. Sinden was an accomplished tap dancer and skirt dancer.
Sinden was born and raised in London. According to the 1901 census, her parents were Augustus Sinden, a musician, and his wife Harriet. Her brother was the actor and dancer Bert Sinden (1879–1911).[1] Her nickname was "Topsy" from an early age.[2] She was a distant cousin of the actor SirDonald Sinden.[3]
Sinden began to perform as a small child in entertainments atSt. James's Hall and made her professional debut at age six, in 1884, as a little dancer in a fairy play at theRoyalty Theatre, followed shortly by apantomime ofDick Whittington at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane and by engagements at otherWest End theatres.[4] She studied dance with M. Leprez, an Italian dancing master, and then the Viennese dancerKatti Lanner.[2][5] She was given early roles including as principal dancer at age 10 in a revival ofPepita atToole's Theatre andThe Old Guard, both in 1888.[4][6] In 1889, she played the title role in a pantomime ofCinderella atCovent Garden Theatre. She then was engaged byAugustus Harris as principal dancer at theEmpire Theatre for three years and later played inLiverpool and elsewhere.[4][6] While at the Empire she appeared in the balletThe Paris Exhibition (1889), dancing a Lancashire clog dance.[7]
She also joined the company ofGeorge Edwardes where, in the early 1890s, she appeared in theburlesquesCinder Ellen up too Late andDon Juan.[8] Also at the Gaiety, Edwards cast her inIn Town (1892), and, in 1894, still aged 16, she danced inA Gaiety Girl atDaly's Theatre and then played the role of Violet Deveney in Edwardes's hitEdwardian musical comedy,The Shop Girl, at the Gaiety.[4][9] At the invitation of Harris, Sinden then danced ingrand operas atCovent Garden until his death in 1896.[4][5] In 1897, she was principal dancer inThe Yashmak atShaftesbury Theatre[4] and was also dancing at theAvenue Theatre oppositeLottie Venne.[10] In 1899, with Edwardes's company at Daly's Theatre, she played Trixie inSan Toy, in which she "contributes a graceful dance".[11] She also performed inmusic hall and pantomime (usually as "principal girl") during these years, including at theBritannia Theatre, the Metropole Theatre inCamberwell, and elsewhere.[4][12][13]
In the new century, Sinden was Miss Carruthers inA Country Girl at Daly's in 1902,[2] was principal dancer inThe Cingalee in 1904–05,[14] played the princess inThe Princess and the Troubador (with music byWalter Slaughter) at theLondon Coliseum in 1905[15] and created the role of Jane inThe Beauty of Bath at theAldwych Theatre, 1906.[16] In 1907–08 she became thepremière danseuse for the ballets at the Empire Theatre, appearing first as Stella Dare in a revised version ofC. Wilhelm's ballet divertissement,The Belle of the Ball, in the role created by the departingAdeline Genée.[2]The Times found her promising.[17] Describing her performance in this role, one of her contemporaries wrote that Sinden "excelled in a light and easy kind of tap-dancing ... and in skirt dancing, which was very popular in the musical comedies of the period."[18]
In 1910, Sinden was performing in variety at thePalladium Theatre.The Times called her "a dream of colour and grace".[19] In 1912, she was a featured dancer in the comic operaThe Grass Widows at theApollo Theatre.[20] By 1914, Sinden was in financial distress, and a fund was being raised for her after she suffered an injury on stage in Liverpool, to whichAdeline Genée donated the money raised for her own farewell season.[21][22] In 1927, after some years away from the stage, she appeared in a production ofDick Whittington at the Elephant and Castle Theatre, south London. She continued working until at least 1930.[2]