KIRSOVA, HELENE (1910-1962), prima ballerina and choreographer, was born on 18
June 1910 in Copenhagen and named Ellen Elisabeth Kirsten Wittrup, youngest child
of the large family of Sophus Christian Ferdinand Hansen, directeur, and his wife
Ingeborg, née Wittrup. Using her mother's maiden name, Ellen attended the ballet
schools of Emilie Walbom and Jenny Møller in Copenhagen. At 18 she began tuition
in Paris under Olga Preobrajenska, Léo Staats and, particularly, Lubov Egorova. In
1929 Wittrup joined Le Ballet Franco Russe and toured South America. She then
danced with Madame Ida Rubenstein in Paris and in July 1931 at Covent Garden,
London.
View the full record at
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Born in Copenhagen as Ellen Wittrup
Hansen, Helene Kirsova came to Australia
in 1936 as a leading dancer with the
Monte Carlo Russian Ballet. Kirsova's
initial dance training was in Paris with
Leo Staats and with former Russian ballerina
Lubov Egorova. After touring with various
companies in South America and dancing
in Paris and London Kirsova became a
founding member of the Ballets Russes
de Monte Carlo in 1932. In Australia
her dancing with the Monte Carlo Russian
Ballet was praised by critics as 'sparkling'
and 'bewitching' and she was acclaimed
for her portrayal of the Ballerina in
Petrouchka and Columbine
in
Le Carnaval.
Kirsova returned to England in 1937
at the end of the Monte Carlo Russian
Ballet tour. She sailed with her colleagues
on the S.S. Strathnaver on 19 July 1937.
She returned to Australia early in 1938,
however, and married the Danish Vice-Consul
in Sydney, Erik Fischer. By 1940 she
had established a ballet school in Sydney
and by 1941 the Kirsova Ballet. Her Kirsova
Ballet was the first professional ballet
company in Australia. She employed several
dancers who had stayed in Australia following
one or other of the Ballets Russes tours
to Australia, including Tamara Tchinarova
and Polish dancers Raisse Kouznetsova,
Valery Shaievsky and Edward Sobishevsy.
She also gave work to some young Australian
dancers who would later have significant
careers in Australia including Rachel
Cameron, Strelsa Heckelman, Paul Hammond
and Peggy Sager.
Kirsova was an important patron of Australian
artists, composers and set designers.
She commissioned designs for her original
ballets from artists such as Loudon Sainthill,
Amie Kingston, Alice Danciger and Wolfgang
Cardamatis. After the demise of the Kirsova
Ballet in 1944 Kirsova kept her school
running for a few more years before retiring
to Europe in the late 1940s.
For more about Kirsova's life,
especially her activities in Australia,
see
'A
dancer's dream'
National Library of Australia News,
August 2000
Footage of Kirsova dancing with the
Monte Carlo Russian Ballet in
Le Beau Danube, filmed by
Ewan Murray-Will, is available online
at the
australianscreen site
'Monte
Carlo Russian Ballet. Original Ballet
Russe Clip 1: Hélène Kirsova on stage'.
Footage of her 1938 wedding is available
at
'Murray-Will,
Ewan: Ballets Russes, Hélène Kirsova's
Wedding: Home Movie'
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