From Wilson Companion to Ballroom 1816
Friday, 25 December 2015
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Mrs Elliston a Bath Teacher of Dance and much more
On the 20th of February 1807, Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra.
“Elliston, she [her aunt] tells us has just succeeded to a considerable fortune on the death of an Uncle. I would not have it enough to take him from the Stage; she should quit her business, & live with him in London”
Elliston was Robert William Elliston a leading actor and a great favourite of Austen’s; “she” was Elizabeth Elliston his wife.
The cause of Austen’s censure was the fact that despite Robert’s success on the London stage and their eleven years of marriage Elizabeth continued to work as a dance teacher and dance academy proprietor in Bath.
Robert Elliston met Elizabeth Rundall in Bath where he had come to work at the Theatre Royal and she was working as an assistant to the sisters Anne and Kitty the then proprietors of the famous Fleming family dance academy which had been a prominent Bath institution since the 1740s. Anne, despite being middle-aged, had hopes that Elliston would marry her but he only had eyes for her beautiful and talented young assistant.
Robert and Elizabeth married on the 1st June 1796 in the parish of Peter and Paul and Elizabeth set up her own dance academy in Chapel Row in a partnership with Kitty the younger of the Fleming sisters, though there is evidence that this did not create a permanent breach in the friendship between Elizabeth and Anne. This partnership was secured by a £500 bond.
In 1797 Elizabeth and Kitty expanded their business by opening an academy at 5 Great Pulteney Street for private pupils while retaining the public academy at Chapel Row. In addition, to dance training they also offered Robert’s services to teach the “art of reading and speaking with propriety”.
By 1800, Kitty and Elizabeth Elliston had moved their school to 2 Trim Street and in this year Elizabeth gave birth to her second and most famous child Henry Twiselton Elliston who became a composer, inventor and musician often performing with his brother William. Over the course of their 25-year marriage, she and Robert had ten children. At least two of Elizabeth's daughters seem to have earned a living as dance teachers.
By August 1801 Elizabeth had moved her academy to 39 Milsom Street and from this time started to organise balls at the Lower Rooms to display the accomplishments of her pupils and by 1803 she was putting on balls at the Upper Rooms at least one of which attracted no less a person than Her Grace Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire. Her spring ball in 1804 attracted more than 800 visitors.
In 1802 The Morning Post reported a that the King and Queen and their daughters accompanied by the six year old Princess Charlotte of Wales had attended a performance by Robert at the Theatre in Weymouth at which "his daughter Miss Elliston" who cannot have been older than 5 "whose juvenile efforts were crowned with general approbation on his benefit, appeared in a fancy dance, assisted by the exertions of Mrs Elliston and her sister, Miss Rundall."
In 1803 Elliston gave a benefit performance at Bristol of Much Ado About Nothing at the end of the second act Elizabeth and her daughter appeared with Elizabeth's sister Miss Rundell in the ballet Varietes Amusantes.
In 1804, Richard Sheridan asked Robert to appear at his Drury Lane theatre. Initially, Elliston refused a permanent position in Sheridan’s company but gradually the lure of the London theatre and the riches it could command sucked him in. On 20 September 1804 Elliston made his first appearance as leading actor at Drury Lane. During this year, Elizabeth’s partnership with Kitty Fleming was dissolved and Elizabeth did not maintain an academy at Bath although she did do some teaching at her sister’s school.
Elizabeth’s sister Mary Ann was at this time the principal of a school for young girls in Bath. She later became obsessed by the ideas of the German scholar Gregor von Feinagle concerning memory. After he visited England in 1811 she published a book entitled "Symbolic Illustrations of the History of England". This book aimed to encapsulate the facts of history into just 39 pages, but the book received a withering review in The Quarterly Review who called it a "most absurd book". They noted that 700 pages of text were required to interpret the 39 pages of symbols!
In 1805, Elizabeth announced that she was giving up all her “country businesses” with the exception of classes at her sister’s school and was relaunching her academy at 39 Milsom Street.
When Drury Lane was destroyed by fire in on the 24th February 1809, Elliston used his fame and his uncle’s money to move into theatre management becoming known as ‘the Great Lessee’ and ‘the Napoleon of the Theatre’ for his energy in acquiring new properties.
By 1809, Elizabeth was living in London at a house in Stratford Place a reasonably high-status address just off Oxford Street. It appears that at least in part Elizabeth was in London to work on choreographing the dances in Elliston’s productions. At this time she was employing at least one assittant a Miss Perry who a year later set up as a dancing teacher in Cheltenham and using her work at Stratford Place as a reference.
In this same year, Elizabeth published “Les Varieties a third set of Dances and Cotillions Reels &c Composed and Arranged for the Piano Forte by Mrs Elliston dedicated to Miss D E Rundall, Milsom Street Bath.”
We know very little about Elizabeth’s sister Miss D E Rundall except that she may also have trained with the Flemings, and that Elizabeth trusted her to run her dance school in Milsom Street while she was in London.
In her book, Elizabeth’s tells us a little about her approach to composition where her aim was to create “melodies graceful to the ear & to give them that accent which is the soul of dancing”. We also learn that her previous two books were called “Trafalgar” & “The Graces” and that they were published in London.
The 1809 trade directory list Mrs Elliston as the proprietor of the Dance Academy at 21 Milsom Street.
In 1810 in the first season of Elliston's management of the Surrey one of Elliston's earliest biographers tells us "Some delightful melodies were furnished by Mrs. Elliston" for the theatre's production of the Beau Strategem adapted to be a burletta.
By 1812, Elizabeth had moved her school to 21 Milsom Street. In the same year, the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane re-opened on 10 October with a production of Hamlet featuring Robert Elliston in the title role.
From this time on Elizabeth seems to have remained in London and left her Bath interests entirely in the hands of her sister and latterly her daughters.
Elizabeth died at the age of 46 in 1821, five years before Roberts bankruptcy and ten years before his death in both of which his chronic alcoholism undoubtedly played a part. In the year of her death, her husband leased the theatre at Coventry and staged a magnificent coronation spectacle at Drury Lane. Elizabeth's death was reported around the nation in the most affectionate terms. A typical example of which is taken from Bell's Weekly Messenger is as follows:
"Testimony to private worth - The late Mrs Elliston - The Bath Herald, copying from the London Papers the account of the death of this much esteemed Lady, adds the following interesting particulars. The above account was received in this city, by the numerous friends of Mrs Elliston, with the deepest sorrow; for it was in Bath that the then lovely Miss Rundall, under the kind care of Miss Fleming. acquired those accomplishments, which have since adorned the most respectable circles in the metropolis; and most poignantly do we condole with that highly respected character on the sudden and untimely loss of one, whose merits she had the best opportunity of appreciating, as the attentive pupil, the valuable assistant, and sincere friend - characteristics which have since naturally expanded into the endearing domestic virtues of the best of wives and most affectionate of mothers - This day (Friday) [6th April] being appointed for the funeral, and Mrs Elliston's brother and sister being present in Bath, a knell in the memory of the deceased was tolled at the Abbey from twelve to one o'clock."
Far from deserving Austen’s censure, Elizabeth Elliston emerges as a truly remarkable woman.
A mother, composer, teacher, dancer and choreographer who managed to keep a successful business running in Bath to provide a secure income for herself and her family while at the same time supporting her mercurial, risk-taking, unfaithful, gambling-addicted drunk of a husband in his many theatrical enterprises.
“Elliston, she [her aunt] tells us has just succeeded to a considerable fortune on the death of an Uncle. I would not have it enough to take him from the Stage; she should quit her business, & live with him in London”
Elliston was Robert William Elliston a leading actor and a great favourite of Austen’s; “she” was Elizabeth Elliston his wife.
The cause of Austen’s censure was the fact that despite Robert’s success on the London stage and their eleven years of marriage Elizabeth continued to work as a dance teacher and dance academy proprietor in Bath.
Robert Elliston met Elizabeth Rundall in Bath where he had come to work at the Theatre Royal and she was working as an assistant to the sisters Anne and Kitty the then proprietors of the famous Fleming family dance academy which had been a prominent Bath institution since the 1740s. Anne, despite being middle-aged, had hopes that Elliston would marry her but he only had eyes for her beautiful and talented young assistant.
Robert and Elizabeth married on the 1st June 1796 in the parish of Peter and Paul and Elizabeth set up her own dance academy in Chapel Row in a partnership with Kitty the younger of the Fleming sisters, though there is evidence that this did not create a permanent breach in the friendship between Elizabeth and Anne. This partnership was secured by a £500 bond.
In 1797 Elizabeth and Kitty expanded their business by opening an academy at 5 Great Pulteney Street for private pupils while retaining the public academy at Chapel Row. In addition, to dance training they also offered Robert’s services to teach the “art of reading and speaking with propriety”.
By 1800, Kitty and Elizabeth Elliston had moved their school to 2 Trim Street and in this year Elizabeth gave birth to her second and most famous child Henry Twiselton Elliston who became a composer, inventor and musician often performing with his brother William. Over the course of their 25-year marriage, she and Robert had ten children. At least two of Elizabeth's daughters seem to have earned a living as dance teachers.
By August 1801 Elizabeth had moved her academy to 39 Milsom Street and from this time started to organise balls at the Lower Rooms to display the accomplishments of her pupils and by 1803 she was putting on balls at the Upper Rooms at least one of which attracted no less a person than Her Grace Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire. Her spring ball in 1804 attracted more than 800 visitors.
 |
| Bath Chronicle 1803 |
In 1803 Elliston gave a benefit performance at Bristol of Much Ado About Nothing at the end of the second act Elizabeth and her daughter appeared with Elizabeth's sister Miss Rundell in the ballet Varietes Amusantes.
In 1804, Richard Sheridan asked Robert to appear at his Drury Lane theatre. Initially, Elliston refused a permanent position in Sheridan’s company but gradually the lure of the London theatre and the riches it could command sucked him in. On 20 September 1804 Elliston made his first appearance as leading actor at Drury Lane. During this year, Elizabeth’s partnership with Kitty Fleming was dissolved and Elizabeth did not maintain an academy at Bath although she did do some teaching at her sister’s school.
Elizabeth’s sister Mary Ann was at this time the principal of a school for young girls in Bath. She later became obsessed by the ideas of the German scholar Gregor von Feinagle concerning memory. After he visited England in 1811 she published a book entitled "Symbolic Illustrations of the History of England". This book aimed to encapsulate the facts of history into just 39 pages, but the book received a withering review in The Quarterly Review who called it a "most absurd book". They noted that 700 pages of text were required to interpret the 39 pages of symbols!
In 1805, Elizabeth announced that she was giving up all her “country businesses” with the exception of classes at her sister’s school and was relaunching her academy at 39 Milsom Street.
When Drury Lane was destroyed by fire in on the 24th February 1809, Elliston used his fame and his uncle’s money to move into theatre management becoming known as ‘the Great Lessee’ and ‘the Napoleon of the Theatre’ for his energy in acquiring new properties.
By 1809, Elizabeth was living in London at a house in Stratford Place a reasonably high-status address just off Oxford Street. It appears that at least in part Elizabeth was in London to work on choreographing the dances in Elliston’s productions. At this time she was employing at least one assittant a Miss Perry who a year later set up as a dancing teacher in Cheltenham and using her work at Stratford Place as a reference.
In this same year, Elizabeth published “Les Varieties a third set of Dances and Cotillions Reels &c Composed and Arranged for the Piano Forte by Mrs Elliston dedicated to Miss D E Rundall, Milsom Street Bath.”
We know very little about Elizabeth’s sister Miss D E Rundall except that she may also have trained with the Flemings, and that Elizabeth trusted her to run her dance school in Milsom Street while she was in London.
In her book, Elizabeth’s tells us a little about her approach to composition where her aim was to create “melodies graceful to the ear & to give them that accent which is the soul of dancing”. We also learn that her previous two books were called “Trafalgar” & “The Graces” and that they were published in London.
The 1809 trade directory list Mrs Elliston as the proprietor of the Dance Academy at 21 Milsom Street.
In 1810 in the first season of Elliston's management of the Surrey one of Elliston's earliest biographers tells us "Some delightful melodies were furnished by Mrs. Elliston" for the theatre's production of the Beau Strategem adapted to be a burletta.
By 1812, Elizabeth had moved her school to 21 Milsom Street. In the same year, the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane re-opened on 10 October with a production of Hamlet featuring Robert Elliston in the title role.
From this time on Elizabeth seems to have remained in London and left her Bath interests entirely in the hands of her sister and latterly her daughters.
Elizabeth died at the age of 46 in 1821, five years before Roberts bankruptcy and ten years before his death in both of which his chronic alcoholism undoubtedly played a part. In the year of her death, her husband leased the theatre at Coventry and staged a magnificent coronation spectacle at Drury Lane. Elizabeth's death was reported around the nation in the most affectionate terms. A typical example of which is taken from Bell's Weekly Messenger is as follows:
Far from deserving Austen’s censure, Elizabeth Elliston emerges as a truly remarkable woman.
A mother, composer, teacher, dancer and choreographer who managed to keep a successful business running in Bath to provide a secure income for herself and her family while at the same time supporting her mercurial, risk-taking, unfaithful, gambling-addicted drunk of a husband in his many theatrical enterprises.
After her death the school she had founded was continued by her daughters supported by the retire stage dancer Miss Carr who had been a protege of Mrs Elliston.
Thursday, 3 December 2015
Mr Webster Dancing Master
Webster came from Sheffield and was at one time a musical ‘composer’ and a pantomimist; he married Elizabeth Moon of Leeds, joined the army, served in the West Indies, was engaged in Bath in organising volunteer forces, and settled there as a dancing and fencing master. A brother, Frederick (d. 1878), became the stage manager of the Haymarket Theatre.
His son was Benjamin Nottingham Webster (3 September 1797 - 3 July 1882), a famous English actor-manager and dramatist.
Webster was based in Walcot House near St Michael's church from about 1801
His school was still active eight years later but had moved to 1 Orange Grove.
Webster was based in Walcot House near St Michael's church from about 1801
His school was still active eight years later but had moved to 1 Orange Grove.
Monday, 23 November 2015
Medical Endorsement for Dancing
In the preface to his book "An Analysis of Country Dancing," published in 1808, the London dancing master Thomas Wilson, in his panegyric on the merits of dancing, says, " We have too in modern times the authority of the great Buchan, who particularly recommends Dancing and Riding as highly conducive to preserve a healthy constitution."
The Buchan Wilson refers to is the Scottish physician William Buchan. Since 1769, he has been publishing regular editions of his book Domestic Medicine, an early example of a medical self-help book. It was a huge bestseller, and a new edition was published two years before, in 1806.
Buchan placed a great emphasis on exercise as a way of preventing disease.
Wilson somewhat exaggerates Buchan's endorsement of dancing to achieve this. Buchan is clear that he favours exercise in the open air, particularly riding, which he suggests should be done for three hours a day or a similar amount of walking. He even gives a plug to golf and cricket.
However, Buchan does say that if outdoor exercise is not available, then "various methods may be contrived for exercising the body within doors, as the dumbbell, dancing, fencing, &c."
The popularity of Buchan's books and his regime may have had another impact on the crowded assembly rooms of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Buchan saw cleanliness and frequent change of clothing as necessary for good health. As he says, "The want of cleanliness is a fault which admits of no excuse."
The Buchan Wilson refers to is the Scottish physician William Buchan. Since 1769, he has been publishing regular editions of his book Domestic Medicine, an early example of a medical self-help book. It was a huge bestseller, and a new edition was published two years before, in 1806.
Buchan placed a great emphasis on exercise as a way of preventing disease.
Wilson somewhat exaggerates Buchan's endorsement of dancing to achieve this. Buchan is clear that he favours exercise in the open air, particularly riding, which he suggests should be done for three hours a day or a similar amount of walking. He even gives a plug to golf and cricket.
However, Buchan does say that if outdoor exercise is not available, then "various methods may be contrived for exercising the body within doors, as the dumbbell, dancing, fencing, &c."
The popularity of Buchan's books and his regime may have had another impact on the crowded assembly rooms of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Buchan saw cleanliness and frequent change of clothing as necessary for good health. As he says, "The want of cleanliness is a fault which admits of no excuse."
 |
| William Buchan (1729 - 1805) |
Thursday, 19 November 2015
People watching in the rooms in the 1770's
Philip Thickness the writer, traveller and fortune hunter in his book "The New Prose Bath Guide: for the year 1778" gives a characteristically sharp account of dancing in the rooms.
Speaking of the then relatively new Upper Rooms he says:
"on a Ball-Night, in a full Season, when all the Benches are filled with Ladies in full Dress, the Rooms magnificently lighted by wax, the Splendour of the Lustres, Girondoles,"
The lighting of the rooms was one of the things which contributed to their reputation for magnificence because of the wonderful cut glass chandeliers (lustres) and many branched candle sticks (girondoles) all of which contained very expensive wax candles rather than the much more common cheaper alternatives such as tallow.
"and the superlative Charms of so many lovely Women, whose natural Beauties being awakened by the Variety of Amusements which, on all Sides, surround them—renders it one of the most pleasing Sights that the Imagination of Man can conceive ; and what, we are convinced, no other Part of Europe can boast of; yet, in spite of all these Advantages, we much doubt, whether it be true that the Upper Rooms shew Female Beauty so advantageously as the Lower. There is a certain Degree of Light to fee Nature, as well as Art, to Advantage; and we know that the Painters give us only a small Proportion, not all the Light they could throw upon their Works. We have examined too, with a Degree of particular Attention, some of the most admired Beauties of the last and present Season, at both the Rooms, and, as far as we could determine, they were either best pleased, or most beautiful, under the lower than the higher Lights."
The Lower Rooms being some 18 feet lower than the Upper Rooms must, on this theory, have shown ladies off to considerable advantage.
"It is always remarked by Foreigners, that the English Nation, of both Sexes, look as grave when they are dancing, as if they were attending the Solemnity of a Funeral. This Charge is in general true ; and as a Minuet, danced gracefully, is the Light, of all others, in which a fine Woman can shew herself to most Advantage, we strongly recommend it to the Ladies to remove this national Charge, and to consider, that the Features and Countenance ought to be in Unison, and as perfectly in Tune with the Body, as the Instruments are which direct its Motions. And that that Sort of bewitching Look, bordering on the Smile, which always accompanies cheerful Conversation, should never be omitted in the Dance. As to the Gentleman, we agree with Mr. Hogarth, that it is more his Business to attend to a proper Manner of conducting the Lady in the Dance, than of shewing himself; but neither one, or the other, should dance in so public an Assembly as Bath, unless they are quite sure they dance with some Degree of Grace and Ease ; and as few People can be Judges of their own Excellence in any Respect, and particularly in Dancing, every Body should consult some faithful, not flattering Friend, on this Business, before they let themselves off in a Minuet. Beside which, we are confident, that there are many Ladies and Gentlemen who can dance very well in private, but who often fail in public. The Truth is, there is a certain Degree of necessary and confidential Boldness, without which, no Person can dance perfectly well. How many fine Women do we see totter with Fear, when they are taken out to dance? And is it possible, that such who cannot walk firmly should be able to dance gracefully?
We are aware that the Ladies think Gravity of Countenance a necessary Attendant on Modesty and Sentiment; but, till they can prove that a cheerful pleasing Smile is incompatible with Virtue, Prudence, or Discretion, we must beg Leave (while we allow them all imaginable Praise, for such ill-placed Precaution) to assure them, that they cannot bestow, on mortal Man, a more pleasing nor a more innocent Mark of their Public Favour, than by shewing their Features, under the Advantage of a Smile. Even Venus herself, were we to paint her surprised going into her Bath, it should be, withdrawing herself from the Eyes of the Beholders with a bashful Smile. Let it be remembered, though, that the loud Laugh, and the giggling Titter, should be always avoided, being neither consistent with good Breeding, nor good Policy."
 |
| Philip Thickness in 1757 |
"on a Ball-Night, in a full Season, when all the Benches are filled with Ladies in full Dress, the Rooms magnificently lighted by wax, the Splendour of the Lustres, Girondoles,"
The lighting of the rooms was one of the things which contributed to their reputation for magnificence because of the wonderful cut glass chandeliers (lustres) and many branched candle sticks (girondoles) all of which contained very expensive wax candles rather than the much more common cheaper alternatives such as tallow.
 |
| Robe a l'Anglaise - 1770-75 |
The Lower Rooms being some 18 feet lower than the Upper Rooms must, on this theory, have shown ladies off to considerable advantage.
"It is always remarked by Foreigners, that the English Nation, of both Sexes, look as grave when they are dancing, as if they were attending the Solemnity of a Funeral. This Charge is in general true ; and as a Minuet, danced gracefully, is the Light, of all others, in which a fine Woman can shew herself to most Advantage, we strongly recommend it to the Ladies to remove this national Charge, and to consider, that the Features and Countenance ought to be in Unison, and as perfectly in Tune with the Body, as the Instruments are which direct its Motions. And that that Sort of bewitching Look, bordering on the Smile, which always accompanies cheerful Conversation, should never be omitted in the Dance. As to the Gentleman, we agree with Mr. Hogarth, that it is more his Business to attend to a proper Manner of conducting the Lady in the Dance, than of shewing himself; but neither one, or the other, should dance in so public an Assembly as Bath, unless they are quite sure they dance with some Degree of Grace and Ease ; and as few People can be Judges of their own Excellence in any Respect, and particularly in Dancing, every Body should consult some faithful, not flattering Friend, on this Business, before they let themselves off in a Minuet. Beside which, we are confident, that there are many Ladies and Gentlemen who can dance very well in private, but who often fail in public. The Truth is, there is a certain Degree of necessary and confidential Boldness, without which, no Person can dance perfectly well. How many fine Women do we see totter with Fear, when they are taken out to dance? And is it possible, that such who cannot walk firmly should be able to dance gracefully?
We are aware that the Ladies think Gravity of Countenance a necessary Attendant on Modesty and Sentiment; but, till they can prove that a cheerful pleasing Smile is incompatible with Virtue, Prudence, or Discretion, we must beg Leave (while we allow them all imaginable Praise, for such ill-placed Precaution) to assure them, that they cannot bestow, on mortal Man, a more pleasing nor a more innocent Mark of their Public Favour, than by shewing their Features, under the Advantage of a Smile. Even Venus herself, were we to paint her surprised going into her Bath, it should be, withdrawing herself from the Eyes of the Beholders with a bashful Smile. Let it be remembered, though, that the loud Laugh, and the giggling Titter, should be always avoided, being neither consistent with good Breeding, nor good Policy."
Sunday, 15 November 2015
Jacob Harbour
Jacob Harbour (1720 - was a London musical instrument seller and professional violinist of the late eighteenth century. He was active from around 1760 to 1815 and was mainly known as a source of cheaper instruments. He operated from his premises at 25 Duke Street, Lincoln Inn Field and from 1786 from premises in Southampton Buildings, Holborn.
Like many instrument sellers, he also sold and published music; in this role, he issued three collections of country dances.
The example below is a cotillion from his:
"By subscription, The Second Book for the Year 1784. Eighteen Favorite Cotillions, Allemands, Country Dances, and a Much Admired minuet."
Like many instrument sellers, he also sold and published music; in this role, he issued three collections of country dances.
The example below is a cotillion from his:
"By subscription, The Second Book for the Year 1784. Eighteen Favorite Cotillions, Allemands, Country Dances, and a Much Admired minuet."
Saturday, 14 November 2015
Mrs De Rossi a Bath teacher of Dance
Lucy Michel was born in 1771 the daughter of Pierre Bernard Michel who was described by no less a figure than the great Italian dancer, dance theoretician and choreographer Gennaro Magri as "the best Ballerino grotesco that France ever produced". Grotesque dances, as opposed to noble dances, were comic or lighthearted and created for buffoons and commedia dell'arte characters.
Lucy was probably born in Dublin where her father was known to be dancing in the early 1770s. The Michel family seem to have settled in Bath about 1772, and it may well be then that he started to teach dance.
Lucy seems to have appeared on stage dancing alongside her brother at the Haymarket Theatre and in Brighton in 1785.
Lucy and her brother danced at the Bath Theatre Royal on several occasions between 1786 and 1789. They also appear on bills in Bristol between 1778 and 1790.
In 1787, Lucy's father launched a dancing school in Kingsmead Square where he taught both boys and girls, travelling as far afield as Wells, increasingly aided by his daughter. Together they put on a ball for the children of two Wells schools in 1790.
On the 5th of December 1790 at Bath Abbey, Lucy married Philip de Rossi a language teacher. A few months after her marriage she started her own dance school in Margaret Buildings. This seems to have led to a breach with her father.
On 21st July 1791, she placed the following advertisement in the Chronicle:
Her advert appeared just above her father's advert:
The Devonshire Minuet, to which they both refer, had been composed by Gaetan Vestris in honour of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire and first performed by Adelaide Simonet and Gaetan Vestris at the King’s Theatre in London on 22 March 1781. Gaetan Vestris and his son Auguste Vestris were two towering figures of European dance both as performers, choreographers and teachers. At this time they were both living and performing in London having been driven out of France by the revolution.
Michel's advert appeared again in the next edition of the paper but with a bitter little addition "N.B. Mr Michel is conscious that a liberal publick [sic] will judge candidly".
By 1791, Lucy had moved her school to 17 Milsom Street, but by 1792 although she is listed as a dance teacher in the Bath directory, she seems to have abandoned teaching in Bath and resumed her stage career using the name Signora Marchesini at Saddlers Wells where it was said that she had last performed on stage at the age of eight. Lucy abandoned her assumed identity in the autumn of 1792 when she appeared at Covent Garden as Mme Rossi.
She continued to have a successful career forming a professional partnership with the dancer James Bryn. However, this collaboration came to a bitter end following the 1793 - 1794 season when Bryn dismissed her from the company. Mr Rossi threatened Bryn with legal action but there is no evidence that he followed this up and Lucy was back at Covent Garden for the next season.
She seems to have taken a break from performance in the autumn and winter of 1795 probably caused by the birth of her son Oscar whose father was James Bryn. On the 11th of April 1796, the Oracle alluded to "Mrs Rossi having left her husband to live with Bryn." She was 25, and he was 40 and had been previously married.
By the winter of 1796, Lucy and Bryn were dancing together in America where they remained until 1799 when they returned to Europe via Jamaica. For the remainder of the year and the early month of 1800, the three Bryns were performing in Dublin. However, by April the family were back in London performing at the Royal Circus and Covent Garden.
By 1801, the Bryn's relationship seems to have taken a dip with Lucy starring at Drury Lane while her husband continued to work at the Royal Circus. She retired from the stage in 1803 he seems to have continued until 1805.
Some time between her retirement and her death in 1845 their relationship may have collapsed altogether as in her will she describes her husband as deceased, but professional registers suggested he did not die until some months after her.
In her will, she leaves her very considerable estate mainly to her six children.
Lucy was probably born in Dublin where her father was known to be dancing in the early 1770s. The Michel family seem to have settled in Bath about 1772, and it may well be then that he started to teach dance.
Lucy seems to have appeared on stage dancing alongside her brother at the Haymarket Theatre and in Brighton in 1785.
Lucy and her brother danced at the Bath Theatre Royal on several occasions between 1786 and 1789. They also appear on bills in Bristol between 1778 and 1790.
In 1787, Lucy's father launched a dancing school in Kingsmead Square where he taught both boys and girls, travelling as far afield as Wells, increasingly aided by his daughter. Together they put on a ball for the children of two Wells schools in 1790.
On the 5th of December 1790 at Bath Abbey, Lucy married Philip de Rossi a language teacher. A few months after her marriage she started her own dance school in Margaret Buildings. This seems to have led to a breach with her father.
On 21st July 1791, she placed the following advertisement in the Chronicle:
Her advert appeared just above her father's advert:
The Devonshire Minuet, to which they both refer, had been composed by Gaetan Vestris in honour of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire and first performed by Adelaide Simonet and Gaetan Vestris at the King’s Theatre in London on 22 March 1781. Gaetan Vestris and his son Auguste Vestris were two towering figures of European dance both as performers, choreographers and teachers. At this time they were both living and performing in London having been driven out of France by the revolution.
 |
| Gaetan Vestris |
By 1791, Lucy had moved her school to 17 Milsom Street, but by 1792 although she is listed as a dance teacher in the Bath directory, she seems to have abandoned teaching in Bath and resumed her stage career using the name Signora Marchesini at Saddlers Wells where it was said that she had last performed on stage at the age of eight. Lucy abandoned her assumed identity in the autumn of 1792 when she appeared at Covent Garden as Mme Rossi.
She continued to have a successful career forming a professional partnership with the dancer James Bryn. However, this collaboration came to a bitter end following the 1793 - 1794 season when Bryn dismissed her from the company. Mr Rossi threatened Bryn with legal action but there is no evidence that he followed this up and Lucy was back at Covent Garden for the next season.
She seems to have taken a break from performance in the autumn and winter of 1795 probably caused by the birth of her son Oscar whose father was James Bryn. On the 11th of April 1796, the Oracle alluded to "Mrs Rossi having left her husband to live with Bryn." She was 25, and he was 40 and had been previously married.
By the winter of 1796, Lucy and Bryn were dancing together in America where they remained until 1799 when they returned to Europe via Jamaica. For the remainder of the year and the early month of 1800, the three Bryns were performing in Dublin. However, by April the family were back in London performing at the Royal Circus and Covent Garden.
By 1801, the Bryn's relationship seems to have taken a dip with Lucy starring at Drury Lane while her husband continued to work at the Royal Circus. She retired from the stage in 1803 he seems to have continued until 1805.
Some time between her retirement and her death in 1845 their relationship may have collapsed altogether as in her will she describes her husband as deceased, but professional registers suggested he did not die until some months after her.
In her will, she leaves her very considerable estate mainly to her six children.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)