Interview

Fanny Elssler Interview

Q: Describe where you were from, and give some information on your family.

A: I am from a town called Vienna, Austria. It is very beautiful, with many magnificent buildings, and glorious fountains. There is also a lot of shopping. The theaters are very large, great for performances. I love to walk around, and just look at what there is going on, like there are many musicians that play on the streets. In front of many of the big, and largely important buildings, they yards are decorated with different types of flowers.

Now, onto my family. As many people do, I have a mother and a father I also have two sisters. Their names are Therese, and Anna. When I started dancing, they were right along side me. My father was a sheet music copyist for Joseph Hayden (ohio.edu). Mr. Hayden was the one who got my father to enroll us in ballet classes in the first place. My mother on the other hand, was a washer. She did this for extra money.

Q: What events in your early life made you interested in the arts?

A: My father was a sheet music copyist for Joseph Hayden, and he did want to enroll us in ballet classes. I was told that I was a very beautiful dancer on stage, and I love when people tell me that. People also say that sometimes, ballet is based on nature, but I am not sure. Though, I did do many exotic dances.

I also started dancing in the corps de ballet at age 11. I am a hard worker, and I do think that starting at such an early age makes anyone ready to face the art ahead of him or her. I had personal beauty and skill for dance (1911encycolpedia.org). I really learned from such a young age most of the stuff that I needed to know to go into a company.

Q: What role did mentors play in helping you develop interests and talents you have as an artist?

A: My ballet master, Friedrich Horschelt was a great teacher, I only spent sometime with him, and then I went to go study with the Kaernterthor Theater in Vienna. The ballet master, Jean Aumer was a French teacher (Michaelminn.net). My sister was also there, to help me along the way, if I got stuck.

Fillipo Tagloini was another dance teacher. He did have a daughter, Marie, who was a beautiful dancer, but I did out run her, and I was more famous. I was in the corps when Mr. Tagloini wanted to debut a performance designed especially for Marie. A short while after that, I left for Naples (Michaelminn.net).

Q: What was the world of art like in your particular field when you entered?

A: The second Industrial Revolution was just happening, and people thought of the theater as an escapism from the toils of society. Ballet moved into portraying an ethereal world full of sylphs and fairies (dansing.org). It was in this era that pointe work became popular, Marie Taglioni was the first woman to use the pointes.

Women also dominated the romantic ballet (dansing.org). Mr. Tagloini was the one who invented the pointe work for the females (dansing.org). The Royal Danish Ballet is still performing many of these ballets today (dansing.org). Like Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. Ballet was a way to escape from the world outside. The dancers sweep you into a whole new world.

Q: How did the major cultural situations of the time impact your work?

A: It was honestly, not that different. This era was more of an economic revolution (msu.edu). But then, the cultural problems arose. They made industries so common, and it was a big shift in our everyday lives. They also decided to create a new way to communicate; the telegraph was invented (msu.edu). This did make it easier to communicate across oceans, which was good for me, since I was traveling so much.

Many people, who used to live a simple lifestyle in the country, were forced into the cities, and had to find work (msu.edu). Many young children, to support their families, had to go into work at the big factories (msu.edu). The textiles were pumping out fabric like crazy, which means, more costumes for us.

Q: How did the major economic situations of the time impact your work?

A: It changed the ways by how the world produced its goods (msu.edu). But, that is how it happened. Many people when from not living in the city, to over crowding the city. Manufacturing was in control (msu.edu). Great Britain was the first country to adopt this new type of style. It put many children into working long hours in a factory; instead of having them go into something like the arts.

I do believe that without the industry, ballet may not have been all it is today. From the industries, they had pumped out a whole bunch of textiles, and that means, better costumes, and the silk and satin needed for pointe was easier to purchase. It was such advancement from what I remember as a little girl.

Q: How did the major political situations of the time impact your work?

A: The Industrial Revolution was not much of a political involvement, rather an economic one (msu.edu). People did believe that this was going to help the politics, but it just created more controversy (industrialrevolution.sea). It did create a new age in British politics (industrialrevolution.sea). Emphasized rationalism, importance of individual happiness (individualism) (industrialrevolution.sea).

It was a very tough time, with many new types of learning. It was definitely a new thing for me to go out into the world, and see this. I wasn’t allowed to vote (historylearningsite.co.uk). There was really a lot of different stuff going on.

Q: What were your major accomplishments and the methods you used in your art?

A: I was one of the first female dancers to go en pointe, along side Marie Taglioni. If you look at the pointe shoes they have now, I wish that ours were so much like this. Ours were almost like satin ballet flats (Homans 142). Another accomplishment, I don’t know if it helped me in my art, but I had a baby girl (Guest 54). I started dancing at 5, and got into the corps de ballet at 11 (ohio.edu). Now a days, people get into the corps when they are like 20 or so.

Some methods I used, well, my sister and I did a lot of tours, even coming to the U.S (ohio.edu). I really did work very hard to get where I am. I took a three yearlong tour in the U.S, and I was a famous and wealthy woman (ohio.edu). Marie Taglioni was my biggest rival. She would do appearances at some of the same venues that I went to, and they loved her too (ohio.edu).

Q: What were the key opportunities you had that lead to turning points in your life and art?

A: I had a baby she is a lovely girl, named Therese (ohio.edu). I did have to take time off due to me being pregnant. It did make me behind in all my work. I was idolized by fans at the peak of my career (ohio.edu). My performances also brought intense enjoyment and welcome respite from the economic difficulties (ohio.edu).

I was on a boat, and one night we sat down to dinner, and I wore all of my jewels. That night, a sailor came into my cabin, knife in hand, probably wanting to steal my jewels. I quickly turned, and kicked him. I didn’t mean to kill him, but I guess my force was just right, he died a few days later (michaelminn.net).

Q: What hardships or roadblocks did you have to over come in order to be an artist?

A: Well, I had a rival, Marie Taglioni. She was considered a one-dimensional dancer mastering the romantic style. I on the other hand was a round dancer, who mastered a range of characters, in many different styles of classical dance (michaelminn.net). I also had a child at age 17.

            Both my children were sent to be raised with someone else. My son Franz was placed in a foster home, and my daughter was raised by Harriet Grote, the wife of a member of the British Parliament (michaelminn.net). Both on my pregnancies, and births were kept a secret (michaelminn.net).

Q: Who are the people that you admire in both the arts and beyond and why do they inspire you?

A: I admired my ballet masters. They taught me everything I needed to know to get where I am today. My sister was also an inspiration. She really helped me keep my game up. I did become the mistress of Prince Leopold of Salerno (michaelminn.net). When I was seventeen, I gave birth to his child (michaelminn.net).

            An inspiration was Marie Taglioni. She was my biggest competition and rival (michaelminn.net). I had to really work hard to keep my status up. I do like having a competition. It makes you work harder so that you improve, and get better than them.

Q: What personal stories (anecdotes) best illustrate how you became successful in the arts?

A: Having a father that was a sheet music copyist for Joseph Hayden was great. I could listen to music all day. If it weren’t for Maestro Haydn, I wouldn’t be a dancer. He signed Anna, Therese, and me up for lessons (ohio.edu). I danced very many different types of dances, from the Spanish Cachucha, to the most classical of ballets, like Swan Lake (ohio.edu).

            I had also brought much intense enjoyment to many of the audiences that can to see me (ohio.edu). There were porcelain copies of my “elf-like” hand were sold to many people (ohio.edu).  After all, dancing consists of nothing more than the art of displaying beautiful shapes in graceful positions...Mlle. Fanny Elssler has fully realized this truth...." (michaelminn.net).

Works Cited

Chastain, James. Fanny Elssler. James Chastain, 1997. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

     <http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/dh/elssler.htm>.

Delarue, Allison. Fanny Elssler. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

     <http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/delarue/Htmls/

     elssler.html>.

Guest, Ivor. Fanny Elssler. Middletown : Wesleyan University Press, 1970. Print.

Homans, Jennifer. Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet. New York: Random House,

     2010. Print.

The Industrial Revolution - Impact. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

     <http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/impact.html>.

Minn, Michael. Andros on Ballet - Fanny Elssler. N.p., 1993. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

     <http://michaelminn.net/andros/biographies/elssler_fanny/>.

Overview of the Industrial Revolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

     <http://www.msu.edu/user/brownlow/indrev.htm>.

Wee, Grace. Ballet. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.dansing.org.sg/

     ?page_id=102>.