Background
Elisabeth Schooling was born in Hendon, London in 1915.
Elisabeth Schooling was born in Hendon, London in 1915.
From 1928, Schooling studied with Marie Rambert, and she danced in Ballet Club"s (which later became Ballet Rambert) first seasons.
Her first solo role was as the Bride in a 1934 ballet entitled Mermaid, which was choreographed by Susan Salaman and Andree Howard, using music by Ravel. Also in 1934, it was noticed that Schooling had a very similar appearance to the barmaid in Edouard Manet’s painting Un bar aux Folies Bergère. Marie Rambert’s husband Ashley Dukes suggested there might be a ballet around the picture, also introducing can-can dancers.
Bar aux Folies-Bergère was first performed on 15 May 1934 at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill, London.
Although the role was created by Pearl Argyle, Schooling danced it subsequently. In 1939, Staff created Czernyana which used Czerny"s piano exercises as the basis for a series of dances which caricatured different ballet styles.
Its success led to Czerny 2 in 1941. Schooling had solos in both.
Czernyana, a compilation of the best of both ballets featured in the Rambert repertory for many years.