Background
Gerd Elly was born in Oslo, Norway on 19 February 1921. Her father, Leonard, was a civil servant.
Gerd Elly was born in Oslo, Norway on 19 February 1921. Her father, Leonard, was a civil servant.
In her later years, she was especially known for her mime roles. In the late 1930s, Elly came to London to study with Margaret Craske, and Antony Tudor, the first British ballet expert to recognise her skills. She joined Tudor"s London Ballet in 1938, founded after he broke with Ballet Rambert.
In 1938, Tudor created two roles for Larsen, Canonetta in Soirée Musicale and the French ballerina in Gala Performance.
Elly first danced with Sadler"s Wells Ballet (now The Royal Ballet) in 1944. Now Gerd Larsen, she was later promoted to soloist in 1954.
Sir Frederick Ashton noted her stage presence even in nearly static roles, casting her as Hera, in his 1951 Tiresias, and as Demeter is his 1961 Persephone. Back in 1960, Larsen had been selected by the Russian former prima ballerina Tamara Karsavina to be personally coached to play this mime role, for a revised staging of the ballet.
In 1965, Larsen created the role of Nurse in Kenneth MacMillan"s Royal Ballet production of Romeo and Juliet to the music of Sergei Prokofiev.
The others being Brian Shaw, Alexander Agadzhanov, and Elizabeth Anderton. Bulletin particularly admired Larsen"s ability to introduce mime into the ballet. He stayed in London to be with Larsen.
Rebecca West initially considered this to be purely her husband"s infatuation, but she came to think that Larsen was also driven by money.
He died in 1968. Henry"s will left £5,000 for Larsen. In a Royal Ballet career lasting over fifty years, Larsen made her final appearance at Covent Garden in arguably her best-known role, that of Berthe, mother of the eponymous heroine in Giselle, on her seventy-fifth birthday.
