Ulla Poulsen

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ulla Poulsen
actress
Spouse(s)Johannes Poulsen
Baron Christian Rosenørn-Lehn
Helge Nordahl Skou
Career
Former groupsRoyal Danish Ballet

Ulla Poulsen Skou (née Iversen; 5 February 1905 – 21 April 2001), formerly Baroness Ulla Rosenørn-Lehn, was a Danish ballerina and actress. She was a soloist at the Royal Danish Ballet and is best known for being the subject of a series of portraits by Gerda Wegener.

Biography

Ulla Iversen was born on 5 February 1905 in Copenhagen to Søren Iversen and Laura Christiane Hansen.[1][2]

In 1913, she was admitted into the

Royal Danish Ballet School and trained in the Bournonville method. She made her debut with the Royal Danish Ballet in 1921 as Agnete in Agnete og Havmanden. She officially joined the company two years later, in 1923, and was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1924.[3] As a soloist, she danced many lead roles including Sylphide in La Sylphide.[4]

Poulsen was a friend and model for the artist Gerda Wegener, who painted a series of portraits of her.[5] The most famous of these portraits is the 1927 painting titled Ulla Poulsen in the ballet Chopiniana.[6]

A 1934 portrait of Poulsen by Gerda Wegener

She married three times. Her first husband was Danish actor and director Johannes Poulsen, the nephew of Olaf Poulsen.[7] She starred as Queen Titania in his production of A Midsummer Night's Dream[8] and choreographed his 1936 production of Jedermann.[9] She later married Baron Christian Carl Otto Rosenørn-Lehn, a member of the Danish nobility. Her third marriage was to Helge Nordhal Skou.

Poulsen had roles in the 1937 film Den kloge Mand, the 1938 film Balletten danser, and in the 1970s-1980s television series Matador.

In 1938, Poulsen was a recipient of the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat for significant contributions to Danish art.

Poulsen died on 21 April 2001 in

Aalborg, Denmark. She was buried at Almen Kirkegård
.

Popular culture

Poulsen is portrayed by

Anna Larssen, an actress and friend, not Ulla Poulsen.[10][11][12][13]

References

  1. – via www.oxfordreference.com.
  2. ^ "Ulla Poulsen - Oxford Reference". www.oxfordreference.com.
  3. ^ "Ulla Poulsen Skou, født Ulla Britta". geni_family_tree. 2 May 1905.
  4. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (24 May 1983). "'Sylphide,' an End and a Beginning for Erik Bruhn". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  5. ^ a b "The Real Story Behind the Paintings in The Danish Girl". Vogue. 25 November 2015.
  6. ^ a b Russell, Helen (28 September 2015). "Gerda Wegener: 'The Lady Gaga of the 1920s'". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. ^ "Poulsen family - Danish theatrical family". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  8. – via Google Books.
  9. .
  10. ^ "The Danish Girl and Portrayal of 'Les Femmes Fatales' by the Artist Gerda Wegener". Sotheby’s.com. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  11. ^ "Man Into Woman". Lili-Elbe.org. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  12. ^ "Man Into Woman". Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  13. ^ "Biography of Lili Elbe, Pioneering Transgender Woman". ThoughtCo.com. Retrieved December 17, 2019.

External links