{"id":2436,"date":"2017-10-23T13:54:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T13:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=2436"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:29","slug":"1846-george-washington-smith-dances-prince-siegfried-in-the-first-american-production-of-giselle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2017\/10\/23\/1846-george-washington-smith-dances-prince-siegfried-in-the-first-american-production-of-giselle\/","title":{"rendered":"1846 – George Washington Smith dances Albrecht in the first American production of Giselle"},"content":{"rendered":"

1846<\/strong><\/h1>\n

George Washington Smith dances Albrecht in the first American production of Giselle (Boston, MA)<\/h3>\n

George Washington Smith, said to have been a mulatto, danced the role of Albrecht in the first American production of <\/em>Giselle, in 1846 with Mary Ann Lee. <\/em><\/p>\n

“Of Smith\u2019s interpretation of the role of Albrecht we have no adequate description. Nineteenth-century critics were notoriously shy about praising male dancers, no matter how well they performed. All the critical at- tention was devoted to the ballerina, who was usually featured far more prominently than her partner. With this regrettable cus- tom in mind, it is gratifying to note that Smith, throughout the rest of his career, invariably got \u201cbilling\u201d ecjual to that of the ballerina with whom he was dancing, and that on at least one occasion during this Boston visit he actually got a criticism, and a good one. The Boston Evening Transcript, on December 29, 1845, said: \u201cMary Ann Lee appears again this evening in . . . The Daughter of the Danube. This piece includes many of her most fascinating dances, and was received two evenings last week with rapturous applause. Mr. Smith also appears in it with her, and alone, executing in the course of it several tours de force, in a manner which entitles him to the first rank as a professor of the gai science. . .”<\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dance Archives, Museum of Modern Art\/Lincoln Kirstein, Donald Windham, Baird Hastings, Paul Magriel<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 1840, Smith had been hand picked by Viennese ballerina Fanny Elssler to be her partner. He quickly rose in acclaim and helped popularize ballet in Philadelphia.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/philadancehistoryjournal.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/07\/gw-smith.jpg\"<\/p>\n

George Washington Smith<\/span><\/strong>, (born c.<\/em> 1820, Philadelphia<\/a>\u2014died Feb. 18, 1899, Philadelphia), was an American dancer, ballet<\/a> master, and teacher, considered the only male American ballet star of the 19th century.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s talents were developed by studying with various visiting European teachers in his native Philadelphia, then a mecca for theater and dance<\/a>. His performing debut was made in 1832, and he soon grew into a versatile dancer, admired for his skills as a technician, actor, partner, and pantomimist.<\/p>\n

In 1840, the Viennese ballerina Fanny Elssler<\/a> and her British partner, ballet master James Silvain, arrived in Philadelphia for a two-year American tour. Smith worked with them, performing one of his most noted roles, that of Harlequin. When they left, Smith used his harlequinade talents and appeared in a pantomime, Mazulme, or The Black Raven of the Tombs<\/em>, a role for which he became noted. Smith\u2019s ballet studies continued with the Philadelphian P.H. Hazard. Under Hazard, Smith and Mary Ann Lee<\/a> became the leading dancers in the first American production of Giselle,<\/em> performed in Boston in 1846. Mary Ann Lee and George Washington Smith later formed their own successful touring company. Lee retired at 24, but Smith continued to dance (with Lola Montez), teach, and choreograph. He also danced with the Ronzani Ballet, with a very young Enrico Cecchetti<\/a>. He would have a long career as a choreographer and teacher and go on to found one of the first classical ballet schools in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Sources:\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

George Washington Smith, Britannica<\/a>
\nVisions of Ballet as a Multiracial Art Have Been Slow to Spread in the US, New York Times<\/a>
\nGeorge Washington Smith, The Philadelphia Dance History Journal<\/a>
\nThe Beginnings of American Ballet, Andros on Ballet<\/a><\/p>\n