Adele Alphonsine Dumilatre (30 June 1821?4 May 1909) was a French ballerina associated with the romantic ballet . She was born in Paris to Michel Dumilatre, an actor in the Comedie-Francaise . He hoped she would become a tragedienne, but her dance talent led her to the ballet of the Paris Opera . She performed from 1840 to 1848. She rose quickly from minor parts to principal roles. At eighteen she danced La Sylphide . She created the roles of Myrtha in Giselle and the title role in Lady Henriette . Rich gentlemen sustained her power at the Opera. She danced in Milan and London where she created the title role in The Marble Maiden (1845) by Arthur Saint-Leon . She married Louis Drake y del Castillo in 1848 and bore him three children. She died in Paris and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery. Her older sister Sophie was also a prominent Parisian ballerina.

References [ change | change source ]

• Guest, Ivor (2008), The Romantic Ballet in Paris , Dance Books, pp. 377ff, ISBN   978-185273-1199