première danseusen.
/ˌprɛmɪɛː dɒnˈsəːz/, /ˌprɛmɪɛː dɑːnˈsəːz/, /ˌprɛmɪɛː danˈsəːz/, U.S. /prəmiˌɛr dɑnˈsəz/ A leading female dancer, esp. in a ballet company; a ballerina. Cf. prima ballerina n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ballet > [noun] > ballet-dancer > leading dancer
premier danseur1822
première danseuse1822
coryphée1828
primo ballerino1840
prima ballerina1864
première1867
etoile1922
1822 Times 5 Jan. 2/3 The following performers have already been engaged... For the Ballet..Madame Anatole, Premiere Danseuse at the Royal Academy of Music.
1828 J. Ebers Seven Years King's Theatre iii. 69 A carriage was sent for the accommodation of the première danseuse.
1846 R. Ford Gatherings from Spain xxiii. 327 Egyptians, whose women are the premières danseuses of these occasions, in which [gipsy] men never take a part.
1890 G. B. Shaw in Star 21 Feb. 2/4 Many a première danseuse holds her position in spite of a neck and wrists which are, dancingly considered, dead as doornails.
1933 ‘B. Ross’ Trag. of Z x. 150 Dromio..drove Mr. Lane's glittering limousine with the finesse of a Philadelphia lawyer and the facility of a première danseuse.
1978 Ld. Drogheda Double Harness xx. 261 In 1919, she [sc. Ninette de Valois] was engaged as première danseuse for the season of international opera at Covent Garden.
2004 Jet (Nexis) 15 Nov. 19 As the Metropolitan's premiere danseuse, she [sc. Janet Collins] danced the lead in Carmen, Samson and Delilah and La Gioconda.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1822