History

Marta Dräger (anglicised to Draeger) was a celebrated première danseuse at Covent Garden. She began her career in the Königliche Oper in Berlin, training under the balletmaster Paul Taglioni, brother of the legendary Marie Taglioni.

In 1887, upon the retirement of Isabella Velluti as première danseuse, she was invited to London to dance in the troupe at Her Majesty’s Theatre and accepted. Her debut was to be the titular nymph in Ondine. However, due to quarrels with Mapleson, the theatre director, the balletmaster William Thompson moved his troupe to another theatre, the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden. Draeger moved with the troupe and, due to the move, made her debut on the Covent Garden stage two weeks after the scheduled date. Her performances were a great success with critics and the audience alike praising her ease, technical skill and dramatic acting. Draeger would remain in London for the next eight years and enjoyed a wide variety of roles. The highlights of her career included her performances as Médora in The Corsair (1889), Béatrix in The Beauty of Ghent (1891), Esmeralda in Esmeralda (1894) and Mazourka in The Devil to Pay (1894). In addition to her other roles, two new ballets were created for her, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1890 and Pygmalion in 1893.

Draeger also appeared in operas at Covent Garden. She appeared in revivals of Rossini’s Guglielmo Tell and Gounod’s Fausto at Covent Garden in 1888, and famously as the Abbess Héléna in the 1889 revival of Meyerbeer’s Roberto il Diavolo at Covent Garden. She also appeared in Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Lyceum in 1889 and in the 1890 revival of Thomas’ Esmeralda (1890) where Thompson revived the Pas de Deux Valsé (originally composed c. 1865) for her.

Throughout her career, she was praised for her presence, technical skill, dramatic accent and virtuosity. She was well suited to dramatic and active heroines, able to command the stage and the audience. She was considered a virtuosa of the “Italian School”, as even though she did not train in Italy (she trained in Berlin) she was trained by Italian teachers.

In late 1893 Draeger decided that she wished to retire from the London stage for two main reasons. Firstly, she considered her role as Galatée in Pygmalion to be her crowning glory and so wished to end her career on such a high note. Secondly, and more curiously, she had allegedly grown tired of the hostility of Sarah Nicholson, the other première danseuse at Covent Garden, who seemed determined to make Draeger her rival (a development which Draeger allegedly did not care much for). However, neither the theatre managers nor Thompson wished her to retire as she was far too popular. Thus, a compromise was to be made. Draeger would dance one final season on the London stage in 1894. The theatre director offered to have a new ballet created for her but she refused, choosing instead to dance in Esmeralda for her benefit, which had not been seen in London since 1878. Thompson also revived The Devil to Pay for her in the same season, a ballet that had not been seen in London since 1884. Her performances as Esmeralda and Mazourka were highly praised and succeeded in reviving interest in the two mostly forgotten ballets at Covent Garden, leading to the rôles becoming sought after by subsequent Covent Garden danseuses.

After Draeger left London in 1894, she returned to her native Berlin, where she soon joined the faculty of the Königliche Oper as a répétitrice, coaching dancers of the troupe in matters of style and artistry. Though she did not care much for character rôles, she was on occasion persuaded to do them, notably appearing onstage in character rôles in the 1900 revival of Paul Taglioni’s Satanella and the 1905 revival of Taglioni’s Ballanda.

In 1903, the director of the Königliche Oper expressed a desire to revive Pygmalion for the ten-year anniversary of its creation. Draeger seemed receptive to the idea, and wrote to Richard Hague (Thompson’s successor) at Covent Garden for permission to do so. Hague obliged, and a balletmaster was sent with the orchestral score to stage the ballet. Draeger danced the character rôle of Vénus and also assisted with the staging of the ballet, at times clashing with the Covent Garden balletmaster where the “modern version” differed from what she remembered from 1893. Much to Draeger’s satisfaction, Die Marmorstatue (the title under which the ballet was staged in Berlin) was well received, though some Berlin critics shared the London criticisms of the length of the third act. Die Marmorstatue was retained in the repertory until the post-war era, being performed for the final time in 1921.

Rôles

• Ondine in Ondine (1887)
• Giselle in Giselle (1888)
• Sarah in The Amphitrite (1888)
• Médora in The Corsair (1889)
• The Spirit of Pride in Faust (1889*)
• Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1890)
• Lise in The Wayward Daughter (1890)
• Béatrix in The Beauty of Ghent (1891*)
• Sylvia in Sylvia (1892)
• Galatée in Pygmalion (1893)
• Esmeralda in Esmeralda (1894)
• Mazourka in The Devil to Pay (1894)

Created rôle in new ballet

First London revival, new productio