Isabella Cubas

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Isabella Cubas
Prima ballerina assoluta
Born1831
Cádiz, Province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain
DiedJune 20, 1864
New York, United States
Resting placeGreen-Wood Cemetery
Nationality Spain
Other namesIsabel Cubas
OccupationDancer
PartnerJuan Ximenes

Isabella Cubas (1831 – June 20, 1864), also known as Señorita Isabel Cubas was a Spanish danseuse and pantomimist.[1]

Early life

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Isabella Cubas was born in Cádiz, Province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain in 1831.[2]

Isabel was the daughter of Pepa Alfaro and actor John Cubas. Her father was counted among Spain's first actors, and her grandfather, Pedro Cubas, was one of Spain's top comic actors. Her mother danced at the Teatro Real. Belonging to a family of celebrated artists, she showed exceptional dance talent from an early age under her mother's guidance.[3]

Entertainment life

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At 13 years old, she performed as a soloist in Madrid, Spain, and, following appearances in prominent Spanish theaters, returned to Madrid for two years.[4]

She had performed in Turin and Milan before age 20, honored by Emperor Francis Joseph and his court at the Gello and Teatro San Benedetto; she also toured Venice, Bucharest, Odessa, Alexandria, Cairo, Brussels, Paris, and London.[5]

In March 1857, she was a member of a Spanish dance company directed by Ambrogio Martinez, performing at the Royal Theater of Madrid.[6] Cubas wore an old-fashioned dress reaching below the knee.[7]

Cubas, the prima ballerina assoluta, performed at Naum Theatre in November 1858 in Istanbul (then Constantinople).[8]

In January 1860, she performed at the Lyceum Theatre in London under Madame Céleste with a dance partner, Señor Juan Ximenes.[9] From May 1 to October 1, 1860, Cubas and Ximenes made 20 guest appearances at the Königshalle, a historic hall in Lorsch, Germany.[10] During the same year in June, she performed at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin.[11] Cubas and Juan Ximenes also performed at the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna in October.[12][13] In light of her successful October 31 debut in Linz, Austria, the theatre management granted Isabella Cubas a benefit performance on November 3, 1860.[14]

Following performances at top opera houses in the Old World, she traveled to America in May 1861 and also made her debut in Canada. She performed in New York and Philadelphia, then embarked on a starring tour with a full corps de ballet, appearing in the country's leading theatres.[4] New York audiences were introduced to Isabella Cubas and her dance partner in September 1861 at the Winter Garden Theatre, managed by James M. Nixon.[15] In November 1861, in Worcester, Massachusetts, a ballet troupe, with Cubas as the leading attraction, performed at Mechanics Hall.[16] She made her debut in Philadelphia, at the Academy of Music on December 5, 1861.[4] In March 1862, Cubas, her partner, and a corps de ballet performed at the New York Academy.[17]

Between May 19 and 23, 1862, Señorita Cubas and Señor Ximenes presented a Spanish ballet at the Grand Opera House with a corps de ballet of twenty, showcasing national dances from Spain, France, and Hungary.[18]

The Spanish dancer decided to test herself as a pantomime actress.[19] On October 6, 1862, Isabel Cubas performed in The French Spy at Nixon's Cremorne Garden.[20] She performed three roles: M'me Mathilde, Henri St. Alme, and Hamet the spy.[21]

In 1862, she was managed by T. Allston Brown.[22] Following a lengthy New York engagement, she toured nationwide with Col. T. Alston Brown, who became a prominent theatrical agent in New York. Her performances drew consistently packed houses and enthusiastic receptions.[5]

Cubas worked under Wyzeman Marshall at the Boston Theatre in 1863.[23] In October 1863, she took the stage in The Wizard Skiff; or The Massacre of Scio.[24] She also starred at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia in September 1863.[25]

Death

[edit]

Isabella Cubas died in New York, United States on June 20, 1864, and was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery.[4]

References

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  1. ^ The Circus Scrap Book. (1929). United States: Circus Scrap Book.
  2. ^ Willard, G. O. (1891). History of the Providence Stage, 1762-1891. United States: Rhode Island News Company.
  3. ^ "The New Goddess Of The Dance". The Cincinnati Enquirer. April 20, 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
  4. ^ a b c d Brown, T. A. (1870). History of the American Stage: Containing Biographical Sketches of Nearly Every Member of the Profession that Has Appeared on the American Stage, from 1733 to 1870. United States: Dick & Fitzgerald.
  5. ^ a b "Senora Isabel Cubas". Buffalo Courier Express. December 28, 1890. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
  6. ^ Hölgyfutár: közlöny az irodalom, társasélet, müvészet és divat köréböl. (1857). (n.p.): Kozma.
  7. ^ Guild, C. (1897). A Chat about Celebrities: Or, The Story of a Book. United States: Lee and Shepard.
  8. ^ Cosmorama pittorico. (1858). Italy: Tipografia del Cosmorama.
  9. ^ The Players. (1860). United Kingdom: G. Abington.
  10. ^ A. Heinrich's deutscher Bühnen-Almanach. (1861). Germany: Commissions-Verlag von E. Bloch.
  11. ^ Senff, B. (1860). Signale für die musikalische Welt. Germany: Andrä.
  12. ^ Die Deutsche Schaubühne: Organ für Theater, Musik, Kunst, Literatur und sociales Leben .... (1860). Germany: Fischer.
  13. ^ Fremden-Blatt. (1860). Austria: Elbemühl.
  14. ^ Abendbote. (1860). Austria: Franz de Paula Höller.
  15. ^ Broadway Below the Sidewalk: Concert Saloons of Old New York. (1994). United States: Borgo Press.
  16. ^ Dwight's Journal of Music. (1862). United States: Johnson Reprint Corporation.
  17. ^ Lawrence, V. B. (1999). Strong on Music: The New York Music Scene in the Days of George Templeton Strong, Volume 3: Repercussions, 1857-1862. United Kingdom: University of Chicago Press.
  18. ^ Herbstruth, G. M. (1954). Benedict Debar and The Grand Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1855-1879. United States: University of Iowa.
  19. ^ The Knickerbacker. (1863). United States: Peabody.
  20. ^ Vanity Fair. (1862). United States: Louis H. Stephens.
  21. ^ "McVicker's Theater". Chicago Tribune. February 27, 1863. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
  22. ^ Slout, W. L. (1998). Olympians of the Sawdust Circle: A Biographical Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century American Circus. United States: Borgo Press.
  23. ^ Men of Progress: One Thousand Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (1896). United States: New England Magazine.
  24. ^ The Yale Review. (1918). United States: Yale University.
  25. ^ The American Exchange and Review. (1863). United States: Whiting & Company.