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Danish ballerina of the Romantic period. The daughter of a Norwegian officer and his Jutland wife, Lucile Grahn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in , and apparently mastered walking and dancing at about the same time.

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Thus began a stormy relationship that would endure a decade, during which time Grahn made astonishing progress. At age 16, she danced the starring role in Bournonville's Waldemar and a year later appeared in his exquisite version of La Sylphide , a performance which so pleased King Frederick VI and Marie Sophie of Hesse-Cassel that they summoned the young dancer to the palace for afternoon chocolate with the princesses, Caroline — and Wilhelmine.

After becoming the toast of Copenhagen, Grahn set her sights on Paris, but Bournonville, now infatuated with the young dancer, vetoed her petition for a travel grant in order to keep her with him. Determined to have her way, Grahn bypassed Bournonville and enlisted the support of Princess Wilhelmine who gave her the approval she needed.

Unfortunately, her Paris debut was interrupted by instructions to return to Denmark to appear in Le Postillon de Longjumeau , which was to be staged for Queen Marie Sophie's 70th birthday. Her quarrels with Bournonville began to take a violent turn, escalating to the point of involving ministers and even the king, who eventually granted permission for Grahn to leave Copenhagen to perform six guest appearances in Germany.

Greeted with enthusiasm by the Germans, Grahn completed her performance schedule and then moved on independently to Paris, ignoring a number of summonses from Copenhagen. In June , she was granted a permanent dismissal from the Danish Royal Ballet without pension, which left her free to pursue her career wherever she saw fit. Grahn never again returned to her homeland.

Grahn went on to thrill Paris audiences with her performance in La Sylphide , a role that came her way at the last minute when Fanny Elssler was unable to dance because of illness. Now 24, she made her debut in St Petersburg in Giselle , then went on to Milan, Italy, where she made some 40 appearances in Elda assia Il Patto degli Spiriti by Bernardo Vestris, during the season.

It was during a five-year period in England, however, that Grahn's career reached its zenith, beginning with her modest debut in Lady Henrietta , in That same year, after a triumph in Eoline , she appeared as one of the lovely protagonists in Jules Perrot's famous Le Pas de Quatre , considered one of the first "abstract" ballets. As the youngest of the quartet of dancers, which included Carlotta Grisi , Maria Taglioni, and Fanny Cerrito , Grahn delighted audiences with her freshness and point work, as well as her considerable acting ability.

Now a star of substantial magnitude, Grahn shunned Paris and returned instead to Germany, which she found so congenial that she purchased a house in Munich, where she also fell in love and married in