{{Short description|Dutch ballet dancer}} {{Infobox person | name = Darja Collin | image = Darja Collin.jpg | alt = | caption = | other_names = | birth_name = Maria Louisa Frederika Collin | birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|11|19}} | birth_place = Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands | death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|05|06|1902|11|19}} | death_place = Florence, Italy | occupation = Ballet dancer, actress | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Jan Jacob Slauerhoff (m. 1930-1935) }}
'''Darja Collin''' (born '''Louisa Frederika Collin,''' November 19, 1902 - May 6, 1967) was a Dutch ballet dancer and teacher who has been considered one of the founders of Dutch modern dance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Selma Jeanne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhsKAQAAMAAJ&q=Darja+Collin |title=International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-512308-1 |language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life == Collin was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2022-12-14 |title=Darja Collin |url=https://theaterencyclopedie.nl/wiki/Darja_Collin |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=TheaterEncyclopedie |language=nl}}</ref> to Robert Johan Carl Collin (1863-1904), a violinist and Wilhelmina Frederika Christina van Dijk on November 19, 1902. Collin married poet Jan Slauerhoff on September 3, 1930. The couple had one son who was stillborn. They divorced in 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-10-22 |title=J. Slauerhoff Biografie - bibliotheek.nl |url=http://www.bibliotheek.nl/pagina/9695.j--slauerhoff-biografie.html |access-date=2024-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022031625/http://www.bibliotheek.nl/pagina/9695.j--slauerhoff-biografie.html |archive-date=2013-10-22 }}</ref> In 1937 the engagement of Collin to James P. I. M. Corry was announced.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1937-12-10 |title=Baronet to wed Dutch dancer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-mirror-baronet-to-wed-dutch-dancer/146876342/ |access-date=2024-05-09 |work=Daily Mirror |pages=1}}</ref> <!-- The wedding announcement also indicated she was a widow -->
Collin died in Florence, Italy on May 6, 1967.<ref name=":1" />
== Career == thumb|1930s image of Darja Collin Collin's dance studies included both free movement dances and classical ballet.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Conyn |first=Cornelius |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.475 |title=Three Centuries of Ballet (1948) |date=1948 |publisher=Australasian Publishing Company, London}}</ref>{{Rp|page=25}} She studied classical ballet under Olga Preobrajenska<ref name=":2" />{{Rp|page=57}} and Vera Trefilova,<ref name=":0" /> as well as Mary Wigman,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Steeh |first=Judith A. |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofballetm0000stee_s6c7 |title=History of ballet and modern dance |date=1982 |publisher=London : Bison Books |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-86124-070-8 |pages=163}}</ref> before making her debut in 1928.<ref name=":1" /> She become recognized in Europe, garnering nicknames such as the "Mata Hari of Dance".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-09-16 |title=Dutch-Australian ballerinas performing for WWII Allied troops |url=https://dacc.net.au/news/dutch-ballerinas-performing-for-wwii-allied-troops/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=Dutch Australian Cultural Center |language=en-AU}}</ref> In 1933 she opened a dance school in The Hague.<ref name=":1" />
During World War II Collin left Netherlands for Australia, where she established the Darya Collin Dance Troupe with Edmee Monod and Alison Lee, and performed for Dutch, American, and British troops.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Coltheart |first=Lenore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jFtBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22darja+collin%22+-%22Corne+Akkers%22&pg=PA132 |title=Albert Hall: The Heart of Canberra |date=2014-12-01 |publisher=UNSW Press |isbn=978-1-74224-714-4 |pages=132 |language=en}}</ref> In 1947 Collin founded the Ballet van de Nederlandse Opera which initially was made up of 15 dancers,<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1947 |title=Holland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YExbzJKeq2EC&q=%22darja+collin%22 |journal=Ballet |language=en |publisher=Ballet Publications. |volume=3-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/dancingdutch0000coos |title=Dancing Dutch |date=2000 |others=Internet Archive |editor-last=Versteeg |editor-first=Coos |pages=144}}</ref> and in 1949 she became the director of the Netherlands Opera Ballet.<ref name=":3" />
She retired from dancing in 1951, and then taught dancing at a school in Florence until she died in 1967.<ref name=":3" />
== References == {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{Cite book |first=Sjeng |last= Scheijen |title=Gelukskind: Het leven van Hans van Manen|date=2023}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Collin, Darja}} Category:1902 births Category:1967 deaths Category:20th-century Dutch ballet dancers