Cleo de Merode: biography, career, personal life

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Even many years after the death of many prominent cultural figures are often remembered in our time. Talent is something that does not disappear over the years, but memory lives forever. Cleo de Merode is an incredibly popular dancer who once drove the whole of Paris crazy. We will tell about the difficult fate of this fragile girl with an incredible masculine character in this article.

Brief biography of the dancer: birth and study

The unsurpassed Cleopatra Diana de Mero, better known as Cleo, was born in September 1875 in Paris. The girl's father was an Austrian landscape painter Karl Freiherr de Merode, whose origin is connected with a noble Dutch family. Like other children, our heroine dreamed of becoming famous. She often sang tunes from her favorite songs and films, under which she made peculiar pas.

Seeing their daughter's passion, her parents decided to enroll her in a ballet school operating at the Paris National Opera. And if at the age of eight Cleo de Merode performed only simple movements, then by the age of eleven she could already boast of some kind of professionalism and even start her own career.

Plus, the physiological characteristics of the girl played a huge role in her fate. ByAccording to many admirers of the ballerina's talent, she was very petite and thin.

First successes in the career of a young talent

Despite her appearance, which was very different from the local puffy beauties, Cleo de Merode (photo of the girl can be seen below) still found her audience. From the very beginning of her studies at the ballet school, the little girl attracted the eyes of fans and teachers. According to eyewitnesses, the dancer impressed everyone with her plasticity, lightness and grace. She looked more like a fairy elf than a human, so during her performance, all eyes were on her.

When Cleo was thirteen years old, she was invited to perform in one of the most prestigious performances ever held in the French capital. The role in the production of Choryhee has become a landmark for the dancer. Immediately after her, the girl was noticed and they started talking about her.

Flawless bandeau hair

Like many aspiring ballerinas, Cleo did not use the services of makeup artists and make-up artists when preparing for her performance at Choryhee. She did all her makeup herself. Cleo de Merode paid special attention to her hairstyle.

Since the girl had very long hair, she gathered it in a ponytail, and then twisted it at the back of her head, loosening the curls in front a little. It turned out a kind of bandeau with a straight parting and light waves in front, completely covering the ears.

By the way, this hairstyle, as it is fashionable to say now, has become a brand name for the dancer. She was recognized by her. And later inMany hairdressers have come up with the expression "bando in the style of Cleo de Mérode".

Performances, fame and international recognition

The ballerina made a real sensation by taking part in the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, where she showed incredible "Cambodian dances". Later, the beauty performed in a famous cabaret and variety show in France called the Folies Bergère. Then she went on tour to Berlin, Budapest, Hamburg, was in St. Petersburg and New York.

Meet King Leopold II of Belgium

When Cleo turned 23, she was invited to the Opera and Ballet Theater in Bordeaux. At that time, the girl was already popular. However, the role of Phryne had a certain significance in her fate. During the performance, the dancer attracted the attention of King Leopold II of Belgium. It is noteworthy that the old ladies' man did not like loud music and theater, but he appreciated female beauty and sophistication. He attended the opera in order to get acquainted with pretty actresses after a concert or ballet.

According to eyewitnesses, Cleo de Merode (her height was significantly different from other large and tall girls) immediately liked the king. For her sake, he repeatedly came up with a reason to come to Paris. For example, among the reasons why the monarch came to France was a certain agreement with the local government regarding colonial interests in Africa. On one of these trips, Leopold II personally came to Cleo, giving her a huge bouquet of flowers.

Stormy romance, gossip and Cleo's benefit

From the moment the king arrived at the dancer's house, gossip spread around Paris about their whirlwind romance. Moreover, the French not only laughed at the new hobby of the monarch, but even portrayed him in caricatures. In addition, he was given the funny nickname "Cleopold". And although the heir to the Belgian throne himself was flattered by such attention, Cleo de Merode (the biography of this wonderful dancer is associated with a lot of gossip and misadventures), on the contrary, was upset and in every possible way denied her connection with the king.

Later, a new wave of gossip swept through Paris, connected with the possible abdication of the monarch from his throne and the upcoming marriage to the notorious ballerina. However, these rumors were never confirmed, although they did not subside for a long time.

Cleo de Merode: personal life and enterprise

Since the dancer's reputation was finally ruined (mainly due to the fact that the Belgian king himself had the reputation of a lustful man with promiscuous connections), she decided to think over a further plan of her actions. Once, the girl was so tired of evil tongues that she even filed a lawsuit in order to confirm her non-involvement with the loving monarch. However, she failed to prove otherwise.

Then Cleo decided to go the other way. She thought for a long time and finally realized that a fleeting passion for Leopold II could have a positive effect on her country. In particular, when the king decided to present a valuable gift to France, it was his belovedthe ballerina told him what to spend the money on. According to her idea, in 1900, thanks to Cleo, the first metro appeared in Paris.

That's just because of this gift, people again started talking about her affair with the Belgian monarch. This fame, according to sources, haunted Cleo de Merode in old age, not to mention younger years. Finally disappointed in people, the dancer was forced to leave her native Paris.

Career of a fashion model and the role of a muse

After leaving Paris, the famous ballerina went on an international tour. At that moment, she not only danced, but again conquered men's hearts. Unexpectedly for herself, Cleo has become a favorite muse for many artists and photographers. For example, the girl posed for the Italian portrait painter Giovanni Boldini, was a model for Edgar Degas.

Her image was also used by the famous PR man Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who created advertising posters for the production of "Moulin Rouge". And the sculpture of a ballerina, cast in wax, once flaunted in Montmartre in the Grevin Museum. In addition, de Merode was a model for the controversial sculptor Alexandre Falguiere, who created the nude Dancer. Even later, the photographers Leopold Reutlinger and Paul Nadar noticed the girl, making images for postcards. So the face and body of the ballerina began to be depicted on postcards.

The post-war years and Cleo's later career

After the outbreak of the First World War, the girl left her dancing career for a while. Instead, she went to the front with ballet dancers.numbers and thus encouraged the fighters in a difficult time for them. After the war, she returned to the stage, although now her performances have become extremely rare. At some point in time, she realized that she simply had to leave some kind of trace for posterity, so she soon wrote a memoir called “The Ballet of My Life.”

In early 1966, de Merode died suddenly. Her body was buried near her mother in the Pere Lachaise cemetery. A few years later, the grave of the famous dancer was decorated with a huge statue made by the sculptor and Spanish diplomat Luis de Perinato.