Cuninghame, Marie Polly |
| BALLET DANCER (NETHERLANDS) |
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BORN 27 Oct 1785, Bordeaux, Gironde - DIED 9 Apr 1837, De Bilt, Utrecht GRAVE LOCATION De Bilt, Utrecht: Kerkhof bij de hervormde kerk, Dorpstraat (De Heus family crypt) |
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The circumstances of Marie Polly Cunninghame's birth are unclear. On 7 September 1796 Patrice Cuninghame and Chaterine Charlint adopted her. The adoption was included in their marriage act. Her father probably was a member of an old Scotch family that lived in the Netherlands and her mother was French. She was educated in Bordeaux by Jean-Baptiste Hus, the leader of a children's ballet. When she was thirteen years old, she appeared at the Théâtre des Jeunes Artistes in Paris. In 1800 she went to the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels with Antoine Corniol's dance company. She became prima ballerina there in 1801. Later that year she obtained the same position at the Amsterdam Theatre, where she debuted in "The Uprising on the Island of Cythera" on 9 September 1801. In 1803 she took lessons in Paris with Pierre Gardel. In that year she appeared in Paris in Paisello's opera "Proserpine". She returned to Amsterdam where she appeared as Polly Cunninghame. On 29 Devember 1807 she married the manufacturer Hendricus de Heus, who was a widower and more than twenty years her senior. This was a relief to those who were afraid that she would move abroad in support of her career. In 1808 her son Willem Hendricus was born. Four months later she was back on the stage, now as Polly de Heus. She was praised by many critics, including C.F. Haug and A.L. Barbaz. From 1813 onwards she danced under ballet master Pieter Greive (1770-1821). She was specalized in solo dances with a shawl and a tambourine. In 1817 she was the choreographer of "Achilles on the Isle of Scyros", written by Gardel. She performed the role of Achilles herself. Her last performance took place in 1823 as Susanne in "The Barber of Seville". In 1835 she and her husband moved to a country estate in De Bilt, Utrecht that her husband had purchased in 1826. She died there in 1837, one year after her husband. There were buried in the family crypt of the De Heus family at the churchyard of de Hervormde Kerk in De Bilt. |
| Images |
 The grave of the De Heus family at the Kerkhof bij de Hervormde Kerk in De Bilt, Utrecht. Marie Cunninghame was buried here. Picture by Androom (14 Jun 2026) |
