Meanings
plural premières danseuses · alternative premiere danseuse
- balletThe lead female dancer in a ballet.
The School remained under the management of Miss Margaret Curtis. Miss Rita De Leporte was Première Danseuse and Mr. Giuseppe Bonfiglio was Premier Danseur.
1931, Pierre Key, Irene E. Haynes, Pierre Key’s Musical Who’s who: A Biographical Survey of Contemporary Musicians, volume 1, page 642 more examples
They honestly thought they were doing good with it, and so they were — with what was left after the publicity man and the printer and the première danseuse had been paid.
1920, National Municipal League, National Civic Review, volume 9, page 152[…] in 1935 she joined the company formed by Leon Woizikowski, touring Germany, France and Spain, and became première danseuse of the Metropolitan Opera Company, New York.
1943, Albert Ernest Wier, Thesaurus of the Arts: Drama, Music, Radio, Painting, Screen, Television, Literature, Sculpture, Architecture, Ballet, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, page 148Synonyms: première, prima ballerina
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe lead female dancer in a ballet.
Origin
- Frenchpremière danseuse
- Englishpremière danseuse
From French première danseuse (unlisted in dictionaries of French); from première, feminine form of premier (“first”) + danseuse, feminine form of danseur (“dancer”); feminine form of premier danseur (“first dancer”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Polish primabalerina
- primabalerinalead female dancer
Cite this entry
première danseuse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premi%C3%A8re%20danseuse
“première danseuse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premi%C3%A8re%20danseuse. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “première danseuse,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/premi%C3%A8re%20danseuse.
Source: première danseuse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.