Lillebil Ibsen took
ballet lessons at an early age with her mother, who was a professional
choreographer and ballet instructor. She made her début as a dancer at
Nationaltheatret in 1911, in the ballet
pantomime Prinsessen på erten, an adaptation of the story
The Princess and the Pea by
Hans Christian Andersen. She then studied ballet with
Hans Beck in Copenhagen, and later with Russian choreographer
Mikhail Fokine. She started performing in Berlin under supervision of
Max Reinhardt when she was sixteen years old, and played leading roles in Reinhardt's pantomimes
Die Schäferin,
Lillebils Hochzeitsreise,
Prima Ballerina,
Sumurun and
Die grüne Flöte. Ibsen's first film role was in
Sången om den eldröda blomman, in 1919. She made her début as a revue artist at
Chat Noir in 1924. She also played for the television theatre
Fjernsynsteatret. Ibsen authored a autobiography titled
Det begynte med dansen. She was decorated Commander of the
Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1969. She died in Oslo in 1989. ==Filmography==