Gertrude Barrison

In the late 1890s, she gained considerable success performing with her four older sisters Lona, Sophia, Inger and Olga, initially in the United States, but later in European cities including Paris, Berlin and Budapest.

While still a child, she appeared with her sisters on the stage, in particular dancing a gavotte at the German-language Amberg Theatre, a performance which received wide acclaim.

Over the next four years, she appeared with her sisters in the cabarets and music halls of Europe and North America, including the Casino de Paris and the Folies Bergère.

Two years later, she moved to Vienna where she once again returned to the stage, this time as "Miss Gertrude" at the Nachtlicht night club as a solo dancer.

In the Nachtlicht, she met the Swedish singer Anna Norrie (1860–1957) who invited her to join her in performances at the Odd Fellows Mansion in Copenhagen.

Now dancing Mozart minuets or Strauss's Kathinka polka, she toured Germany's major variety theatres in Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Hanover.