Suzanne Théodore Vaillande Douvillier (28 September 1778 – 30 August 1826) was a French ballerina, mime and choreographer.
[1] Known as Madame Placide during the early years of her career, she is considered by some historians as the first trained ballerina to dance in the United States.
As she entered her teenage years the French Revolution was underway, and she arrived in Santo Domingo (Saint-Domingue), then part of the French West Indies, around 1790; it was there that she encountered Alexander Placide, primarily a 'theatrical figure'[3] though impressively multitalented, accomplished in such diverse activities as fencing, acrobatics, and the directing of plays.
For the later part of 1792 they moved to Philadelphia and Boston, then in 1793 to Newport, Rhode Island, where they were joined by Louis Douvillier.
In 1808 she became the first female to perform as a male in America; the opposite was quite widespread, though at the time this act was considered amazingly daring.