The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts > Italian Dance

Development of Ballet Narrative

Portrait of Salvatore Viganò

Engraving, [n.d.]  Born in Naples to a family of dancers and musicians, Salvatore Viganò danced for several years in his father's company.  In the late 1780s, he came under the influence of Jean Dauberval, whose approach to the integrated ballet narrative he would both assimilate and transform.  Viganò spent the better part of the following decade in Vienna, where in 1801 he choreographed The Creatures of Prometheus, set to a score by Beethoven and an early example of coreodramma (choreodrama).  He brought this new form of danced narrative to its apogee at La Scala, where he worked for more than fifteen years.  Here, in works such as Otello (Othello), Dedalo (Daedalus), La Vestale (The Vestal Virgin), and I Titani (The Titans), he created what his nineteenth-century biographer, Carlo Ritorni, called "a sublime...expression of poetic ideas and dramatic situations."  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Maria Medina Viganò as Terpsichore
Sepia engraving by Carl Pfeiffer after a painting by Joseph Dorffmeister, Vienna, 1794.  Maria Medina was a Spanish dancer who married the Italian choreographer Salvatore Viganò in the late 1780s and performed with him in many successful productions during the next decade.  In this image she wears the sandals and light diaphanous gown that revolutionized ballet costume after the French Revolution.  The new dress, which referred both to contemporary fashion and classical antiquity, allowed the ballerina to move with new freedom.  Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Armand Vestris in Macbeth

Color engraving, [Naples, ca. 1819].  The grandson of Gaetan and the son of Auguste Vestris, Armand followed the family tradition by training as a professional dancer.  He spent several years in London, mounting several successful ballets at the King's Theatre and marrying the comic actress Lucia Elizabetta Bartolozzi, who as Madame Vestris became a well-known London theatrical figure.  He spent the last years of his life in Italy, where he staged Macbeth, and Vienna, where he died.  Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Gasparo Angiolini

Born in Florence in 1731, Gasparo Angiolini began his dance career in Lucca and performed throughout northern Italy, before making his way to Vienna in the early 1750s.  Here, at the Hoftheater, he came under the creative influence of Franz Hilverding, whose ballets successfully integrated mime, movement, and characterization in short narratives.  In 1758, when Hilverding left for St. Petersburg, Angiolini succeeded him as ballet master.  Gradually, his own creative voice began to emerge.  In 1761, he choreographed Don Juan, ou Le Festin de Pierre (Don Juan, or The Stone Banquet), the first of several works to the music of Christoph Willibald Gluck.  Two years later he created the dances to Orfeo ed Euridice (Orpheus and Eurydice), and in 1765 he worked with the composer on the ballet-pantomime Sémiramis and the ballet Iphigénie en Aulide (Iphigenia at Aulis).  In his preface to Don Juan, Angiolini, through the pen of the writer and librettist Raniero de Calzabigi, identified his work with the ideals of ancient pantomime, an "art...express[ing] the customs, the passions, the actions of gods, heroes, human beings through movements and body postures, through gestures and signs done rhythmically and appropriate for the expression of that which one wishes to represent."  He coined the phrase "danza parlante," reflecting his belief that the dance must speak.  At the same time, he insisted that the artist had to make the action "visible."

Angiolini spent several years in St. Petersburg, before returning to Italy.  He produced several ballets in Venice and in 1773, in Milan, published the volume of Letters...to Monsieur Noverre, in which he challenged Jean-Georges Noverre's assertion of being the originator of the ballet d'action, claiming this honor instead for his mentor Hilverding.  Noverre's sharply polemical response, published in 1774, marked the start of a long and bitter controversy.  In 1774 Angiolini returned to Vienna as successor to Noverre, who had been invited to Milan.  Noverre's ballets were poorly received, and his contempt for Italy's celebrated grotteschi, whose combination of virtuosity and corporeal expressiveness represented a form of danced action, did not endear him to Italian audiences.  He left Milan in disgrace.  Angiolini did not fare much better in Vienna, where partisans of Noverre jeered his ballets and intrigued against him.  He soon returned to St. Petersburg, where he fulfilled two lengthy engagements in the 1770s and 1780s.  Between these Russian sojourns, Angiolini produced a number of ballets in Italy, especially at La Scala.  A democrat and a republican, Angiolini was imprisoned in 1799 and exiled from Milan, although he later returned to die there.

Gasparo Angiolini, Dissertation sur les ballets pantomimes des anciens, pour servir de programme au ballet pantomime tragique de Sémiramis, composé par Mr. Angiolini Maître des Ballets du Théâtre près de la Cour à Vienne, et représenté pour la première fois sur ce Théâtre le 31 Janvier 1765.  A l'occasion des fêtes pour le mariage de sa majesté, le Roi des Romains (Dissertation on the pantomime ballets of the ancients, to serve as the program for the tragic ballet pantomime Sémiramis, composed by Mons. Angiolini, Ballet Master of the Court Theater in Vienna, and represented for the first time at this Theater on 31 January 1765, on the occasion of the marriage of His Majesty, King of the Romans).Vienna, 1765.  This was the first ballet item acquired by Walter Toscanini and his first gift to Cia Fornaroli.  Note the collector's distinctive ex libris.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Gasparo Angiolini, Lettere di Gasparo Angiolini a Monsieur Noverre sopra i balli pantomimi (Letters from Gasparo Angiolini to Mons. Noverre on ballet pantomimes).Milan, 1773.  In this polemical volume, conceived in the form of letters, Angiolini disputed Jean-Georges Noverre's claim to be the founder of the ballet d'action (or narrative ballet).  Walter Toscanini acquired many documents related to the Angiolini family and wrote a biography of the choreographer that remains unpublished.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Jean-Georges Noverre, Lettres sur la danse et sur les ballets, par M. Noverre, Maître des Ballets de Son Altesse Sérénissime Monseigneur le duc de Würtemberg, et ci-devant des Théâtres de Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Londres, etc.  (Letters on Dancing and Ballets, by Mons. Noverre, ballet master to His Most Serene Highness the Duke of Würtemberg, and formerly of Theaters of Paris, Lyon, Marseille, London, etc.).Vienna, 1767.  Bookplate of Baron Greg.^re de Stroganoff.  Stamped on the title page in Russian "Biblioteka universiteta sibirskago" (Library of the University of Siberia).  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Collection.

Portrait of Salvatore Viganò
Engraving, [n.d.]  Born in Naples to a family of dancers and musicians, Salvatore Viganò danced for several years in his father's company.  In the late 1780s, he came under the influence of Jean Dauberval, whose approach to the integrated ballet narrative he would both assimilate and transform.  Viganò spent the better part of the following decade in Vienna, where in 1801 he choreographed The Creatures of Prometheus, set to a score by Beethoven and an early example of coreodramma (choreodrama).  He brought this new form of danced narrative to its apogee at La Scala, where he worked for more than fifteen years.  Here, in works such as Otello (Othello), Dedalo (Daedalus), La Vestale (The Vestal Virgin), and I Titani (The Titans), he created what his nineteenth-century biographer, Carlo Ritorni, called "a sublime...expression of poetic ideas and dramatic situations."  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Interior of La Scala During the Last Act of Salvatore Taglioni's Ballet The Conquest of Malacca, with Scenery by Alessandro Sanquirico
Aquatint engraving from the album Raccolta di scene teatrali eseguite o disegnate dai più celebri pittori scenici in Milano (Collection of Theatrical Scenes Executed or Designed by the Most Celebrated Scene Painters in Milan), Milan, 1820.  The queen of Italian theaters, La Scala opened in Milan in 1778.  With its half-dozen tiers the theater was huge, and its productions in every way spectacular.  This view of the house shows the shipwreck that concluded Salvatore Taglioni's 1820 ballet The Conquest of Malacca.  The scenery was designed by Alessandro Sanquirico, La Scala's maker of theatrical marvels during the early nineteenth century.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Designs by Alessandro Sanquirico

Chamber in the Palace of Memphis in Salvatore Viganò's Tragic Ballet Psammi, King of Egypt, 1817
Aquatint engraving of a set design by Alessandro Sanquirico, Milan, [1817?].  Most of Viganò's ballets had historical subjects, and many were set in antiquity.  Sanquirico's designs, drawing upon an Italian scenic tradition that originated in the seventeenth century, combined historical fidelity and architectural grandeur, underscoring the heroic dimension of Viganò's poetics.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

A Delightful Place:  Scene from Salvatore Viganò's Mythological Ballet The Titans, 1819
Aquatint engraving of a set design by Alessandro Sanquirico, Milan, [1819?].  Staged only two years before Viganò's death, The Titans merged classical myths and Biblical themes in a narrative set at the dawn of humanity.  In this pastoral scene, Sanquirico conveys Viganò's skillful handling of groups, emphasis on expression, and use of spatial counterpoint and asymmetry.  The classical iconography recalls Renaissance painting and looks forward to the "Greek" dances of Isadora Duncan and Michel Fokine in the early twentieth century.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Hanging Gardens with Baths in Memphis in Salvatore Viganò's Tragic Ballet Psammi, King of Egypt, 1817
Aquatint engraving of a set design by Alessandro Sanquirico, Milan, [1817?].  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

The Palace of Venus in Salvatore Taglioni's Anacreontic Ballet Pelius and Miletus, 1827
Aquatint engraving of a set design by Alessandro Sanquirico, Milan, [1827?].  Although identified with the eighteenth century, anacreontic ballets--or ballets on mythological subjects with amatory themes--remained a recognized genre in the nineteenth.  Sanquirico's celestial finale to Salvatore Taglioni's Pelius and Miletus, with flying cupids, floral streamers, sculptured columns, and even swans, depicts the Apotheosis of Venus with a profusion of richly imagined detail.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Lettere critiche intorno al Prometeo, ballo del Sig. Viganò (Critical letters concerning Prometeo, a ballet by Mr. Viganò). Milan, 1813.  The authorship of this volume is ascribed to Giulio Ferrario, a distinguished librarian and author of a multivolume work on ancient and modern Italian costume.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Prometeo, ballo mitologico inventato e posto sulle scene del R. Teatro alla Scala da Salvatore Viganò nella primavera dell'anno 1813 (Prometeo, a mythological ballet invented and staged at the Royal Theater of La Scala by Salvatore Viganò in the spring of the year 1813). Milan, [1813?].  Viganò choreographed The Creatures of Prometheus to a commissioned score by Beethoven in 1801 at Vienna's Hofburgtheater.  Twelve years later at La Scala, Viganò created a new version of the heroic-allegorical work, now called simply Prometeo (Prometheus), which critics hailed as one of the choreographer's masterpieces.  However, instead of using the original music, Viganò crafted a score to support the choreography, adding to four of Beethoven's original pieces, other compositions by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Gluck, Josef Weigl, and himself.  The cast list in the published libretto for the La Scala production displays the typical division of ranks in Italian companies of the period.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

La Vendetta di Venere, gran ballo composto e diretto al R. Teatro alla Scala, dal Sig.^r Salvatore Viganò (musica di diverse rinomati autori).  Ridotta per Cembalo Solo dal Sig.^r Ferd.^o Bonazzi.  Dedicato dall'Editore Al Merito singolare della Sig.^a Elena Viganó (The Revenge of Venus, grand ballet composed and directed at the Royal Theater of La Scala by Mr. Salvatore Viganò [music by various renowned authors].  Reduction for solo harpsichord by Mr. Ferdinando Bonazzi.  Dedicated by the Publisher to the singular merit of Ms. Elena Viganò). Milan, [ca. 1817].  An arrangement of musical excerpts from Viganò's ballet Mirra, ossia La Vendetta di Venere (1817) by Rossini, Beethoven, Josef Weigl, Michael Umlauff, and Michele Caraffa.  Elena Viganò, to whom this harpsichord reduction was dedicated, was the choreographer's daughter and also a dancer.  The Viganò family was one of many multigenerational dance dynasties that left a deep mark on Italian ballet.  Emerging in the eighteenth century with Salvatore's father Onorato, the Viganòs remained active in the field until the late nineteenth century.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Nicola Molinari in the title role of Salvatore Viganò's tragic ballet Otello, ossia Il Moro di Venezia (Othello, or The Moor of Venice), 1818.  I[mperial] R[egio] Teatro Grande della Scala in Milano, Almanacco, 1821.  Nicola Molinari specialized in roles--of which Othello was the most famous--that required a superb command of gesture and mime.  He was frequently teamed with Antonia Pallerini, who played the role of Desdemona.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Antonia Pallerini in the title role of Gaetano Gioja's tragic ballet Gabriella di Vergy, 1823.  I. R. Teatro alla Scala, Almanacco, 1824.  A powerful actress and mime, Antonia Pallerini appeared in many ballets by Salvatore Viganò and Gaetano Gioja, as well as works by the French choreographers Jean-Louis Aumer and Louis Milon.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Teresa (Therese) Heberle as Venus in Jean [Giovanni] Coralli's anacreontic ballet La Statua di Venere (The Statue of Venus), 1825.  I. R. Teatro alla Scala, Almanacco, 1826.  Therese Heberle was an Austrian dancer who had trained and performed since childhood with Friedrich Horschelt's Viennese Kinderballett (Children's Ballet).  She danced extensively in Italy during the 1820s and early 1830s, frequently partnered by Jean Rozier.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Domenico Ronzani in Giuseppe Monticini's ballet L'Orfana di Ginevra (The Orphan Girl of Geneva), staged by Ronzani at the Teatro La Canobbiana, Milan, 1830.  I. R. Teatro alla Scala, Almanacco, 1831.  A dancer of strong dramatic presence, Domenico Ronzani restaged a number of Romantic ballets, especially for Fanny Elssler, as well as the first Roman production of Giselle, which premiered in 1845 at the Teatro Argentina.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

La Tersicore milanese (The Milanese Terpsichore). Milan, 1822.  Adelaide Grassi was still a student at the La Scala school when this hand-colored engraving was made.  Also singled out in this charming pocket almanac were the young dancers Lucia Rinaldi, Teresa Olivieri Bertini, Maria Lampuzzi, Gaetana Quaglia, Gaetana Trezzi, Carolina Valenza, Clara Rebaudengo, and Giovanna Viscardi.  Popular for centuries, Italian theatrical almanacs enjoyed a golden age in the nineteenth century, publishing images and biographies of leading performers, commentaries on works, and even dance treatises.  With its highly developed publishing and printing industries, Milan became Italy's de facto capital even under Austrian rule.  Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.