Romanticism: Ballerinas and Danseurs

Pas de Quatre

Lithograph by T. H. Maguire from a drawing by A. E. Chalon, [London, 1845].One of the most celebrated Romantic ballet images, this lithograph commemorated the divertissement choreographed by Jules Perrot at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, in 1845.The dance was a quartet--hence its title, Pas de Quatre--for luminaries of the Romantic ballet, and with the exception of the Danish ballerina Lucille Grahn (second from right), all were Italian.Dominating the image is Marie Taglioni, standing with her arms en couronne, with Grahn, Fanny Cerrito, and Carlotta Grisi paying homage around her.With its delicate coloring, finish, and charm, this splendid print exemplifies the iconography of the Romantic ballet.Cia Fornaroli Collection.Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

A Fanny Elssler nell'ultima sera delle sue danze in Rome (To Fanny Elssler on the last evening of her dances in Rome), 1846. To the delight of Roman audiences, the Teatro di Apollo engaged both Fanny Elssler (in La fanciulla di Gand [The Girl from Ghent]) and Marie Taglioni (in La Silfide [La Sylphide]) for its 1845-1846 Carnival season.  This ode was one of many dedicated by Roman fans to the Austrian Elssler, "the light Teutonic Sylphide," in the 1840s.  Walter Toscanini Collection of Research Materials in Dance, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Carlotta Grisi in a pose from the "Pas de Diane" in La Jolie Fille de Gand
(The Pretty Girl of Ghent) Lithograph, [Rome?], 1847.Born in the Italianprovince of Istria annexed by Austria in 1814, Carlotta Grisi studied at La Scala and toured throughout Italy before crossing the Alps to pursue an international career.Engaged by the Paris Opéra, Grisi created the title role of Giselle in 1841.A great personal triumph, it was followed in 1842 by La Jolie Fille de Gand, which contained a memorable solo for her as the huntress Diana.Grisi did not return to Italy until the Carnival season of 1846-1847, when she danced at the Teatro di Apollo in Rome, a visit commemorated in this lithograph.The most important season of the Italian theatrical calendar, the Carnival season ran from Christmas through Lent.Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Carlotta Grisi in La Sylphide
Color lithograph by Emilien Desmaisons from a drawing by Eugène Guérard, [Paris, 1844.]In addition to creating the starring roles in Giselle (1841), La Péri (1843), Esmeralda (1844), and Paquita (1846), Carlotta Grisi also danced in older works such as La Sylphide.Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Fanny Cerrito

Lithograph by L. G. from a drawing by E. Kulbach, [Rome, 184-?].Born and trained in Naples, Fanny Cerrito pursued an international career, while remaining a presence on the Italian stage.She danced the title roles in the La Scala premieres of La Sylphide and Giselle, staged in 1841 and 1843, respectively, by the Italian choreographer Antonio Cortesi.This print commemorates her frequent visits to Rome in the 1840s, when she performed the most famous ballets of her repertory.Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Fanny Cerrito in Alma, ou La Fille du Feu (Alma, or The Daughter of Fire)
Color lithograph by Frédéric Sorrieu after the lithograph by Jules Bouvier, [Paris, 1842?].Set in medieval Germany and exotic Moorish Spain, Alma was about the statue of a beautiful young woman that came to life, then turned back to stone when the heroine fell in love.The ballet, choreographed by Jules Perrot in 1842, was restaged in Rome by André Deshayes, Filippo Izzo, and Cerrito herself.Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Auguste Lefebvre
Lithograph by Giuseppe Deyé, [Venice, 1830].Auguste (or Augusto, as he is called in this print) Lefebvre belonged to a dance dynasty that performed in most of the major centers of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe.He danced as a child with the Lefebre company in Seville, continued his training in Paris, then pursued a career in Italy, where he partnered many of the era's leading ballerinas.This print commemorates his engagement as "first French dancer" or danseur noble at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice during the Carnival season of 1829-1830.The term "French" did not refer to Lefebvre's birthplace but rather to the kind of roles he performed.The primo ballerino serio, danzante, di rango francese, or primo assoluto, whose name typically headed the cast list, performed pas de deux, adagios, and dances in classical style.The ballerino italiano or di rango italiano was a virtuoso dancer who performed roles demanding technical brilliance.The realism of the portrait is typical of many nineteenth-century Italian dance prints.Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Egidio Priora
Lithograph by V. Battistelli from a drawing by Almerini, Rome, [1832].This souvenir portrait, with its accompanying sonnet, memorialized Egidio Priora's season at the Teatro di Apollo during the Carnival season of 1832.One of Rome's most prestigious theatrical venues, the Apollo rose to its position of eminence under the forty-year management of the shrewd and resourceful impresario Vincenzo Jacovacci.Engaging the most glamorous stars of the day and often placing them in competition with one another (as Dr. Louis Véron did at the Paris Opéra), he transformed the Apollo into Rome's main house of ballet.Important seasons witnessed the production of numerous lithographs and poems, which were often printed on silk, rolled up, placed in bouquets, and tossed at the feet of the dancers during bows.After a successful career as a primo ballerino (or premier danseur), Priora embarked on a career as a choreographer, often with his daughter Olympia as ballerina.Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Odoardo Chiocchia
Color lithograph by Ponthenier from a drawing by L. Martini, 1832.With his vivid expression and Napoleonic gesture, Odoardo Chiocchia exemplifies a typical approach to the representation of the premier danseur in Italy during the 1830s. Although the Romantic period in France witnessed the precipitous decline of the male dancer, in Italy the dancing hero retained the stature he had enjoyed in the previous century.Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Giuseppe Rota
Lithograph by Danesi from a drawing by De Worsan, Rome, [1855].Born in Venice in 1822, Rota trained at the Teatro La Fenice, where he performed for several seasons.He began to choreograph in his twenties, and by the 1850s his works appeared regularly in major Italian theaters.Many of his ballets drew on literary sources--Il Conte di Montecristo (1856), on Alexandre Dumas' novel, and Bianchi e Negri (Whites and Blacks) (1853), on Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.In the 1860s Rota embarked on an international career, staging works at the Hofoper in Vienna, Her Majesty's Theatre, and the Paris Opéra, where he created his last ballet, La Maschera, ou Les Nuits de Venise (The Mask, or Venetian Nights) a year before his death in 1865.This lithograph commemorated Rota's 1855 season at Rome's Teatro Argentina.Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.