Fanny Elssler was one of the most brilliant stars of the Romantic ballet.  The accepted rival of Taglioni, she represented the passionate expression of the dance. Théophile Gautier distinguished the two ballerinas by describing Elssler as a pagan dancer and Taglioni as a Christian dancer.  There was no doubt that it was Elssler he preferred. Her style found its true expression in her famous Spanish character dance: the Cachucha, but even more, it was her dramatic genius that conquered the audiences before whom she appeared. She approached, more closely than any other ballerina of her time, the ideal of the complete dancer-actress, and her example lives on today in the tradition which modern ballerinas follow in the role of Giselle. In Ivor Guest's biography her performances come vividly to life through eye-witness accounts, and the story of her life is told with a wealth of detail, much of it hitherto unpublished. Among the highlights are Elssler's adventurous tour of the United States (she was the first great ballerina to cross the Atlantic), her fantastic triumphs in Russia, her sentimental friendship with the great publicist, Gentz, and the persistent legend of her liaison with the son of Napoleon. Based on wide research, this is a definitive study of one of the greatest figures in the history of ballet.

Fanny Elssler

GUEST, Ivor

Wesleyan University Press

Fanny Elsser: The Life and Art of the Great Romantic Ballerina

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

The Ballet of the Second Empire

History

Europe

<p>Stars of the romantic ballet, as well as the choreographers, composers, designers, and balletomanes of the time are brought to life in a colorful panorama of this great age of French ballet. The age of romanticism in the first half of the nineteenth century was one of the greatest periods in the history of ballet. In a span of three decades (1820 to 1847) ballet became what it had never been before a major theater art, gaining new vitality and meaning from the ideas of the romantic movement which rapidly infiltrated each one of its component scenarios, music, décor, choreography and dance style.\nThe center of the romantic ballet was the Paris Opéra. Its high priest was the poet Théophile Gautier, who wrote the scenarios of Giselle and other ballets. He explained the dual nature of the romantic ballet by contrasting the two rival ballerinas, the spiritual Taglioni and the passionate Elssler.\nThis definitive study, completely revised and updated, handsomely produced and beautifully illustrated, is based on exhaustive research of the archives of the Paris Opéra and printed and pictorial sources of the time.</p>

The Romantic ballet in Paris

Dance Books Ltd.

Jules Perrot was one of the most brilliant and the most influential choreographers of his age. This intimate biography illustrates how one man’s contributions have helped weave the fabric of ballet tradition.

Jules Perrot, Master of the Romantic Ballet

Designing for the dancer

STRONG, Roy

Buckle, Richar

Elron Press

Ballet in Leicester Square: The Alhambra and the Empire 1860-1915

Arts & Photography

Performing Arts

The Ballet of the Enlightenment: The Establishment of the Ballet D'Action in France, 1770-1793

Humor & Entertainment

With the publication of this title, Dr Guest completes his massive survey of ballet in France from 1770 to 1870. This volume covers the period from 1793 to 1819, the time of such luminaries as Gardel, Milon, Vestris, Duport and Bigottini. The period has often been dismissed as an interlude of decadence before the flowering of the romantic ballet, but as Dr. Guest reveals in this account, it was in fact a period of great significance in the development of ballet as a major theatre art.

Ballet Under Napoleon

Princeton Book Co Pub

<p>The Paris Opera Ballet is the cradle of ballet, tracing the origin of ballet as a theatre art back to its foundation by Louis XIV in 1669. Over three centuries dance has retained its place as a potent element in its repertory in a long sequence of ballets and divertissements that have been presented on a succession of stages, culminating in the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille. Ivor Guest, the world's leading authority on French ballet was commissioned by the Opéra to write the history of its ballet company in 1976: this and subsequent editions were published only in French. This revised and updated version is the first to appear in English.</p>

The Paris Opera Ballet

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