Antonietta Dell'Era (10 February 1860 Milan 22 June 1945 Berlin) was an Italian ''prima

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

'' best known for originating the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's ballet, ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'' (1892).

Dance career

1879 until 1909, Dell'Era had a successful career at the Berlin Opera, praised by many critics and writers including author and poet

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

. 1886 and 1894, she danced in Russia, mainly in St. Petersberg, along with the "Italian Invasion" - an influx of talented Italian dancers to Russia that included

Pierina Legnani Pierina Legnani (September 30, 1863 – November 15, 1930) was an Italian ballerina considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time. Biography Legnani was born on September 30, 1863, in Milan and originally studied with famous ballet dan ...

Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the ''Teatro Tordinona'' in Ro ...

, and

Virginia Zucchi Virginia Zucchi (10 February 1849 – 12 October 1933) was an Italian dancer. Her career as a ballerina spanned the years 1864 to 1898, and she was known as "the Divine Zucchi" or even "the Divine Virginia" for her artistry, expressiveness, an ...

Nutcracker

The St. Petersberg premiere of the Nutcracker sold out. Peter Tchaikovsky, the famous Russian composer, was commissioned by mastermind choreographer

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...

to compose the ballet. The Nutcracker Ballet was first presented at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 17, 1892. It was a double premiere together with Tchaikovsky's last opera, ''

Iolanta ''Iolanta'', Op. 69, (russian: Иоланта, links=no ) is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was the last opera he composed. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play ...

'',. Dell'Era received five curtain calls but the critical reception of the ballet was poor. Her critical reception for her role as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty had been better. Russian ballet dancer Nicolai Solyannikov thought that Dell'Era's dancing in Nutcracker was awful. "this coarse, ungraceful dancer is much to the German taste". Ballet reflects political and cultural changes, and dancers were influenced by rise of

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

and opposition to the rigidity classic ballet during her era of dance.

Legacy

Before her death in 1945, Dell'Era had expressed a wish that her estate should help dancers in need. The Dell'Era-Gedächtnis-Stiftung foundation was established after her death to provide dancers and their families with financial assistance towards living costs and expenses, such as medical costs, training and retraining.

Dance career

Nutcracker

Legacy

References

Further reading