Filippo Taglioni (aka Philippe Taglioni; 5 November 1777 – 11 February 1871) was an Italian

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

r and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and personal teacher to his own daughter, Romantic

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

Marie Taglioni. (He had another child who also danced ballet, Paul Taglioni.) Also, although

August Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the ne ...

's version is better known, it was Taglioni who was the original choreographer of ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only ve ...

'', in 1832.

Biography

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to father Carlo Taglioni, he received his dance training predominantly with Carlo Blasis and Jean-François Coulon. He made his dancing debut at age 17 in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

performing female

roles A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavior and may have a given indi ...

. He danced in other Italian cities before becoming a dancer (at age 22) with the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

. With Vestris firmly in control there, he readily accepted an invitation to be a principal dancer and

ballet master A ballet master (also balletmaster, ballet mistress, ''premier maître de ballet'' or ''premier maître de ballet en chef'') is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In mo ...

for the

Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Gustav III of Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. In Stockholm, he married the dancer Sophie Karsten, daughter of a famous Swedish

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer Christoffer Christian Karsten and the Polish actress Sophie Stebnowska, in 1803. Together, they had two children, Marie Taglioni and Paul Taglioni, both of whom became dancers themselves. For several years the family lived in Vienna and Germany but to escape the dangers of the Napoleonic wars, Filippo moved them to Paris. He danced and choreographed throughout Europe, mostly in Italy, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Finally, he was invited to take a more permanent position with the

Theater am Kärntnertor or (Duchy of Carinthia, Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). History The theatre was built in 170 ...

in Vienna. Once settled in Vienna, he sent for Marie, who had been studying

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

in Paris. Upon her arrival, Filippo was discouraged by her artistic progress and began training her himself. He had her practice ballet six hours a day for six months, using a level method of technique training. He was very strict with her, and had no sympathy for her aching and bleeding toes. He sought to make her style light and delicate, with an emphasis on jumps with ''ballon'' and pointe work, something that was unheard of before this time. When she was ready he took her back to Paris. After Marie's professional debut she became so popular that Filippo was able to negotiate a six-year contract for the two of them. The triumphant première of ''

'' on 12 March 1832, made her the most acclaimed

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancers ...

of the Romantic period and him the most renowned choreographer of the day. It is said that the great Romantic period of dance was ushered in on that night. Because of this immense success, the two of them traveled widely together and toured both Europe and Russia. As he grew older, he became eccentric and unpredictable, and eventually lost all of Marie's carefully amassed fortune in unwise speculations. Nevertheless, he must be recognized as a pioneer in a ballet style that was to alter forever the very nature of the art. Taglioni died in Como, Italy on 5 February 1871, at the age of 93.

Misconceptions about ''La Sylphide''

The ballet-going public knows the Romantic ballet ''

'' as being choreographed by the Danish ballet master

. That is indeed the ''La Sylphide'' audiences are most familiar with today but was not the version given in 1832. The original production of ''La Sylphide'' was first presented by the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

at the

Salle Le Peletier The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier (sometimes referred to as the Salle de la rue Le Peletier or the Opéra Le Peletier) was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and con ...

in 1832, and was choreographed by Filippo Taglioni himself to the music of Jean Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer, with libretto by Adolphe Nourrit after a story by Charles Nodier. The leading roles were danced by Marie Taglioni and Joseph Mazilier. Bournonville originally intended to stage the 1832 version in Denmark, but the Paris Opéra demanded too high a price for the orchestral parts of Schneitzhoeffer's score. In light of this, Bournonville decided to stage his own version of ''La Sylphide'' on the same scenario, with a new score by

Herman Severin Løvenskiold Baron Herman Severin Løvenskiold (30 July 1815 – 5 December 1870) was a Norwegian-born Danish composer, most noted for his score for August Bournonville's 1836 version of the ballet ''La Sylphide'' for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. B ...

. The production premiered in 1836 with the prodigy Lucile Grahn and Bournonville in the principal roles. Due to the strong tradition of the Royal Danish Ballet this version is still being performed in Denmark to this day, and has since been staged throughout the world. In 1972 the ballet master Pierre Lacotte revived Filippo Talgioni's original ''La Sylphide'' for the Paris Opera Ballet, with the noted ballerina Ghislaine Thesmar as the Sylph. Schneitzhoeffer's original score was reconstructed from a manuscript held at the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

. As Taglioni's original choreography was lost long ago, Lacotte choreographed the ballet in the style of the

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...

. The Paris Opera Ballet has since released the production onto DVD/video twice.

Works

1830: ''Le Dieu et la bayadère'' 1832: ''La Sylphide'' 1833: ''La Révolte au sérail'' 1836: ''La Fille du Danube'' 1838: ''La Gitana'' 1839: ''L'Ombre'' 1840: ''Le Lac des fées'' 1841: ''Aglaë, ou L'Elève de l'amour'' 1852 : ''Satanella oder Metamorphosen'' based on '' The Devil in Love (novel)''

Bibliography

* Bruno Ligore (ed.), ''Filippo Taglioni padre del ballo romantico'', Rome, Aracne, 2023, . * Marie Taglioni, ''Souvenirs. Le manuscrit inédit de la grande danseuse romantique'', édition établie, présentée et annotée par Bruno Ligore, Gremese, 2017, . * Madison U. Sowell, Debra H. Sowell, Francesca Falcone, Patrizia Veroli, ''Icônes du ballet romantique. Marie Taglioni et sa famille'', Gremese, 2016, .

References

External links

Andros on Ballet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taglioni, Filippo 1777 births 1871 deaths Dancers from Milan Italian male ballet dancers Ballet masters Romantic dance Ballet choreographers Filippo Taglioni 18th-century Italian ballet dancers 19th-century Italian ballet dancers Taglioni Royal Swedish Ballet dancers Italian expatriates in France Italian expatriates in Sweden Italian expatriates in the Austrian Empire Karsten family