Gasparo Angiolini (7 February 1731 – 6 February 1803), real name Domenico Maria Gasparo, son of Francesco Angiolini and Maria Maddalena Torzi, was an Italian

dancer 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 ...

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

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and died 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 ...

. He is known thanks to the polemics with the French ballet master

Jean-Georges Noverre Jean-Georges Noverre (29 April 1727 19 October 1810) was a French dancer and ballet master, and is generally considered the creator of ''ballet d'action'', a precursor of the narrative ballets of the 19th century. His birthday is now observed a ...

. Gasparo Angiolini directed the ballet at the Imperial Theatre in Vienna, taking over the post in 1758, working closely with Christoph Willibald von Gluck on such works as '' Don Juan ou le Festin de Pierre'' (1761), and the opera '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' (1762). The dancing in both Don Juan and Orpheus were said to have insisted on th
"primacy of drama".
In addition to collaborating with Gluck, he also composed music for many of his ballets. He later succeeded Franz Hilverding as director of the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1766. Both Hilverding and Angiolini are credited with bringing the pantomime balletArianna Béatrice Fabbricatore, « Gasparo Angiolini et la réforme morale de la danse italienne » in Danse et morale « European Drama and Performance Studies », n. 8, Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2017, p. 143-162. to Russia. Likewise, Angiolini also attempted to introduce elements of Russian culture into his own work through use of songs, folk dances, and Russian themes. In 1772–1773 Angiolini worked in

Teatro San Benedetto The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's ''L'italiana in Algeri'', and was the th ...

in Venice. In 1778 he came to Milan to direct the theatre of

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

. Angiolini was a choreographer interested in the dramatic possibilities of dance. He was also an early spokesman for a sense of

Italian nationalism Italian nationalism () is a movement which believes that the Italians are a nation with a single homogeneous identity, and therefrom seeks to promote the cultural unity of Italy as a country. From an Italian nationalist perspective, Italianness i ...

and spoke of the sad state where Germany and Russia were supporting better cultural institutions than was Italy. His wife was a ballerina (1733–1792).

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (; ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer who was born in the Republic of Venice and travelled extensively throughout Europe. He is chiefly remembered for his autobiography, written in French and pu ...

was in love with her and admits in his memoirs that he stole her portrait. His son (or nephew) Pietro Angiolini was also a dancer and choreographer, his daughter (1776–1817) and her partner Armand Vestris have danced in Lisbon and London with great success. Gasparo Angiolini was a ballet teacher of Vincenzo Galeotti.

References

"Angiolini, Gasparo."
Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 23 Jan. 2007. * Christopher Duggan. ''The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy Since 1796''. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008) p. 4–5. * Au, Susan.

Ballet and Modern Dance, Second Edition. 2002. London: Thames and Hudson. Pages 34,36,38,61. {{DEFAULTSORT:Angiolini, Gasparo 18th-century Italian ballet dancers Italian male ballet dancers Italian choreographers Italian expatriates in the Russian Empire Musicians from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Musicians from Florence 1731 births 1803 deaths