Sofia Fuoco (16 January 1830, Milan, the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia — 16 June 1916, Carate Urio, the

Province of Como The Province of Como ( it, Provincia di Como; german: Provinz Como; Comasco: ) is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Le ...

) — Italian ballerina. Was born as Maria Brambilla; her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

, ''Fuoco'' (the mother's family name, given because there was more than one "Maria Brambilla" at the dance school) means ″Fire″ in Italian.

Biography

Brambilla was born in Milan. She began to study ballet with

Carlo Blasis Carlo Blasis (4 November 1797 – 15 January 1878) was an Italian dancer, choreographer and dance theoretician born in Naples. He is well known for his very rigorous dance classes, sometimes lasting four hours long. He danced in France, Italy, ...

in c. 1837 and later became one of his so-called ''Pleiades dancers''. In 1839 at age of nine she made her first stage appearance in the

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

. In 1843 when she was only thirteen she was named the '' prima ballerina assoluta'' of the theater. Same year she was the first one who danced ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

'' in Milan. In 1846 she danced in Perrot's '' Pas de Quatre'' staged in La Scala by Filippo Taglioni. In 1846, age sixteen, she was invited to the Paris National Theatre to replace Carlotta Grisi. Choreographer Joseph Mazilier was going to stage his new ballet '' Betty'' with Grisi however the ballerina had signed a contract with the Roman Apollo Theater. Parisian press started to discuss amazing technique and pirouettes of Fuoco before her first performance at the Salle Le Peletier. She impressed audiences rather with her strong ballet technique than with acting. Due to her amazing

pointe work Pointe technique ( ) is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns ''pointe work'', in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes. A dancer is said to be ''en pointe'' () w ...

she was nicknamed ''La Pointue'' in Paris. According to Théophile Gautier ''her feet were flying off the floor like steel arrows''. Fuoco was a soloist of the Paris Opera Ballet till 1850. In 1847–1848 she performed in London. In the beginning of 1850s she was a principal dancer of Madrid's '' Teatro del Circo''. Here she has a rivaling with Marie Guy-Stéphan, a favourite of Marquis de Salamanca. When Fuoco became a favorite dancer of general Narvaez theatrical rivalry turned into a political one. The supporters of Marquis de Salamanca (and those of Guy-Stéphan) demonstrated their notion by wearing white carnation flowers in the buttonhole, those who preferred the government (and Fuoco) were wearing red ones, while the ladies had been coiffed ''à la Fuoco''. In 1852 she was dancing at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. She had retired by the end of the 1850s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuoco, Sofia Italian ballerinas 19th-century Italian ballet dancers La Scala Theatre Ballet dancers Paris Opera Ballet étoiles 1830 births 1916 deaths