Jules Perrot
French choreographer and dancer, born in Lyon in 1810 and died in Paramé in 1892. Son of the head machinist at the Theatre de Lyon, Jules Perrot was initiated into dance and acrobatics in the city, before becoming, in Paris, Auguste Vestris’s favourite student. He began at the Académie Royale de Musique in 1830, and shared the success of Marie Taglioni in “Zéphire et Flore”, “Robert le Diable”, “Nathalie ou la Laitière Suisse”. He then appeared on stage in different European cities: in Vienna where he scored his first choreography, Kobold; in Munich, Milan and Naples. On returning to Paris, for the first time he presented his protegee to the Parisian public: Carlotta Grisi in “Zingaro” (1840); in London, at Her Majesty’s Theatre, he performed the roles of dancer, Ballet Master and choreographer (1841-1848). With J. Coralli he created “Giselle” for Carlotta Grisi (1841); the famous “Pas de Quatre”, which brought together Fanny Cerrito, Carlotta Grisi, Lucile Grahn and Marie Taglioni. After an engagement at the Opéra de Paris (1849), where he scored “La Filleule des Fées”, he went to Saint Petersburg, where he triumphed at the Imperial Theatre as dancer, Ballet Master and choreographer, until 1859.
Intransigent of nature, entirely captivated by his art, rather unfortunate of physical appearance (Auguste Vestris, his teacher, advised him never to stay in one place to avoid drawing attention to his physique), he acquired fame through his height, elegance and dramatic sense. Blessed with an extremely keen stage awareness, he performed for the most part in action ballets where dance and pantomime come in succession, seamlessly; he excelled in the art of governing the movements of an entire ballet ensemble which, with him, earned the reputation by which he is known today. He was the first to achieve, in a lawsuit against Marius Petipa, the legal recognition of choreography as work of art.
Source: Encyclopedia Universalis
