Jules Perrot (1810-1892)

If you have seen the Degas paintings of the Paris Opera in ballet class [below], then you will have seen Jules Perrot. He is the ballet teacher in those images.

Born August 18, 1810 in Lyon, France, his father was a machinist in the theatre. It seems it was he who decided that Perrot should become a dancer. He began training at 9 but achieved early recognition by performing a parody of a famous entertainer of the day. He was a student of the French dancer Auguste Vestris (1760-1842) and the Italian choreographer Salatore Viganò. He began his career as a circus pantomimist and clown, and danced in provincial French theatres and at the age of 10 moved to Paris where he worked as a page by day and appeared as a super on stage at night. He also obtained engagements in the vaudeville houses performing his parodies. Eventually Perrot decided to put his talents to work in classical ballet.Born in Lyon,

Because of the unideal look of Perrot's body, Vestris instructed him "Jump from place to place, but never give the public time to study your person." He was later described thus: "Perrot is not handsome, he is extremely ugly. From the waist upward he has the proportions of a tenor; there is no need to say more; but from the waist downward he is delightful to look at. It hardly accords with modern views to discourse on a man's physical proportions; however, we cannot keep silent regarding Perrot's legs…The foot and knee joints are unusually slender, and counter-balance the somewhat feminine roundness of contour of his legs; which are at once soft an strong, elegant and supple; the legs of the youth in red hose, who breaks the symbolic wand across his knee, in Raphael's painting, The Marriage of the Virgin, are in the same style."

Perrot combined the best of Vestris' teaching of classical dance technique with his own knowledge of theatricality gained from his vaudeville experience. After performing in many places he finally danced at the Paris Opéra in La Musette de Portico in 1830. This first performance created a sensation. The critics called him "the greatest dancer of our time." He then partnered often with Marie Taglioni who became his lover (she later married a Count). His success was growing faster than that of his partner, so after a few seasons Marie refused to dance with him.

After leaving the Opéra, he toured European dance centers such as London, Milan, Vienna and Naples, where he met and noticed the talent of Carlotta Grisi. He coached her and presented her to the world as the next great ballerina in an 1836 performance in London with himself as her partner. In that same year Perrot began to experiment with the art of choreography. Bournonville, Perrot's classmate wrote, "I personally witnessed Perrot coach Carlotta Grisi in fragments from the principal part of some ballet with the idea of using it in Giselle." But Jean Coralli Peracini (usually called just Coralli), was the ballet master of the Paris Opera and he made sure that Perrot was not hired by the Opera. But he was more than happy to let Perrot work on his new ballet, Giselle. A love affair between Grisi and Gautier made Perrot's presence at the Opera impossible. After the premiere of Giselle, Coralli received unprecedented acclaim and he declared himself the sole choreographer of the ballet.

Following the success of his contributions to the choreography of Giselle, Perrot went on to choreograph Alma ou la Fille du Feu (1842 in London) for Fanny Cerrito, which was hailed as a major choreographic success. For the next six years he choreographed regularly at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, including Ondine (1843), La Esmeralda (1844) Le Jugement de Paris (1846) and the famous Pas de Quatre of July 12, 1845. For this ballet he not only negotiated the intricacies of persuading the four leading ballerinas of the day to appear on stage together, but also created a choreographic masterpiece.

Perrot was engaged first as a dancer, and then in 1851 as ballet master in St. Petersburg, where he remained until 1858. While there he married Capitoline Samovskaya, a pupil at the Imperial Theater School, with whom he had two children. He returned to Paris to a life of comparative leisure.

In 1848, Perrot, in search of steady employment, went to St. Petersburg, and was accepted into the Imperial Theatre in 1851 as a dancer, choreographer and ballet master. By 1859 Perrot, with his democratic inclinations, began to be a burden to the directors of the Imperial Theatre and had to leave. They said because he become homesick. Uncommitted about whether to remain in Russia or return to Paris, his mind was made up by an incident in his apartment. Without any apparent cause a large mirror fell from the wall and crashed into many small pieces.

When he returned to Paris after eleven years he couldn't adjust to the changes that had taken place in the Opera. His friend Degas used Perrot as his model for the ballet master in many of his paintings of ballets and dancers.

Perrot died on holiday in Paramé August 29, 1892. Like his rival Marie Taglioni, Perrot died destitute.

The following was published in Ballet Beat magazine:

The oldest ballet still being performed is La Fille mal gardée (1789), choreographed by Jean Dauberval. It was the first ballet to portray ordinary people, although the original choreography is not what we see today. While August Bournonville's La Sylphide (1836) is still in the repertory of many ballet companies, the most famous ballet seen almost every season is Giselle, originally choreographed in 1841.

Intrigue surrounded the ballet Giselle because, until recently, one of the choreographers was never given credit for his work. All the solos performed by Carlotta Grisi, the original Giselle, were set for her by Jules Perrot, and it is Perrot that I want us to know about.

Jules Perrot, circa 1850

Jules Perrot (1810-1882), a French dancer, was fired from the Paris Opera when he became more popular than his partner, Marie Taglioni. Marie's political power allowed her free rein at the Opera and she got what she wanted. Jules went to Naples where he met and fell in love with Carlotta Grisi and she became his common-law wife. Carlotta's brilliance as a dancer ranked her alongside of Taglioni and Elssler. She was invited to dance with the Paris Opera, but would not accept the contract unless they reinstated Perrot. Consequently, the Opera promised him that he could choreograph a couple of ballets. There wasn't immediate work for him so he occupied his time with Carlotta, creating variations that would later be in Giselle.

Giselle was such a success that it catapulted Carlotta to stardom. Jean Coralli, who was the ballet master at the Opera, got full credit for Giselle, and to make sure that no one knew of Perrot's contribution, Coralli had him dismissed again from the Opera. Perrot left his common-law wife to enjoy her success. He went to London and later danced Albrecht with Grisi at the King's Theater. Being a gifted dancer and choreographer he was in demand throughout the world.

Perrot is most famous today because, at the suggestion of Benjamin Lumley, he got four of the greatest ballerinas of the romantic period to dance together in the ballet Pas de Quartre (1845). Perrot persuaded Marie Taglioni, Carlotta Grisi, Lucile Grahn and Fanny Cerrito to perform in this famous ballet. There were only four performances with the original cast. It might have been called Pas de Cinq if Fanny Elssler had not been on tour. There was a problem with the order in which they were to appear, the last solo being the best spot. Benjamin Lumley solved the problem by suggesting that they dance according to their age, with the youngest first. Suddenly everyone wanted to be first, but it was decided that Grahn would lead, followed by Grisi then Cerrito and, finally, Taglioni. To make sure each ballerina looked their best, Perrot choreographed each variation around their special skills; so if they could turn then the variation had turns (or jumps or a beautiful line if they were the performer's forte). The ballet was simply a showcase for these famous dancers. Without the stars we would have never heard of it.

Anton Dolin, influenced by the famous lithograph by A.E. Chalon, revised Pas de Quatre in 1941 for Ballet Theater with Nana Gollner, Nina Stroganova, Alicia Alonso and Katharine Sergava. In Dolin's ballet he brought out the humor that must have surrounded these great dancers competing for the audience's approval. In his version it wasn't just four variations, but a study of the personalities that Dolin had researched.

Perrot went to St. Petersburg in 1848 in search of steady employment, and was accepted into the Maryinsky Ballet as a dancer, choreographer and artistic director. Perrot, who was a strong believer in democracy, felt the restrictions of the Tzar's rule a burden, and returned to Paris in 1859. After eleven years in exile management at the Opera had changed a number of times and he was not welcomed. They felt his style was outdated and adjusting was difficult for him. He retired with his Russian wife, Capitoline Samovskaya, and died in poverty.

Many of us are familiar with Perrot's image since Edgar Degas used Jules Perrot as his model for the ballet teacher in his paintings.

La clase de danza, 1873-75 (1), by Edgar Hilaire Degas
Oil on canvas, 85 x 75 cm.

Marie Taglioni ruled over the Paris Opera after her extraordinary success in La Sylphide, choreographed by her father, Filippo Taglioni. Marie made dancing on pointe so popular that it became a prerequisite for every female ballet dancer. With her success she became very temperamental, making demands on management that couldn't be satisfied.

Dr. Véron, director of the Paris Opera, heard of a younger and fiery dancer taking London by storm. When he saw her, Dr. Véron convinced Fanny Elssler to join the Paris Opera for the express purpose of giving Taglioni competition. Elssler's presence in the company soon caused Marie and her father to leave. The Taglionis found a new home at the Maryinsky in St. Petersburg and they had a new world to conquer.

Notes:

(1) Quizá sea ésta la escena de ballet más popular de Degas. En ella recoge uno de los salones del Teatro de la Ópera de París, donde dirige la clase el gran Jules Perrot, quien a sus 64 años era uno de los maestros más prestigiosos. A su alrededor gira la escena que contemplamos, formando las bailarinas un círculo imperfecto para escuchar los consejos y observaciones del ya legendario bailarín. En primer plano se sitúa una joven de espaldas y otra subida en el piano, rascándose la espalda. Las demás muchachas se recortan sobre la pared verde y el gran espejo enclavado en el vano de una puerta. Al fondo se sitúan las butacas reservadas para las madres que vigilaban la actuación individual de sus hijas, aunque aquí no se recoja ningún ensayo concreto. El gran protagonista del lienzo no es el anciano profesor sino el magnífico efecto de profundidad, obtenido a través de las líneas diagonales del suelo, la disposición de las bailarinas en el espacio y la esquina del fondo de la sala, que juega con la influencia de la fotografía al cortar los planos pictóricos - vemos una parte del zócalo del techo mientras que en la zona de la izquierda no lo podemos contemplar -. La sensación de movimiento es otra de las atracciones del maestro, que coloca a sus personajes siempre en diferentes posturas. Por supuesto, no debemos olvidar el interés por la luz, en este caso un potente foco de luz procedente de las ventanas de la derecha - una de las cuales se refleja en el espejo, dejando ver el cielo de París - que inunda la sala, resbala por los vestidos de las bailarinas y resalta los verdes, rojos y amarillos de cintas y lazos. Precisamente es la luz la que crea una sensación atmosférica especial, que llega a recordar a la de Velázquez, diluyendo los contornos de las figuras y otorgando aire al espacio. La mayoría de las escenas de danza de Degas muestra el esfuerzo y el intenso trabajo de las muchachas por poner una obra en escena. Se convierte de esta manera en el pintor de lo que hay al otro lado del telón, del maravilloso mundo del aprendizaje, más que del esplendor del espectáculo.

Sources:

Text: Andros on BalletNotes - Jules Perrot biography and Giselle Notes, Choreographer
Note and painting: ArteHistoria - Edgar Hilaire Degas - Gallery
Photograph - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Perrot
Cameo portrait - http://www.balletto.net/giornale.php?articolo=729

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