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 - http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Perrot.html
- Giselle Notes, Choreographer -
http://androsdance.tripod.com/biographies/perrot_jules.htm
- Note and painting: ArteHistoria - Edgar
Hilaire Degas - Gallery -
http://www.artehistoria.com/frames.htm?http://www.artehistoria.com/historia/obras/1625.htm
- Photograph -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Perrot
- Cameo portrait -
http://www.balletto.net/giornale.php?articolo=729
|
Back |
|