De Lafontaine
Mademoiselle De Lafontaine , also La Fontaine , (* 1655 in Paris , † 1738 ibid) was a French dancer. She is considered the first professional ballet dancer .
Together with Jean-Baptiste Lully , Pierre Beauchamp and others, De Lafontaine was closely associated with the development of the Opéra-ballet at the Académie royale de musique . In 1681 she danced in the first performance in which women appeared in a ballet. Here she made her debut as prima ballerina in Le Triomphe de l'amour , Lully's most successful work. Until then, female roles in ballets were always played by men. Although the mobility of the dancers was severely restricted by the almost floor-length costumes, the grace and grace of Mademoiselle La Fontaine must have been impressive, so that she was dubbed "la pure de la danse" even during her lifetime.
In the years 1681–1693 De Lafontaine danced the leading female roles at the Paris Opera in no fewer than 18 works, including Persée , Amadis , Didon and Le Temple de la Paix . After having had a lasting impact on the dance scene in Paris for over a decade, she retired to a monastery in 1693, where she died in 1738. Her students included u. a. Marie-Thérèse de Subligny .
literature
- Rebecca Harris-Warrick: Dance and Drama in French Baroque Opera: A History , Cambridge, 2016.
Web links
- Portrait of De Lafontaine in the role of Ceres
- Milena Pontes: A primeira mulher a dançar ballet publicamente: Mademoiselle Lafontaine
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b La Fontaine . Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
- ^ Mlle de Lafontaine . Oxford Reference. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
- ↑ La Fontaine . Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lafontaine, De |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lafontaine, Mademoiselle De (full name); Fontaine, La |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | french dancer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1655 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1738 |
| Place of death | Paris |