TheTravesty

DancerinNineteenth-Century
Ballet
LynnGarafola

More than any other era in the historyof ballet, the

nineteenth
centurybelongstotheballerina.She hauntsits
lithographsand paintings,an etherealcreaturetouched
withthecharmofanotherage. Yet even when she turned
into the fast, leggy ballerina of modern times, her
ideologysurvived.Iftodaytheartofballetcelebratesthe
danseurnearlyas oftenas thedanseuse,ithas yetto ridits
aestheticofyesterday'scultof the eternalfeminine.Like
hernineteenth-century
forbear,today'sballerina,an icon
and anorexicvulnerability,
inofteenyouth,athleticism,
carnates a feminineideal defined overwhelminglyby
men.
The nineteenthcenturydid indeedcreatethemystique
ofthe ballerina.But it also gave birthto one of the more
curious phenomena of ballet history.Beginningwith
a twenty-year
from
romanticism,
golden age stretching
theJulyRevolutionto about 1850,thedanseuseen travesti
usurpedthe positionof the male danseurin the corpsde
balletand as a partnerto theballerina.Steppingintoroles
previouslyfilledby men,women now impersonatedthe
sailor boys, hussars, and toreadors who made up
"masculine" contingentsof the corpsde ballet,even as
theydisplacedrealmen as romanticleads. Untilwell into
thetwentieth
thefemaledancerwho donnedthe
century,
muftiof a cavalier was a commonplaceof European
ballet.
In reallife,donningmen's clothingmeantassumingthe
power and prerogativesthat went with male identity.
on the stage,however,had quite different
Cross-dressing
implications.
Comingintovogueat a timeofmajorsocial,
economic,and aestheticchanges,it reflectedthe shiftof
balletfroma courtly,aristocratic
artto an entertainment
geared to the marketplaceand the tastes of a new
bourgeoispublic.
Thus thedanseurdid notvanishin Copenhagen,where
August Bournonvilleguided the destinyof the Royal
Theater for nearly five decades, or at the Maryinsky
Theaterin St. Petersburg,
whereMarius Petiparuledthe
Imperial Ballet for a similartenure. On these courtly
stages the male remained, even if eclipsed by the
ballerina.
Where he fought a losing battle was in those
centersthatstoodat theforefront
ofthenew
metropolitan
aesthetic-Parisand London.Attheprestigiouscradlesof
ballet romanticismin these cities,the Paris Opera and
King'sTheatre,he was edged graduallybut firmlyfrom
thelimelightby a transformation
in thesocial relationsof
balletas thoroughgoing
as the revolutiontakingplace in
itsart.

Unlike the theatersof the periphery,where governremainedintact,thoseof

mentcontrolofartsorganization
the European core operated, or began to operate, as
private enterprises.1
Entrepreneursstood at the helm,
withsubscriberspayingall or a substantialshare of the
costs-even at theParisOpera whichcontinuedto receive
afterlosingitsroyal
partialsubsidyfromthegovernment
licensein 1830. This changein theeconomicstructure
of
balletplaced the audience-particularlythe keygroupof
moniedsubscribers-ina new and powerfulposition.It
led to a new kind of starsystem,one based on drawing
forpurposes
power ratherthanrank,while eliminating,
ofeconomy,thepensionsand otherbenefitstraditionally
accruingto artistsin governmentemploy. The disappearanceof the male dancercoincidedwiththe triumph
ofromanticism
and marketplaceeconomics.
The ban on male talentwas not,strictlyspeaking,absolute.Even in thesecond halfofthe centuryin England
and on theContinent,
men continuedto appearin characterrolessuch as Dr. Coppelius,thedoddering,lovestruck
Pygmalionof Coppelia,partsthatdemanded of dancers
skill as actors and mimes and could be performedby
thoselongpast theirprime.Men on theballetstagewere
beardless
fine,it seemed,so longas theyleftitsyouthful,
heroesto theladies and so longas theywere elderlyand,
unattractive.
presumably,
Initially,then,the "travesty"problemdefinesitselfas
one of roles,specifically,
thatof the romantichero,who
incarnated,along with his ballerina counterpart,the
idealizedpoeticof nineteenthcenturyballet.In the new
era opened by theJulyRevolution,thisaestheticand the
stylesofmasculinedancingassociatedwithitsexpression
became gradually"feminized."Scornedby audiencesas
unmanly,theybecame the propertyof the danseuseen
that curious androgynewho invoked both the
travesti,
highpoetic and the bordelloundersideof romanticand
ballet.
post-romantic
Althoughtravestyroles were not unknown before
1789, they were rare, especially in the so-calledgenre
noble,themostelevatedoftheeighteenth
century'sthree
balleticstyles.2Indeed, its mostdistinguished
exponents
were men, dancerslike AugusteVestris,who broughta
supremeeleganceand beautyof personto the stageand
majestic perfectionto the adagios regarded as the
touchstoneof theirart.No one embodiedmorethanthe
danseurnoblethe courtlyoriginsof ballet,its aristocratic
manner, and the masculinityof a refined,leisured
society.
Alreadyby 1820,the danseurnobleappealed to a very
Dance ResearchJournal17/2& 18/1[1985-86) 35

"Ratsd'opera,"Paris,1854."Rat" was theslangexpression

forthe
balletgirl.Notetherapturous
on thefacesoftheelderly
expression
inthestageboxandthemanwiththeoperaglasses.Note,
gentlemen
too,the youthof the dancersand theireyes,trainedon theiradmirers.

A caricature
oftheperiodthatleaveslittledoubtofthegrowing
contemptforthemaledancer.

limitedpublic-connoisseurs
and menof refined
tastes.
numbersfromthemiddleclasseswho
To theincreasing
theParisOperainthelateryearsofthe
begantofrequent
hismeasured
andold-fashioned
dress
Restoration,
dignity
manlikethegenrenobleitself,
thearistocratic
betrayed,
oftheAncienRegime.
nerandfrippery
In thechanging
socialclimateofthe1820s,then,a new
kindofgendering
was underway.
The menabouttown
who formedthe backboneof the growingbourgeois
of
publicsaw littleto admirein thestatelyrefinements
the danseurnoble.Their taste, instead,ran to the
likeAnofa danseur
dedemi-caract&re
virtuosity
energized
toinePaul whoseacrobaticleaps and multiplespinsoflives.
feredan analogueoftheirownactive,helter-skelter
offeeling
embodied
Thehighpoeticofballet,theloftiness
noble,cameto be seenas notmerelyobbythedanseur
of romansolete,but also unmanly.Withthe triumph
ticism
andthenew,ethereal
styleofMarieTaglioniinthe
and gracebecame
early1830s,poetry,expressiveness,
theexclusivedomainoftheballerina.Atthesametime,
of pointe
advancesin technique,especiallythe refining
overthemale:shenow
work,gavehera secondvictory
ofthedanseur
addedtoherarsenaloftricks
thevirtuosity
dedemi-caractere.
By 1840,a criticcouldwrite,"Ifmale
nolongercharmsandattracts
today,itis because
dancing
hereis no Sylphide,no magic-winged
fairycapableof
thatis
sucha miracleand doingsomething
performing
ina maledancer."3
endurable
In appropriating
the aestheticidealismand virtuoso
associatedwiththeoldergenresofmaledanctechnique
himto
thedanseur,
unmanned
reducing
ing,theballerina
Buthergainhad
andoccasional"lifter."
comiccharacter
of
morelastingeventhanthebanishment
another
effect,
withromanthemalefromthedance stage.Beginning
thenineteenth
ticism
andcontinuing
century,
throughout
itselfbecametheideologyof ballet,indeed,
femininity
oftheart.Ideology,
turned
theverydefinition
however,
ballet
Evenas nineteenth-century
outtobe a falsefriend.
it on a pedestalto be worexaltedthefeminine,
setting
shipped,its social realitydebased the danseuse as
a woman,andan artist.
worker,
erawithitstriumphant
Fromtheromantic
bourgeoisie
and market
ethoscamethedual stigmaofworking-class
thatbrandedthewoman
and sexualimpropriety
origins
dancerwell into the twentiethcentury.The great
ballerinas
continued,
by and large,to emergefromthe
clans thathad survivedfromthe eighteenth
theatrical
and
a kind of caste thattrained,promoted,
century,

itsdaughters.
forinstance,
arrivedin
protected
(Taglioni,
Parisin 1827witha brother
to partner
herand a father
who coachedher,choreographed
forher,and actedas
herpersonalmanager.)The rest,however,belongedto
theurbanslums."Mostof thedancers,"wroteAlberic
Secondin 1844,"first
sawthelightofdayina concierge's
summedup thelotofthemajority
lodge."4Bournonville
littleeducation,
and wretchsuccinctly-humble
origins,
ed salaries.5
Poverty, naturally, invites sexual exploitation,
of flexiblemorals.(Liaisons
especiallyin a profession
sweetenalmosteveryballerina
In the1830s,
biography.)6
however,the backstageof the Paris Oplra becamea
venue of sexualassignation,
counprivileged
officially
tenanced
andabetted.Eliminating
olderforms
of"caste"
separation,the theater's enterprising
management
dangledbeforetheelectofitspayingpublica commodity
of indisputable
rarityand cachet-itsfemalecorpsof
dancers.
theinsideoftheoldParisOpera.
Imaginefora moment
tierby tierfromthegods,we moveup the
Descending
socialscale,until,finally,
we standat thegoldenhorseshoe of wealth,privilege,
and powerwhere,in boxes
on eitherside of the proscenium,
sit the
three-deep
oftheJockey
Club.
pleasure-minded
sportsmen
As theOpera'smostinfluential
theoccupants
abonnes,
oftheselogesinfernales-all
cermale,ofcourse-enjoyed
tainprivileges:
therunofthecoulisses,
forexample,and
entryto theFoyerde la Danse,a largeroomlinedwith
barresand mirrors
just behindthe stage.Before1830,
lackeysin royalliveryhadwardedprying
eyesfromthis
studio.Whenthenewregimeturned
theOpara
warm-up
over to privatemanagement,
the Foyerde la Danse
function.7
No longerofflimitstomen
acquireda different
ofwealthand fashion,
beforeand afterperformances
it
becamean exclusivemaisonclose,withmadamsin the
terms.Nowherewas the
shap of mothersarranging
claevokedtimeandagaininlithographs
andpaintings,
betweentheidealizedfemininity
ofballeticideology
and
the realityof femaleexploitation
so striking
as in the
corridors.
Opera'sbackstage
in dancers'bodieswas notpeculiarto
The commerce
Paris.In London,remarked
itlackedeven
Bournonville,
the pretension
of gallantry
thataccompaniedsuch exchangesacrosstheChannel.To be sure,somedancersdid
eventually
marrytheir"protectors."
Many morebore
childrenout of wedlock,sendingthemin secrecyto
distant
relations
orcountry
families
tobe reared.Nordid

36 Dance ResearchJournal17/2& 18/1(1985-86)

Caricature
byMarcelinofEugenieFiocreas Frantzin CoppAlia.

marriagesbetweendancersfarewell in thisatmosphere
of libertinage:one thinksof the choreographerArthur
Saint-Ion, Fanny Cerrito's on and off-stagepartner,
who, jealous of the giftsshoweredon his beautifuland
brilliantwife (which he could neither duplicate nor
reciprocate),leftthe field of battle to his competitors.8
The association of ballet and prostitutionwas so pervasive thatIvor Guest in his historyof ballet under the
Second Empire makes a special point of noting the
Opera's good girls-modelwives,midnightpoets,authors
ofbooks ofreligiousreflections.
Butsuch cases were only
exceptions.For pleasure-lovingParis, dancers were the
creamofthedemi-monde.
Aestheticstoday stressesthe dancer's symbolicfunction: it views physicalprcsenceas the formof dance itself. In the nineteenthcentury,however, the danseuse
was firstand foremosta woman. Like her audience, she
saw the task of balletas one of charmingthe sensibility,
notelevatingthe mind.Tiltingher face to the logesinfernales,flashingthebrilliantsofherlatestprotector,
making
oftechnique,she preup withcoquetrytheshortcomings
sentedherselfas a physicalsynecdoche,a dancerwithout
the dance. For the nineteenth-century
public, ballet offereda stagedreplayoftheclass and bordellopoliticsthat
ruled the theatercorridors.
Conventionalwisdom has it thattherewere two sorts
of romanticballerinas:"Christians"who evoked romanticism'sspiritualyearningsand supernalkingdoms,and
"pagans" who impersonatedits obsession with exotic,
carnal,and materialthemes.9Butthisparadigm,invented
by TheophileGautierto describethecontrasting
stylesof
Marie Taglioniand Fanny Elssler,is at best misleading.
For no matterhow patlythevirgin/whore
scheme seems
to fittheideologyofromanticism,
itignoresboththedancer's totemicreaity-her positionwithinthe social order
of ballet-and that troublingthirdwho articulatedthe
commongroundoftheperiod'sballeticavatarsofEve. As
an emblem of wanton sexuality,feminizedmasculinity,
and amazon unviolability,the danseuseen travestisymbolized in her complexpersona the many shades of lust
danprojectedby theaudience on thenineteenth-century
cer.
Unliketheoldergenredistinctions
based on bodytype,
movement,and style, romanticism'sfemale tryptich
alignedballeticimagewitha hierarchyofclass and sexual

and BlancheMontaubry
in thedivertissement
of
AngelinaFioretti
Hamlet,an operabyAmboiseThomas(1868),choreographed
byLucienPetipa.

practice. If Taglioni's "aerial, virginal grace" evoked

romanticism's
quest fortheideal,italso summonedto the
stage the marriageabledemoiselle,chaste, demure, and
genteel.So, too, Elssler's "swooning,voluptuousarms,"
like her satins,laces, and gems, linked the concept of
materialismwith a particularmaterialreality-the enpleasuresofa grandehorizontale.
ticing,high-priced
The travestydancer practisednone of these symbolic
feminineconcealments.As shipboysand sailors,hussars
and toreadors,the proletariansof the Opera's corpsde
ballet donned breeches and skin-tighttrousers that
displayed to advantage the shapely legs, slim corseted
waists, and rounded hips, thighs,and buttocksof the
era's ideal figure.Like the prostitutesin fancydress in
Manet's "Ball at the Opera," the danseuse en travesti
brazenlyadvertisedher sexuality.She was the hussy of
theboulevardson theatricalparade.
fooledno one, norwas
The masqueradeoftransvestism
was always a woman,
itmeantto. The danseuseen travesti
and a highlydesirableone (a splendidfigurewas one of
therole'sprerequisites).She mayhave aped thestepsand
but she never impersonmotionsof the male performer,
ated his nature.Whataudienceswantedwas a masculine
image deprived of maleness, an idealized adolescent,a
beardlessshe-man.Gautier,in particular,was repelledby
the ruggedphysicalityof the danseur,that "species of
as he called him.-0"Nothing,"he wrote,
monstrosity,"
thana man who shows his red neck,
"is moredistasteful
his big musculararms,his legswiththecalves ofa parish
beadle, and all his strongmassiveframeshakenby leaps
and pirouettes.
"''
His critical colleague, Jules Janin, shared Gautier's
prejudices:even thegreatestofdanseurspaled againstthe
delicate figure,shapely leg, and facial beauty of the
travestydancer.Janin,however,added anotherelement
to Gautier'slistof characteristics
unbecomingin a male
dancer - power. No real man, that is, no upstanding
memberof the new bourgeoisorder,could impersonate
the poetic idealism of the ballet hero withoutungenderinghimself,without,in short,becominga woman in
male drag.Janin'sremarks,publishedin theJournaldes
Debats, are worthquoting at length:
Speak to us of a prettydancinggirlwho displaysthe
all the
grace of her figure,who reveals so fleetingly
Dance ResearchJournal17/2& 18/111985-86) 37

LhF
oR:ZnaRcar
n
l86)
anyEsse

ergsinL

treasures
of her beauty.ThankGod, I understand
I know what this lovelycreature
thatperfectly,
wishesus,andI wouldwillingly
followherwherever
shewishesin thesweetlandoflove.Buta man,as
fellowwholeapsabout
uglyas youandI, a wretched
without
why,a creature
speciallymadeto
knowing
carrya musketand a swordand to weara uniform.
Thatthisfellowshoulddance as a womandoes Thatthisbewhiskered
individual
whois
impossible!
an elector,a municipal
a pillarof the community,
a manwhosebusinessitis tomakeand ...
councillor,
unmakelaws,shouldcomebeforeus in a tunicof
satin,his head coveredwitha hatwitha
sky-blue
wavingplume amorouslycaressinghis cheek,a
danseuseof the male sex ... thiswas surely
frightful

andwe havedonewellto
andintolerable,
impossible

remove such ... artistsfromour pleasures. Today,

womanis
thankstothisrevolution
we haveeffected,

thequeen of ballet ... no longerforcedto cut offhalf

init.Todaythe
todressherpartner
hersilkpetticoat
exceptas a useful
dancingmanis no longertolerated

accessory.12

As theconceptofmasculinity
aligneditselfwithproducof the danseurbecame
tivity,the effeminate
sterility
toballet'slargemalepublic.
unacceptable
Butindefining
defined
poweras male,Janinimplicitly
as female.In photographs
ofthedanseuse
powerlessness
entravesti
themoder
posedwithherfemalecounterpart,
ofscale,a reduction
notonlyin
eyenotesa curtailment
theheightand girthofthemasculinefigure,
butin the
of theimagedsexes.Whatis missing,
physicalcontrast
aboveall,is thesuggestion
ofdominance,
thatintimation
ofpowerthateven themostself-effacing
danseurcommunicates
tohisaudience.In appropriating
themalerole,
thetravesty
dancerstripped
thatroleofpower.
In eliminating
the danseur,ballet turnedout the
in-houseobstacleto sexuallicense.Withthe
remaining
declineof the clan, onlyhis lust,thatlast bastionof
andtheschemeso artpower,stoodbetweenthedanseuse
ull contrived
of balletforthe
by the entrepreneurs
milionairelibertines
oftheaudience.Forwhatwas the
Thankstothetravesty
Operaifnottheirprivateseraglio?
dancer,no male now could destroythepeace of their
of performance
as
privateharemor theirenjoyment
topossession.
foreplay
In appearance,the feminine
laid claimto
androgyne
anothereroticnexus.Tall, imposing,
and majestic,she
addedto thecharmofwantonness
thechallengeofthe
38 Dance ResearchJournal17/2& 18/1(1985-86J

Me

~~~~~?:::::::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i:jI.
~ ~ ~I~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~*:
'Iguvle(15);LuieMrqe

rzi

(16)

amazon,that untamedDiana who so fascinatedthe

In Gautier'sdescription
imagination.
nineteenth-century
of EugenieFiocreas Cupidin Nemea,notethesapphic
allusions.
in a more
CertainlyLove was neverpersonified
or morecharming
body.Mle. Fiocrehas
graceful,
bothof the
managedto compoundthe perfection
younggirland oftheyouth,and to makeofthema
sexlessbeauty,whichis beautyitself.
Shemight
have
beenhewnfroma blockofParosmarblebya Greek
and animatedby a miraclesuchas thatof
sculptor,
Galatea.To thepurityofmarble,she adds thesupare developedand
plenessof life.Her movements
balancedin a sovereign
admirable
harmony...What
wouldenvythem!Whatan
legs!Diana thehuntress
easy, proud and tranquilgrace! What modest,
measuredgestures!...Socorrect,rhythmical
and
nobleis hermimingthat,likethatofthemimesof
old,it mightbe accompaniedby two unseenfluteIfPsychesawthisCupidshemight
the
players.
forget
original.13

beautiful
womanwhocreated
Fiocre,an exceptionally
theroleofFrantzinCoppelia,
wasoneofthemostfamous
heroesofthe1860sand 1870s.Likea numberof
travesty
shesharedtheboardswitha sister,
whose
Op6radancers,
as
shapelylimbscommanded
nearlyas muchadmiration
hersibling's.
sisterpairofthe
Byfar,themostfascinating
werethe Elsslers-Fanny,
the romantic
century
temptresswiththebodyofa "hermaphrodite
ofantiquity,"'4
and Therese,herpartner
and faithful
cavalier.ForoVer
ten years they danced together,
lived together,
and
traveledtogether.
On stagetheycommunicated
a veiled
whileoffstage
theirrelationship
a
eroticism,
suggested
feminized
relicoftheolderclansystem.
A giraffe
of a dancerat 5'6", the "majestic"Ther'ese
servedherdiminutive
sisterinthemultiple
rolesreserved
inan oldererafortheballerina's
nextofkin.Shehandled
all ofFanny'sbusinessaffairs,
decidedwhereand what
sheshoulddance,andstaged,without
credit,
manyofthe
balletsand numbersin which theyappeared.As a
woman,however,Thereselackedtheclan'spatriarchal
while as a dancer,she would always be
authority,
without
thewealthand powerofthe "protectors"
who
materialized
behindthescenes- promoting
increasingly
fundsas wellas maintaining
dancers
favorites,
dispensing
andtheirimpoverished
families.
Indeed,onesuchprotector,theself-styled
Marquisde La Valette,who became

Fanny'slover in 1837, eventuallydestroyedthe sororial

menage:his scornforthe ex-dancerwho sharedher bed
forcedThereseto leave.
One expectsthatthe likesofthe Marquis de La Valette
relishedthesightofhis Elsslergirlscharmingconfreresof
thelogesinferales.But one also suspectsthatthetravesty
pas de deux was not so completelyunsexed as the
householdhe ruled. Certainly,it had been neuteredby
thesubstitution
of a woman forthe man, but thathardly
means it was devoid of eroticcontent.Mightnot audiences have perceivedin thechoreographic
play offemale
bodies, somethingotherthan two women competingto
whetthejaded appetitesoflibertines?ConsiderGautier's
accountof a duet performedby the two Elsslers:
The pas executedby Mile. T. Elsslerand her sister
is charminglyarranged;there is one figurein particularwherethetwo sistersrunfromtheback-cloth
hand in hand, throwingforwardtheir legs-at the
same time,which surpasses everything
thatcan be
in
the
of
and
way
homogeneity,
accuracy,
imagined
precision.One mightalmostbe said to be the reflectionoftheother,and thateach comes forwardwitha
mirrorheld beside her, which follows her and
repeatsall hermovements.
Nothingis moresoothingand moreharmoniousto
the gaze than this dance at once so refinedand so
precise.
Fanny, to whom Theresa has given as ever the
moreimportant
part,displayeda child-likegrace,an
artless agility,and an adorable roguishness;her
Creole costumemade her look ravishing,or rather
she made thecostumelook ravishing.15
Th6resehad choreographedLa Voliere("The Aviary"
in English),whichlike herotherballetsand dances made
no use of men: she cast herselfin themasculinerole.Yet
in theirattire,whatstruckGautier
despitethedifferences
was the oneness of the pair: he saw them as refracted
imagesof a singleself,perfectand complete.In evoking
an Arcadiaof perpetualadolescence untroubledand untouchedby man, the travestyduet hintedat an ideal attainable only in the realms of art and the
imagination-notthe real world of stockbrokersand
municipalcouncillors.
Butdancingby itsverynatureis a physicalas much as
symbolicactivity.In the formalizedmatinggame of the
pas de deux,two women touchingand movingin
travesty
harmony conveyed an eroticismperhaps even more
compellingthan theirindividualphysical charms. The
fantasyof femalesat play forthe male eye is a staple of
a kind of travestyperformanceenacted
eroticliterature,
in theprivacyof the imagination.Ballet'stravestypas de
deuxgave public formto this privatefantasy,whetting
audience desire,while keepingsafelywithinthe bounds
with
of decorum.For ultimately,
sapphiclove interfered
ofthe seraglioas muchas theobthesmoothfunctioning
streperousmale. In the case of the Elsslers, where
Thereseseems to have animatedher choreographywith
akinto personalfeeling,theincesttaboocoded
something
as sisterlydevotionwhatmightotherwisehave been construedas love. And one cannot help thinkingthat the
buxom travestyheroes of the Second Empire and subsequent decades flauntedan outrageousfemininityto
ward offthe sapphism immanentin theirroles. In so
doing, however, ballet robbed the danseuse of erotic
mystery.
Today,thanksto the exampleof the BalletsTrocadero,
ofwe are apt to thinkthattravestyin dance inherently
fersa critiqueof sexual role playing.But the travesty
dancers of nineteenth-century
ballet offeredno medi-

"La Belle" Otero

tation on the usages of gender, no critical perspective on the sexual politics that ruled their lives, no
revelationof the ways masculine and femininewere
imaged on the ballet stage. What they exemplifiedwas
the triumph of bordello politics ideologized as the
femininemystique-a politicsand an ideologyimposed
by men who remainedin fullcontrolofballetthroughout
the centuryas teachers,critics,choreographers,spectators,and artisticdirectors.
The advent in 1909 of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with
its dynamic new aesthetic shattered the travesty
paradigm.Seeing real men on the stage in choreography
thatexploitedthe strength,
athleticism,and scale of the
male body simplyelectrifiedaudiences,causingthemto
look anew at the travestydancer. But the audience itself
had changeddramatically.The new followingforballet
came fromthehighlysophisticatedmilieuof le toutParis.
The greatconnoisseurs,collectors,musical patrons,and
salonnieresof the Frenchcapital-many of whom were
women-replaced thesportsmenand rouesofthelogesinfemales.At the same time a new androgynousthematic
and iconography,particularlyevidentin works created
for Nijinskywhere images of sexual heterodoxytransregressedrigidcategoriesofmasculinityand femininity,
genderedthe ideologyof ballet,endingthe reignof the
had
femininemystique.The era ofthedanseuseen travesti
cometo an end.
NOTES
1. Forthedramatic
oftheParisOperaafter
changesintheorganization

the Revolutionof 1830, see Ivor Guest, The RomanticBallet in Paris,

forewords
Ninette
de Valoisand LillianMoore,2nded. rev.(London:
Dance Books,1980),pp. 22-25.In England,nineteenth-century
ballet
in a commercial
appearedexclusively
setting.
JohnEbers,a former
ticketagent,assumedthemanagement
oftheKing'sTheatrein 1820,
an association
thatendedinbankruptcy
in 1827.He was succeededin
1828byPierreLaporte,
ofthe 1832season,
who,withtheexception
controlled
theoperahouseuntilhis deathin 1841,whereupon
Beninchargeoffinances
since1836,assumedthetheater's
jaminLumley,
In thehandsofthissolicitor/impresario,
Her Majesty's
management.
entered
(astheKing'sTheatrehadbeenrenamed)
uponan eraofglory.
In the 1830sand 1840s,underthemanagement
ofAlfredBunn,the
Theatre
venueforballet.
Royal,DruryLanebecameanother
important
Duringthelatter
partofthenineteenth
century
up totheeveofWorld
WarI, balletlivedon in themusic-halls,
above all, theEmpireand
Alhambra.Ivor Guest, TheRomanticBalletinEngland:Its Development,
andDecline(London:PhoenixHouse,1954),pp. 33,46, 83Fulfilment

Ballet(London:SocietyforTheatreResearch,
87, 128-131;TheEmpire
Autumn1959.
Ballet,"DancePerspectives,
1962);"TheAlhambra
Dance ResearchJournal17/2& 18/1(1985-861 39

In France, it should be noted,the commercialboulevardstage was

the breedinggroundfortheatricalromanticism.Long beforethe Paris
Opera's Robertle Diable, usuallyconsideredthe officialpointof departureforromanticballet,spectaculartechniquesand supernaturaleffects were commonplace in the melodramas and vaudevilles of the
popular theaters.Ballet was an importantcomponentof these spectacles. Indeed, itwas at theaterslike theThatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin,which maintaineda residenttroupeand regularlypresentednew
ballets and revivals,that the aerial style of dancing associated with
romanticismbegan to crystallizeearlyin the 1820s. Amongthetalents
associatedwiththe floweringofromanticballetat the ParisOpera who
gainedearlyexperienceon the boulevardstagewere JeanCoralli,who
producedseveralballetsat the Th6etrede la Galte.Guest, TheRomanticBalletin Paris,pp. 4-5, 13-14,16, AppendixD, pp. 272-274; Marian
Ballet (London: Pitman,1974), pp.
Hannah Winter,The Pre-Romantic
178-179,193-197.
2. Some instancesof genderswappingpriorto the nineteenthcentury
are Marie Salle's appearance as Amourin Handel's Alcina(whichSalle
choreographedherself)and the threegraces impersonatedby men in
Plathee,Jean-PhilippeRameau's spoof of his own operaticstyle.The
loverin disguisea la Shakespeare'sTwelfth
Nightwas a popularconceit
that called forcross-dressing.I am gratefulto CatherineTurocy for
this information.For the response of the London audience to Salle's
performance,see Parmenia Migel, The BallerinasFrom the Courtof
LouisXIV toPavlova(1972; rpt.New York:Da Capo, 1980),p. 25.
BalletinParis,p. 1.
3. Le Constitutionnel,
quoted in Guest,TheRomantic
4. Les PetitsMysteresde l'Opera,quoted in Guest, The RomanticBallet
inParis,p. 25.
5. AugustBournonville,My TheatreLife,trans.PatriciaN. McAndrew
(Middletown:WesleyanUniv. Press,1979),p. 52.
6. Fanny Cerrito's liaison with the Marques de Bedmar, Carlotta
Grisi's withPrinceRadziwill,Fanny Elssler'swiththe Marquis de La
Valette, Pauline Duvernay's with (among others)Valette and Lyne
Stephens,and Elisa Scheffer'swiththe Earl of Pembrokeare a few of

40 Dance ResearchJournal17/2& 18/1(1985-86)

the romances that dot the ballet chronicleof the 1830s, 1840s, and
1850s.
7. For the changes introducedby Dr. Louis Veronat the Paris Opera
afterthe Revolutionof 1830, see Guest,TheRomanticBalletinParis,p.
28. Under Ebers,the Green Room builtat the Kings'sTheatreperformed a similarfunctionas the Foyerde la Danse, while at DruryLane,
Bunn allowed the more influentialpatronsthe run of the coulisses.
Procuressesof "of theworsttype"circulatedbackstageat DruryLane,
among them the blackmailingbeauty specialistknown as Madame
Rachel. Guest,TheRomanticBalletinEngland,pp. 36-37,113.
8. Migel, The Ballerinas,p. 218. Married in 1845 (to the chagrinof
Cerrito'sparentswho had hoped fora son-in-lawwitha fortuneor at
herliaison
leasta title),thecouple brokeup in 1851. Shortlythereafter,
withthe Marques de Bedar became public knowledge.When rumors
beganto circulatein 1844 about Cerrito'simpendingmarriageto SaintLeon, the ballerina's London admirers,headed by Lord MacDonald,
created a public disturbance when Saint-Leon appeared onstage.
thedancerstoppedbeforetheirbox and with
Duringone performance,
a "sarcasticgrin"and an "indescribablegesture"hissedmenacinglyat
Lord Macdonald. The word cochonwas heard to leave Saint-Leon's
mouth,a grossimpertinencecomingfroma dancer. Saint-LIon'swritten apologyappeared in the Timesa few days later.Ivor Guest,Fanny
Cerrito:The Lifeofa RomanticBallerina, 2nd ed. rev. (London: Dance
Books, 1974),p. 85.
9. "Fanny Elsslerin 'La Tempete'," in The RomanticBalletas Seen by
TheophileGautier,trans.CyrilW. Beaumont(London, 1932; rpt.New
York:ArnoPress,1980),p. 16.
10. "Perrotand CarlottaGrisiin 'Le Zingaro',"ibid.,p. 44.
11. "The Elsslersin 'La Voliere',"ibid.,p. 24.
12. 2 March 1840,quoted in Guest,RomanticBallet,p. 21.
13. Quoted in IvorGuest,TheBalletoftheSecondEmpire(Middletown:
WesleyanUniv. Press,1974),p. 200.
14. "FannyElssler,"in Gautier,p. 22.
15. "The Elsslersin 'La Voliere',"p. 24.