Caterina Beretta | |
|---|---|
 Newspaper cutting of Caterina Beretta dated in 1864 | |
| Born | December 8, 1839 |
| Died | January 1, 1911 (aged 71) Milan |
| Occupation(s) | Ballet dancer and dancing master |
| Spouse | Lorenzo Viena |
Caterina Beretta (8 December 1839 –1 January 1911) was an Italian ballet dancer and dance teacher. She was one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 19th century and was famous throughout Europe, appearing in London and Italy. [1]
Caterina Beretta was born on 8 December 1839 and was the daughter of a mime. She studied with Auguste Hus in the ballet school of the Teatro alla Scala. [2]
In 1853 she appeared in the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Les vêpres siciliennes in France. [3] [4] In 1855 she went to Paris to perform in Le Diable à Quatre and Jovita, ou Les Boucaniers Mexicains by Joseph Mazilier, where she was impressed to Théophile Gautier. On the contrary, she received negative reviews for her performance in The Four Seasons . [5]
In 1856 and 1857 in Milan and Rome she performanced in Shakespeare, ossia Un Sogno di una Notte d'Estate, by Giovanni Casati. Until 1871 she danced as prima ballerina at the Teatro Regio in Turin, where she alternated with performances at La Scala, La Fenice, and Teatro Pagliano. [2]
In 1877 she was maîtresse de ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, and also at La Scala between 1905 and 1908. Her students would eventually include Anna Pavlova, [6] Pierina Legnani, [7] Vera Trefilova,[ citation needed ] Tamara Karsavina, [8] Rosina Galli, [8] Ria Teresa Legnani, Marie Giuri, and Cia Fornaroli. [9] [10] [11]
La Scala is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as il Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.
Pierina Legnani was an Italian ballerina considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time.
A tutu is a dress worn as a costume in a classical ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It may be made of tarlatan, muslin, silk, tulle, gauze, or nylon. Modern tutus have two basic types: the Romantic tutu is soft and bell-shaped, reaching the calf or ankle; the Classical tutu is short and stiff, projecting horizontally from the waist and hip.
Prima ballerina assoluta is a title awarded to the most notable of female ballet dancers. To be recognised as a prima ballerina assoluta is a rare honour, traditionally reserved only for the most exceptional dancers of their generation. Originally inspired by the Italian ballet masters of the early Romantic ballet, and literally meaning absolute first ballerina, the title was bestowed on a prima ballerina who was considered to be exceptionally talented, above the standard of other leading ballerinas. The title is very rarely used today and recent uses have typically been symbolic, either in recognition of a prestigious international career, or for exceptional service to a particular ballet company. There is no universal procedure for designating who may receive the title, which has led to dispute in the ballet community over who can legitimately claim it. It is usually a ballet company that bestows the title, however some dancers have had the title officially sanctioned by a government or head of state, sometimes for political rather than artistic reasons. Less common is for a dancer to become identified as a prima ballerina assoluta as a result of public and critical opinion.
Enrico Cecchetti was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the Teatro Tordinona in Rome. After an illustrious career as a dancer in Europe, he went to dance for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he further honed his skills. Cecchetti was praised for his agility and strength in his performances, as well as his technical abilities in dance. By 1888, he was widely accepted as the greatest ballet virtuoso in the world.
Violette Verdy was a French ballerina, choreographer, teacher, and writer who worked as a dance company director with the Paris Opera Ballet in France and the Boston Ballet in the United States. From 1958 to 1977 she was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet where she performed in the world premieres of several works created specifically for her by choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She was Distinguished Professor of Music (Ballet) at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, in Bloomington, and the recipient of two medals from the French government.
Dame Monica Mason is a former ballet dancer, teacher, and director of The Royal Ballet. In more than fifty years with the company, she established a reputation as a versatile performer, a skilled rehearsal director, and a capable administrator.
The Dying Swan is a solo dance choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Cygne from Le Carnaval des animaux as a pièce d'occasion for the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who performed it about 4,000 times. The short ballet follows the last moments in the life of a swan, and was first presented in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. The ballet has since influenced modern interpretations of Odette in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and has inspired non-traditional interpretations as well as various adaptations.
La Scala Theatre Ballet School is one of the leading classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of La Scala Theatre Ballet, an international ballet company based at La Scala in Milan, Italy. The school forms part of the theatre's Academy for Performing Arts.
The La Scala Theatre Ballet is the resident classical ballet company at La Scala in Milan, Italy. One of the oldest and most renowned ballet companies in the world, the company pre-dates the theatre, but was officially founded at the inauguration of La Scala in 1778. Many leading dancers have performed with the company, including Mara Galeazzi, Alessandra Ferri, Viviana Durante, Roberto Bolle and Carla Fracci. The official associate school of the company is the La Scala Theatre Ballet School, a constituent of the La Scala Theatre Academy.
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, also titled Ballet Imperial, is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2. Ballet Imperial was choreographed for American Ballet Caravan's 1941 South American tour, and was aimed at showing that the Americans were capable of the classical ballet traditions. The ballet pays tribute to Tchaikovsky, the classical ballet choreographer Marius Petipa, and Imperial Saint Petersburg, where Balanchine received his ballet training. The ballet featured academic steps and alludes to Imperial Russia through the costumes and scenery. Ballet Imperial premiered on June 25, 1941, at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.
Vincenzo Celli was an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and teacher. He was known as a performer and choreographer in Italy, and in the US as a teacher of the Cecchetti method of ballet training.
Kathleen Crofton was an English dancer, dance director and dance teacher. She was founder of the Niagara Frontier Ballet and the Ballet Center of Buffalo.
Rita Sangalli was an Italian ballet dancer. Born in Antegnate, she danced in the Italian provinces of Asti, Piacenza, and Turin, making her 1865 debut at Milan's La Scala in Paul Taglioni's (1808-1884) Flik and Flok, before being hired for the opera at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. In 1872, she danced the principal role in La source at its successful revival. In the same year, she joined the Paris Opera Ballet, where she performed in numerous premieres, including in the role of Sylvia, Yedda (1879), and Namouna. She retired from the company in 1884. Sangalli toured America where she performed in The Black Crook and Flick Flock. In August 1901, Sangali and Marie Bonfanti performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, during the inaugural season of ballet at the New York City venue. She died in Carpesino d'Arcellasco, Italy.
Rosina Galli was an Italian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet mistress, and dance teacher. After early years in Italy, she moved to the US, where she was associated with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Prima ballerina at La Scala Theatre Ballet, and the Chicago Ballet, she was also the première danseuse at the Teatro di San Carlo and the Metropolitan Opera.
The important place of women in dance can be traced back to the origins of civilization. Cave paintings, Egyptian frescos, Indian statuettes, ancient Greek and Roman art and records of court traditions in China and Japan all testify to the important role women played in ritual and religious dancing from the start. In the Middle Ages, what has become known as ballet had its beginnings in Italian court festivals when women frequently played the parts of men. It was however in late 17th-century France that the Paris Opera produced the first celebrated ballerinas. While women began to dominate the ballet scene in the 18th century, it was with the advent of Romantic ballet in the 19th century that they became the undisputed centre of attraction with stars playing the leading roles in the works of Marius Petipa, appearing in theatres across Europe from Milan's La Scala to the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. More recently, women have played a leading role in developing various forms of modern dance including flamenco and expressionist dance.
Elena Smirnova was the last prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater in the Imperial period of Russia. Starring in many leading roles, she often performed choreography created by Marius Petipa and Boris G. Romanov. Participating in early films of Germany and Russia, she made eight silent films and participated in the premiers of both the Ballets Russes in Paris and in the first performance of Russian ballet in Japan.
Ivan Nikolayevich Khlyustin, usually referred to outside Russia as Ivan Clustine, was a Russian dancer, ballet master, and choreographer. He was "offered the position of ballet master and teacher at the Paris Opera, where he served from 1909 to 1914." He was then intermittently ballet master of Anna Pavlova's company until her death. Among his choreographies were La Péri (1912), Philotis, and Hansli le Bossu (1914).
Elisabetta Terabust was an Italian ballerina and company director. She trained at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and worked for the London Festival Ballet and the Ballet National de Marseille. Terabust served as director of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, La Scala, MaggioDanza of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and of the Corps de ballet at the Teatro di San Carlo at various points between 1990 and 2009. The primary ballet rehearsal room at the Teatro dell'Opera Di Roma Dancing School was renamed for her.
Vera Mikhailovna Krasovskaya was a Russian ballet historian, critic and dancer. She began her dancing career at the Leningrad Ballet School and graduated from it in 1933. Krasovskaya performed with the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre from 1933 to 1941 before stepping down to become a critic and studied at the Leningrad Ostrovsky Institute of Theatre. She published two volumes of four books on Russian ballet and went on to author a larger second volume focus on the history of ballet in Western Europe. Krasovskaya also wrote biographies on Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Natalia Dudinskaya, Irina Kolpakova, Nikita Dolgushin and Agrippina Vaganova. She was awarded the Triumph Prize in December 1998 for her contribution to Russian culture.
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