Marie taglioni ballerina biography

The Italian-French ballerina Marie Taglioni (1804-1884) revolutionized ballet with her graceful, almost evanescent dancing, introducing the spirituality of Romantic poetry and literature to the world of dance.

Taglioni, under the tutelage and influence of her choreographer father, fundamentally changed the way ballet looked.

Dancing en pointe—on the tips of her toes—she created the sensation that she was floating through the air, the perfect incarnation of the sylph or forest spirit she portrayed in her most famous ballet, La Sylphide. Her simple white garment, essentially the earliest instance of what became known as the tutu, influenced not only dance but also the world of fashion generally as young women strove to adopt a pale, insubstantial appearance.

Taglioni was one of the first true celebrities of 19th-century Europe, inspiring merchandise bearing her image that today would be called product tie-ins. In the words of Carol Lee, writing in Ballet in Wes