Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • 8/9/2019 Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet.

    1/7

    The Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet

    Author(s): Lynn GarafolaReviewed work(s):Source: Dance Research Journal, Vol. 17/18, Vol. 17, no. 2 - Vol. 18, no. 1 (Autumn, 1985 -Spring, 1986), pp. 35-40Published by: Congress on Research in DanceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478078 .

    Accessed: 09/11/2011 03:58

    Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

    JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of 

    content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

    of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

    Congress on Research in Dance is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Dance

     Research Journal.

    http://www.jstor.org

    http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=crdhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1478078?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1478078?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=crd

  • 8/9/2019 Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet.

    2/7

    The

    Travesty

    ancer

    n

    Nineteenth-Century

    allet

    Lynn

    arafola

    More

    than

    any

    other era

    in

    the

    history

    f

    ballet,

    the

    nineteenth

    entury elongs

    o the

    ballerina.

    he haunts ts

    lithographs

    nd

    paintings,

    n

    ethereal reature

    ouched

    with

    he

    charm f nother

    ge.

    Yet even when she turned

    into the fast, leggy ballerina of modern times, her

    ideology

    urvived.

    f

    today

    he

    artof

    ballet

    elebrates he

    danseur

    early

    s

    often

    s the

    danseuse,

    t has

    yet

    o

    rid ts

    aesthetic f

    yesterday's

    ultof the eternal

    eminine.

    ike

    her

    nineteenth-century

    orbear,

    oday's

    ballerina,

    n icon

    of

    teen

    youth,

    thleticism,

    nd

    anorexic

    ulnerability,

    n-

    carnates a feminine deal

    defined

    overwhelmingly

    y

    men.

    The

    nineteenth

    entury

    id

    indeed create he

    mystique

    of

    the

    ballerina.

    But t

    also

    gave

    birth o

    one

    of the more

    curious

    phenomena

    of

    ballet

    history.

    Beginning

    with

    romanticism,

    twenty-year

    olden age stretching

    rom

    the

    July

    Revolution

    o

    about

    1850,

    he danseuse

    n travesti

    usurped

    he

    position

    f

    the

    male danseur

    n

    the

    corps

    de

    ballet ndas a partnerotheballerina. teppingntoroles

    previously

    illed

    y

    men,

    women now

    impersonated

    he

    sailor

    boys,

    hussars,

    and

    toreadors who made

    up

    "masculine"

    contingents

    f the

    corps

    de

    ballet,

    ven as

    they

    isplaced

    real men

    as

    romantic

    eads. Until

    well

    nto

    the wentieth

    entury,

    hefemale ancerwho

    donned

    he

    mufti f a

    cavalier was a

    commonplace

    of

    European

    ballet.

    In real

    ife,

    onning

    men's

    clothing

    meant

    ssuming

    he

    power

    and

    prerogatives

    hat went with

    male

    identity.

    Cross-dressing

    nthe

    stage,

    however,

    had

    quite

    different

    implications.

    oming

    nto

    vogue

    at

    a

    time f

    major

    ocial,

    economic,

    nd

    aesthetic

    hanges,

    t

    reflected he shift f

    ballet

    from

    courtly,

    ristocraticrtto an

    entertainment

    geared

    to

    the

    marketplace

    nd

    the tastes

    of

    a

    new

    bourgeois ublic.

    Thus

    the

    danseur id

    not

    vanish

    n

    Copenhagen,

    where

    August

    Bournonville

    uided

    the

    destiny

    of the

    Royal

    Theater

    for

    nearly

    five

    decades,

    or at

    the

    Maryinsky

    Theater

    n

    St.

    Petersburg,

    here

    Marius

    Petipa

    ruled

    he

    Imperial

    Ballet

    for

    a

    similar

    tenure.

    On these

    courtly

    stages

    the male

    remained,

    even if

    eclipsed

    by

    the

    ballerina.

    Where he

    fought

    a

    losing

    battle

    was

    in

    those

    metropolitan

    enters

    hat

    tood t

    the

    forefrontf henew

    aesthetic-Paris nd

    London.At

    the

    prestigious

    radles f

    ballet

    romanticism

    n

    these

    cities,

    he Paris

    Opera

    and

    King's

    Theatre,

    he

    was

    edged

    gradually

    ut

    firmly

    rom

    the

    imelight

    y

    a

    transformationn

    thesocial relations f

    ballet s

    thoroughgoing

    s the

    revolution

    aking lace

    in

    its rt.

    Unlike

    the theaters f the

    periphery,

    where

    govern-

    ment

    ontrol

    f

    rts

    rganization

    emained

    ntact,

    hose

    f

    the

    European

    core

    operated,

    or

    began

    to

    operate,

    as

    privateenterprises.1ntrepreneurs

    tood at the

    helm,withsubscribers

    aying

    ll or a substantial hare ofthe

    costs-even at theParis

    Opera

    which ontinued o

    receive

    partial ubsidy

    rom he

    government

    fter

    osing

    ts

    royal

    license

    n

    1830. This

    change

    n

    the economic tructure

    f

    ballet

    placed

    the

    audience-particularly

    he

    key

    group

    of

    monied subscribers-in new

    and

    powerful

    osition.

    t

    led

    to a

    new

    kind of star

    ystem,

    ne

    based

    on

    drawing

    power

    rather

    han

    rank,

    while

    eliminating,

    or

    purposes

    of

    economy,

    he

    pensions

    nd

    other

    enefits

    raditionally

    accruing

    to artists

    n

    government

    mploy.

    The

    disap-

    pearance

    of the male

    dancer coincidedwiththe

    triumph

    ofromanticismnd

    marketplace

    conomics.

    The ban on male talent

    was

    not,

    trictlypeaking,

    b-

    solute.

    Even

    in

    the second

    half

    f the

    century

    n

    England

    andontheContinent, encontinued oappear ncharac-

    terroles uch

    as Dr.

    Coppelius,

    he

    doddering,

    ovestruck

    Pygmalion

    f

    Coppelia,

    parts

    that

    demanded

    of

    dancers

    skill as

    actors

    and

    mimes and

    could

    be

    performed

    y

    those

    ongpast

    their

    rime.

    Men

    on the

    ballet

    tage

    were

    fine,

    t

    seemed,

    o

    long

    s

    they

    eft ts

    youthful,

    eardless

    heroes

    o

    the adies and so

    long

    s

    they

    were

    elderly

    nd,

    presumably,

    nattractive.

    Initially,

    hen,

    he

    "travesty"

    roblem

    defines

    tself

    s

    one

    of

    roles,

    pecifically,

    hat

    f

    the romantic

    ero,

    who

    incarnated,

    long

    with

    his

    ballerina

    counterpart,

    he

    idealized

    poetic

    of

    nineteenth

    entury

    allet.

    n

    the

    new

    era

    opened by

    the

    July

    Revolution,

    his

    esthetic nd

    the

    styles

    f

    masculine

    ancing

    ssociatedwith ts

    xpression

    became

    gradually

    feminized." corned

    by

    audiences as

    unmanly, heybecame theproperty fthe danseuse n

    travesti,

    hat

    curious

    androgyne

    who

    invoked both the

    high

    poetic

    and the

    bordello

    underside f

    romantic

    nd

    post-romantic

    allet.

    Although

    ravesty

    oles

    were not unknown

    before

    1789,

    they

    were

    rare,

    especially

    n

    the

    so-called

    genre

    noble,

    he

    most

    levated

    of

    the

    eighteenth

    entury's

    hree

    balletic

    tyles.2

    ndeed,

    ts most

    distinguished

    xponents

    were

    men,

    dancers ike

    Auguste

    Vestris,

    who

    brought

    supreme

    legance

    nd

    beauty

    of

    person

    to the

    stage

    nd

    majestic

    perfection

    o

    the

    adagios

    regarded

    as

    the

    touchstone

    f

    their

    rt. No

    one

    embodied

    more thanthe

    danseur oble he

    courtly

    rigins

    f

    ballet,

    ts

    aristocratic

    manner,

    and

    the

    masculinity

    f a

    refined,

    eisured

    society.

    Alreadyby 1820,thedanseur oble ppealed to a very

    Dance

    Research

    ournal 7/2&

    18/1

    1985-86)

    35

  • 8/9/2019 Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet.

    3/7

    "Rats

    d'opera,"

    aris,

    854. "Rat" was

    the

    lang xpression

    or he

    ballet

    irl.

    Note

    he

    rapturousxpression

    n

    thefaces

    f

    he

    lderly

    gentlemen

    n

    the

    tage

    ox

    nd

    themanwith

    he

    pera

    lasses.

    Note,

    too,

    the

    youth

    f the

    dancers nd

    their

    yes,

    rained n

    their

    d-

    mirers.

    limited

    ublic-connoisseurs

    nd

    menof refinedastes.

    To

    the

    ncreasing

    umbers rom hemiddle

    lasses

    who

    began

    o

    frequent

    heParis

    Opera

    n

    the ater

    ears

    f he

    Restoration,ismeasuredignityndold-fashionedress

    betrayed,

    ike he

    genre

    oble

    tself,

    he ristocratic

    an-

    ner

    nd

    frippery

    ftheAncien

    egime.

    In

    the

    hanging

    ocial limate f he

    1820s,

    hen,

    new

    kind

    f

    gendering

    as

    underway.

    he men bout

    own

    who formed he backbone

    f the

    growing

    ourgeois

    public

    aw little o admire

    n

    the

    tately

    efinements

    f

    the danseurnoble. Their

    taste,

    nstead,

    ran

    to the

    energized

    irtuosity

    f danseuredemi-caract&reike

    An-

    toine

    aul

    whose crobatic

    eaps

    and

    multiplepins

    f-

    feredn

    analogue

    f

    heir wn

    ctive,

    elter-skelterives.

    The

    high oetic

    f

    ballet,

    he oftinessf

    feeling

    mbodied

    by

    thedanseur

    oble,

    ame

    to be seen s

    not

    merely

    b-

    solete,

    ut also

    unmanly.

    With he

    triumph

    f

    roman-

    ticismnd he

    new,

    thereal

    tyle

    f

    Marie

    aglioni

    n

    the

    early 830s, oetry,xpressiveness,ndgracebecame

    the xclusive omain

    ftheballerina. tthe ame

    ime,

    advances

    n

    technique,specially

    he

    refining

    f

    pointe

    work,

    ave

    her second

    ictory

    ver

    hemale: he now

    added oher rsenal

    f

    rickshe

    irtuosity

    f he

    anseur

    de demi-caractere.

    y

    1840,

    critic ould

    write,

    If

    male

    dancing

    o

    onger

    harms

    nd ttracts

    oday,

    t s because

    here s

    no

    Sylphide,

    o

    magic-winged

    airy apable

    of

    performing

    uch

    miracle nd

    doing

    omething

    hat s

    endurable

    n

    male

    dancer."3

    In

    appropriating

    he

    aestheticdealism nd virtuoso

    technique

    ssociated

    ith

    he

    lder

    enres

    fmaledanc-

    ing,

    he allerina nmanned

    he

    anseur,

    educing

    im

    o

    comic haracter

    nd occasional

    lifter."

    ut

    her

    gain

    had

    another

    ffect,

    ore

    asting

    ven han hebanishment

    f

    themale from hedancestage.Beginningith oman-

    ticismnd

    continuinghroughout

    henineteenth

    entury,

    femininity

    tself ecame

    he

    deology

    f

    ballet, ndeed,

    the

    ery

    efinitionf he

    rt.

    deology,

    owever,

    urned

    out obe

    a false riend.ven s

    nineteenth-century

    allet

    exalted

    he

    feminine,

    etting

    t

    on

    a

    pedestal

    o be wor-

    shipped,

    ts social

    reality

    ebased

    the

    danseuse

    as

    worker,

    woman,

    nd n

    artist.

    From he omantic

    rawith ts

    riumphantourgeoisie

    and marketthos

    amethe

    dual

    stigma

    f

    working-class

    origins

    nd sexual

    mpropriety

    hat randed

    hewoman

    dancer

    well into the twentieth

    entury.

    he

    great

    ballerinas

    ontinued,

    y

    and

    large,

    o

    emerge

    rom he

    theatrical

    lans

    that

    had

    survived

    rom he

    eighteenth

    century,

    kind

    of caste

    that

    trained,

    romoted,

    nd

    A

    caricaturef he

    period

    hat

    eaves ittle oubt f he

    growing

    on-

    tempt

    or he

    maledancer.

    protected

    ts

    daughters.

    Taglioni,

    or

    nstance,

    rrived

    n

    Paris n

    1827

    with

    brothero

    partner

    er nd a

    father

    who

    coached

    her,

    horeographed

    or

    her,

    nd

    acted

    s

    herpersonalmanager.)herest, owever, elongedo

    the

    urban lums.

    Most

    of the

    dancers,"

    wrote

    Alberic

    Second n

    1844,

    first

    aw the

    ight

    f

    day

    n

    concierge's

    lodge."4

    ournonvilleummed

    p

    the otof

    he

    majority

    succinctly-humblerigins,

    ittle

    ducation,

    nd

    wretch-

    ed

    salaries.5

    Poverty,

    naturally,

    nvites sexual

    exploitation,

    especially

    n

    a

    profession

    f

    flexible

    morals.

    Liaisons

    sweeten lmost

    very

    allerina

    iography.)6

    n

    the

    1830s,

    however,

    he

    backstage

    f the

    Paris

    Oplra

    became

    privileged

    enue of sexual

    assignation,

    fficially

    oun-

    tenancednd

    betted.

    liminating

    lder ormsf

    caste"

    separation,

    he

    theater's

    enterprising

    anagement

    dangled

    efore

    he lect f ts

    paying ublic commodity

    of

    indisputablearity

    nd

    cachet-itsfemale

    orps

    of

    dancers.

    Imagine

    or

    moment

    he nside f he

    ldParis

    Opera.

    Descending

    ier

    y

    tier

    romhe

    gods,

    we move

    up

    the

    social

    cale,

    until,

    inally,

    e

    stand

    t

    the

    golden

    orse-

    shoe of

    wealth,

    rivilege,

    nd

    power

    where,

    n

    boxes

    three-deep

    n either ide

    of the

    proscenium,

    it

    the

    pleasure-minded

    portsmen

    f

    he

    Jockey

    lub.

    AstheOpera's

    most nfluential

    bonnes,

    he

    ccupants

    of

    hese

    oges

    nfernales-all

    ale,

    f

    ourse-enjoyed

    er-

    tain

    rivileges:

    he

    run

    fthe

    oulisses,

    or

    xample,

    nd

    entry

    o

    the

    Foyer

    e

    la

    Danse,

    large

    oom inedwith

    barres

    nd

    mirrors

    ust

    behind

    he

    stage.

    Before

    830,

    lackeys

    n

    royal ivery

    ad

    warded

    ryingyes

    rom

    his

    warm-up

    tudio.When henew

    regime

    urned

    he

    Opara

    over to

    private

    management,

    he

    Foyer

    de la

    Danse

    acquired differentunction.7o ongerffimitsomen

    ofwealth nd

    fashion,

    efore

    nd

    after

    erformances

    t

    became n exclusivemaison

    lose,

    with

    madams

    n

    the

    shap

    of

    mothers

    rranging

    erms.Nowhere

    was the

    cla

    evoked

    ime nd

    gain

    n

    ithographs

    nd

    paintings,

    between he dealized

    emininity

    fballetic

    deology

    nd

    the

    reality

    f female

    xploitation

    o

    striking

    s

    in

    the

    Opera's

    ackstage

    orridors.

    The

    commerce

    n

    dancers'

    odieswas not

    peculiar

    o

    Paris.

    n

    London,

    emarked

    ournonville,

    t

    acked ven

    the

    pretension

    f

    gallantry

    hat

    ccompanied

    uch ex-

    changes

    cross heChannel.

    o be

    sure,

    ome ancers id

    eventually arry

    heir

    protectors."

    any

    morebore

    children ut of

    wedlock,

    ending

    hem

    n

    secrecy

    o

    distant

    elationsr

    country

    amilies

    obe reared.

    ordid

    36

    Dance

    Research

    ournal

    7/2

    & 18/1

    1985-86)

  • 8/9/2019 Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet.

    4/7

    Caricature

    y

    Marcelin

    f

    Eugenie

    iocre s

    Frantz

    n

    CoppAlia.

    marriages etween dancers farewell in this tmosphere

    of

    libertinage:

    ne thinksof the

    choreographer

    rthur

    Saint-Ion, Fanny

    Cerrito's

    on and

    off-stage

    artner,

    who,

    ealous

    of the

    gifts

    howered on his beautiful

    nd

    brilliantwife

    (which

    he could neither

    duplicate

    nor

    reciprocate),

    eft

    the

    field

    of

    battle to

    his

    competitors.8

    The

    association

    of ballet and

    prostitution

    as

    so

    per-

    vasive that vor Guest

    in

    his

    history

    f ballet under the

    Second

    Empire

    makes

    a

    special point

    of

    noting

    the

    Opera's good

    girls-model

    wives,midnight

    oets,

    uthors

    ofbooks of

    religious

    eflections.

    ut

    such cases

    were

    only

    exceptions.

    For

    pleasure-loving

    aris,

    dancers were the

    cream f

    he

    demi-monde.

    Aesthetics

    oday

    stresses

    he

    dancer's

    symbolic

    func-

    tion:

    t

    views

    physicalprcsence

    s the form f

    dance

    it-

    self. n the nineteenth entury, owever,the danseuse

    was first nd foremost

    woman.

    Like

    her

    audience,

    she

    saw

    the

    task

    ofballetas

    one

    of

    charming

    he

    sensibility,

    not

    elevating

    he

    mind.

    Tilting

    er face to the

    oges

    nfer-

    nales,

    lashing

    hebrilliants fher atest

    rotector,

    aking

    up

    with

    oquetry

    he

    hortcomings

    f

    technique,

    he

    pre-

    sentedherselfs a

    physical

    ynecdoche,

    dancer

    without

    the dance. For the

    nineteenth-centuryublic,

    ballet of-

    fered

    staged eplay

    f he

    class

    and

    bordello

    olitics

    hat

    ruled thetheater

    orridors.

    Conventionalwisdom has it that

    herewere

    two sorts

    of romantic allerinas:

    Christians"who

    evoked roman-

    ticism's

    piritual

    earnings

    nd

    supernalkingdoms,

    nd

    "pagans"

    who

    impersonated

    ts

    obsession with

    exotic,

    carnal,

    nd

    material hemes.9 ut

    this

    paradigm,

    nvented

    by TheophileGautier odescribe hecontrastingtyles f

    Marie

    Taglioni

    nd

    Fanny

    Elssler,

    s at

    best

    misleading.

    For no

    matter

    ow

    patly

    he

    virgin/whore

    chemeseems

    to fit he

    deology

    f

    romanticism,

    t

    gnores

    oth he

    danc-

    er's totemic

    eaity-her position

    within he social order

    of ballet-and that

    troubling

    hirdwho

    articulated

    he

    common

    round

    f he

    period's

    balletic

    vatars fEve.

    As

    an emblem

    of

    wanton

    sexuality,

    eminized

    masculinity,

    and amazon

    unviolability,

    he

    danseuse n travesti

    ym-

    bolized

    n

    her

    complexpersona

    the

    many

    shades of ust

    projected

    y

    the udience

    on the

    nineteenth-century

    an-

    cer.

    Unlike heolder

    genre

    distinctions

    ased on

    bodytype,

    movement,

    and

    style,

    romanticism's

    female

    tryptich

    aligned

    balletic

    mage

    with

    hierarchy

    fclass and sexual

    Angelina

    iorettind

    Blanche

    Montaubry

    n

    the divertissementf

    Hamlet,

    n

    operaby

    Amboise

    homas

    1868),

    horeographedy

    Lu-

    cien

    Petipa.

    practice.If Taglioni's "aerial, virginalgrace" evoked

    romanticism's

    uest

    for he

    deal,

    t

    lso summoned

    othe

    stage

    the

    marriageable

    demoiselle, haste, demure,

    and

    genteel.

    o,

    too,

    Elssler's

    "swooning,

    voluptuous

    rms,"

    like

    her

    satins, aces,

    and

    gems,

    linked the

    concept

    of

    materialism

    with a

    particular

    material

    reality-the

    en-

    ticing, igh-priced

    leasures

    f

    grande

    orizontale.

    The

    travesty

    ancer

    practised

    none of

    these

    symbolic

    feminine oncealments.

    As

    shipboys

    nd

    sailors,

    hussars

    and

    toreadors,

    he

    proletarians

    f the

    Opera's

    corps

    de

    ballet

    donned

    breeches

    and

    skin-tight

    rousers that

    displayed

    to

    advantage

    the

    shapely legs,

    slim corseted

    waists,

    and

    rounded

    hips,

    thighs,

    nd buttocks

    f the

    era's ideal

    figure.

    ike

    the

    prostitutes

    n

    fancy

    dress

    in

    Manet's

    "Ball

    at

    the

    Opera,"

    the danseuse

    en travesti

    brazenly dvertisedhersexuality. he was thehussyof

    theboulevards n theatrical

    arade.

    The

    masquerade

    of

    ransvestismooled

    no

    one,

    norwas

    it

    meant o.

    The danseuse

    n travesti as

    always

    a

    woman,

    and a

    highly

    esirableone

    (a

    splendid

    figure

    was one

    of

    therole's

    prerequisites).

    he

    may

    have

    aped

    the

    teps

    nd

    motions

    f the male

    performer,

    ut she never

    mperson-

    ated his

    nature.What udiences wanted

    was a masculine

    image deprived

    of

    maleness,

    an idealized

    adolescent,

    beardless

    he-man.

    Gautier,

    n

    particular,

    as

    repelled y

    the

    ruggedphysicality

    f the

    danseur,

    hat

    "species

    of

    monstrosity,"

    s

    he called

    him.-0

    Nothing,"

    he

    wrote,

    "is

    moredistastefulhan man who shows his red

    neck,

    his

    big

    muscular

    rms,

    his

    egs

    with he calves

    of

    parish

    beadle,

    and all his

    strong

    massive frame haken

    by leaps

    andpirouettes.''

    His

    critical

    colleague,

    Jules

    Janin,

    shared Gautier's

    prejudices:

    ven the

    greatest

    fdanseurs

    aled

    against

    he

    delicate

    figure, hapely

    leg,

    and

    facial

    beauty

    of the

    travesty

    ancer.

    Janin,

    owever,

    dded another lement

    to

    Gautier's

    ist

    of characteristics

    nbecoming

    n

    a male

    dancer

    -

    power.

    No real

    man,

    that

    s,

    no

    upstanding

    member f the new

    bourgeois

    rder,

    ould

    impersonate

    the

    poetic

    idealism

    of the

    ballet hero without

    ungen-

    dering

    himself,without,

    n

    short,

    ecoming woman

    in

    male

    drag.Janin's

    emarks,

    ublished

    n

    theJournal es

    Debats,

    are worth

    quoting

    at

    length:

    Speak

    to

    us

    of

    a

    pretty

    ancinggirl

    who

    displays

    he

    grace

    of

    her

    figure,

    who

    reveals

    so

    fleetingly

    ll

    the

    Dance

    Research

    ournal

    7/2

    & 18/1

    1985-86)

    37

  • 8/9/2019 Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet.

    5/7

    ~~~~~?:::::::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~*:

    L

    oR:ZnaRcar nF l86)

    anyEsse a ergsinL Me

    'Iguvle(15);LuieMrqe i rzi

    (16)

    treasuresf her

    beauty.

    hank

    God,

    I

    understand

    that

    perfectly,

    know what this

    ovely

    creature

    wishes

    s,

    nd would

    willingly

    ollow

    erwherever

    she wishesnthe weet andof ove.But man, s

    ugly

    s

    you

    nd

    ,

    a

    wretched

    ellow

    ho

    eaps

    bout

    without

    nowing

    hy,

    creature

    pecially

    madeto

    carry

    musket

    nd a sword nd to wear

    uniform.

    That hisfellowhould

    ance as a womandoes

    -

    impossible

    hat

    his ewhiskered

    ndividual ho

    s

    a

    pillar

    f the

    community,

    n

    elector,

    municipal

    councillor,

    manwhose usiness

    t s tomake

    nd ..

    unmake

    aws,

    should ome before

    s

    in

    a

    tunic

    f

    sky-blue

    atin,

    is head covered

    with hat with

    wavingplume

    amorously aressing

    is

    cheek,

    a

    frightful

    anseuse

    f the male sex

    ...

    this was

    surely

    impossible

    nd

    ntolerable,

    nd

    we

    havedonewell

    o

    remove such

    ...

    artists rom

    our

    pleasures.

    Today,

    thanksothis evolutione have

    ffected,

    oman s

    thequeen of ballet .. no longer orced ocutoffhalf

    her

    ilk

    etticoat

    odress er

    partner

    n t.

    Today

    he

    dancing

    man s no

    onger

    olerated

    xcept

    s

    a

    useful

    accessory.12

    As the

    oncept

    f

    masculinityligned

    tself ith

    roduc-

    tivity,

    he effeminate

    terility

    f the danseur

    ecame

    unacceptable

    o

    ballet's

    arge

    male

    public.

    But n

    defining

    ower

    s

    male,

    Janinmplicitly

    efined

    powerlessness

    s female.n

    photographs

    f

    thedanseuse

    en

    ravesti

    osed

    with

    er

    emale

    ounterpart,

    hemoder

    eye

    notes curtailment

    f

    cale,

    reduction ot

    only

    n

    the

    height

    nd

    girth

    fthe

    masculine

    igure,

    ut

    n

    the

    physical

    ontrastf the

    maged

    exes.

    What

    s

    missing,

    above

    ll,

    s the

    uggestion

    f

    dominance,

    hat

    ntimation

    of

    power

    hat

    ven the

    most

    elf-effacing

    anseur om-

    municatesohis udience.nappropriatinghemale ole,

    the

    ravesty

    ancer

    tripped

    hat ole

    f

    power.

    In

    eliminating

    he

    danseur,

    allet

    turnedout the

    remaining

    n-house

    bstacle

    o

    sexual

    icense.

    With

    he

    decline f the

    clan,

    only

    his

    lust,

    hat

    ast bastion f

    power,

    tood etween he anseusend

    he

    cheme o art-

    ull

    contrived

    y

    the

    entrepreneurs

    f

    balletfor he

    milionaireibertinesfthe

    udience. orwhat

    was the

    Opera

    f

    not heir

    rivateeraglio?

    hanks othe

    ravesty

    dancer,

    o

    male now could

    destroy

    he

    peace

    of their

    private

    aremor

    their

    njoyment

    f

    performance

    s

    foreplay

    o

    possession.

    In

    appearance,

    he feminine

    ndrogyne

    aid

    claim o

    another rotic exus.

    Tall,

    mposing,

    nd

    majestic,

    he

    addedto thecharm f

    wantonnesshe

    challenge

    f the

    amazon,

    hat untamed

    Diana who so fascinated

    he

    nineteenth-century

    magination.

    n Gautier's

    escription

    of

    Eugenie

    iocre s

    Cupid

    n

    Nemea,

    ote he

    sapphic

    allusions.

    Certainly

    ove was

    never

    personified

    n

    a

    more

    graceful,

    r more

    harming

    ody.Mle.

    Fiocrehas

    managed

    o

    compound

    he

    perfection

    othof the

    young

    irl

    nd of

    the

    youth,

    nd

    to makeofthem

    sexless

    eauty,

    hich s

    beauty

    tself.

    he

    might

    ave

    beenhewn rom

    block f

    Parosmarble

    y

    Greek

    sculptor,

    nd

    animated

    y

    a

    miracle

    uch s

    that

    f

    Galatea.To

    the

    purity

    f

    marble,

    he adds the

    up-

    pleness

    f ife.Her

    movementsre

    developed

    nd

    balanced

    n

    a

    sovereign

    armony...What

    dmirable

    legs

    Diana

    thehuntressould

    nvy

    hemWhat n

    easy, proud

    and

    tranquil

    grace

    What

    modest,

    measured

    gestures ...So

    orrect,

    hythmical

    nd

    noble

    s her

    miming

    hat,

    ikethat

    f the

    mimes f

    old, tmight e accompaniedytwo unseen lute-

    players.

    f

    Psyche

    awthis

    upid

    he

    might orget

    he

    original.13

    Fiocre,

    n

    exceptionally

    eautiful

    omanwhocreated

    the ole fFrantzn

    Coppelia,

    as

    oneof he

    most amous

    travesty

    eroes f he1860s nd

    1870s. ike

    number

    f

    Op6ra

    ancers,

    he hared he

    oards

    with

    sister,

    hose

    shapely

    imbs

    ommanded

    early

    s much

    dmiration

    s

    her

    ibling's. y

    far,

    he

    most

    ascinating

    ister

    air

    f he

    century

    ere

    the

    Elsslers-Fanny,

    he

    romantic

    empt-

    ress

    with

    he

    body

    f

    a

    "hermaphrodite

    f

    antiquity,"'4

    and

    Therese,

    er

    partner

    nd faithful

    avalier. or

    oVer

    ten

    years

    they

    danced

    together,

    ived

    together,

    nd

    traveled

    ogether.

    n

    stage hey

    ommunicated

    veiled

    eroticism,hileoffstageheir elationshipuggested

    feminizedelic f he lder

    lan

    ystem.

    A

    giraffe

    f

    a

    dancer t

    5'6",

    the

    "majestic"

    her'ese

    served er

    iminutiveister

    n

    he

    multiple

    oles eserved

    in

    n

    older rafor he allerina's ext

    f

    kin.

    he

    handled

    all of

    Fanny's

    usiness

    ffairs,

    ecidedwhere nd

    what

    she hould

    ance,

    nd

    taged,

    ithout

    redit,

    any

    f he

    ballets nd

    numbers

    n

    which

    they

    appeared.

    As

    a

    woman,

    owever,

    hereseacked heclan's

    patriarchal

    authority,

    hile as a

    dancer,

    he would

    always

    be

    without

    he

    wealth

    nd

    power

    f

    the

    "protectors"

    ho

    increasingly

    aterialized

    ehind he

    cenes-

    promoting

    favorites,ispensing

    unds s well s

    maintaining

    ancers

    and heir

    mpoverished

    amilies.

    ndeed,

    ne

    uch

    rotec-

    tor,

    he

    elf-styledarquis

    e La

    Valette,

    ho became

    38

    Dance Research

    ournal

    7/2

    & 18/1

    1985-86J

  • 8/9/2019 Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet.

    6/7

    Fanny's

    over

    n

    1837,

    eventually estroyed

    he sororial

    menage:

    his

    scorn

    for he ex-dancer

    who shared

    her

    bed

    forced herese

    o eave.

    One

    expects

    hat he ikesof the

    Marquis

    de La Valette

    relished he

    ight

    fhis Elssler

    girls

    harming

    onfreres

    f

    the

    oges

    nferales.

    But one also

    suspects

    hat he

    travesty

    pas

    de deux

    was not so

    completely

    unsexed

    as the

    householdhe ruled.

    Certainly,

    t

    had

    been

    neutered

    by

    the substitutionfa woman for he

    man,

    but that

    hardly

    means

    it

    was

    devoid of erotic ontent.

    Might

    not audi-

    ences haveperceived nthechoreographic layof female

    bodies,

    something

    ther han two women

    competing

    o

    whet

    the

    aded appetites

    f ibertines?

    onsider

    Gautier's

    account

    ofa duet

    performed

    y

    the twoElsslers:

    The

    pas

    executed

    by

    Mile.

    T.

    Elssler

    nd her sister

    is

    charmingly rranged;

    here s one

    figure

    n

    par-

    ticularwhere the

    two sisters un from he back-cloth

    hand in

    hand,

    throwing

    orward heir

    egs-at

    the

    same

    time,

    which

    surpasseseverything

    hat can be

    imagined

    n

    the

    way

    of

    homogeneity,ccuracy,

    nd

    precision.

    One

    might

    lmostbe said

    tobe

    the reflec-

    tion

    f

    the

    other,

    nd that ach comes forwardwith

    mirrorheld

    beside

    her,

    which follows her

    and

    repeats

    ll

    hermovements.

    Nothings moresoothingndmore harmonious o

    the

    gaze

    than

    this dance

    at once

    so

    refined nd so

    precise.

    Fanny,

    to whom Theresa has

    given

    as ever the

    more

    mportant art,displayed

    child-like

    race,

    n

    artless

    agility,

    nd an

    adorable

    roguishness;

    her

    Creole costume

    made her look

    ravishing,

    r rather

    she made thecostume ook

    ravishing.15

    Th6rese

    had

    choreographed

    a Voliere

    "The

    Aviary"

    in

    English),

    which

    ikeher other allets nd dances made

    no use of men:she cast herself

    n

    the

    masculinerole.

    Yet

    despite

    he

    differences

    n

    their

    ttire,

    hat struck

    Gautier

    was the oneness of the

    pair:

    he saw them

    as refracted

    images

    of a

    single

    elf,perfect

    nd

    complete.

    n

    evoking

    an Arcadiaof

    perpetual

    dolescence

    untroubled

    nd

    un-

    touchedbyman,thetravesty uet hinted t an ideal at-

    tainable

    only

    in

    the realms

    of

    art and the

    imagination-not

    the real world of stockbrokers

    nd

    municipal

    ouncillors.

    But

    dancing

    by

    ts

    very

    nature s a

    physical

    s

    much as

    symbolic

    ctivity.

    n

    theformalized

    mating ame

    of the

    travesty

    as

    de

    deux,

    wo

    women

    touching

    nd

    moving

    n

    harmony

    conveyed

    an

    eroticism

    perhaps

    even more

    compelling

    han

    their

    ndividual

    physical

    charms.

    The

    fantasy

    f

    females

    t

    play

    for he

    male

    eye

    is

    a

    staple

    of

    erotic

    iterature,

    kindof

    travesty erformance

    nacted

    in the

    privacy

    f

    the

    magination.

    allet's

    travesty

    as

    de

    deux

    gave public

    form o this

    private

    fantasy,whetting

    audience

    desire,

    while

    keeping

    afely

    within he bounds

    of

    decorum.For

    ultimately,apphic

    ove interfered ith

    the mooth unctioningftheseraglio s much as theob-

    streperous

    male.

    In

    the case

    of

    the

    Elsslers,

    where

    Therese eems

    to have animatedher

    choreography

    ith

    something

    kinto

    personal

    eeling,

    he

    ncest

    aboo coded

    as

    sisterly

    evotion

    what

    might

    therwise

    ave been

    con-

    strued

    s love.

    And

    one cannot

    help

    thinking

    hat the

    buxom

    travesty

    eroes of

    the Second

    Empire

    and

    sub-

    sequent

    decades flaunted n

    outrageous

    femininity

    o

    ward offthe

    sapphism

    mmanent

    n

    their roles.

    In

    so

    doing,

    however,

    ballet robbed

    the danseuse

    of erotic

    mystery.

    Today,

    thanks o the

    example

    of the Ballets

    Trocadero,

    we are

    apt

    to

    think hat

    ravesty

    n

    dance

    inherently

    f-

    fers

    critique

    of sexual

    role

    playing.

    But the

    travesty

    dancers of

    nineteenth-century

    allet offered

    no

    medi-

    "La

    Belle"

    Otero

    tation on the

    usages of

    gender,

    no

    critical

    perspec-

    tive on the

    sexual

    politics

    that ruled

    their

    lives,

    no

    revelation

    of

    the

    ways

    masculine

    and femininewere

    imaged on theballetstage.Whattheyexemplifiedwas

    the

    triumph

    of

    bordello

    politics

    ideologized

    as

    the

    feminine

    mystique-a politics

    nd an

    ideology

    mposed

    by

    men

    who remained

    n full

    ontrol f ballet

    hroughout

    the

    century

    s

    teachers, critics,

    horeographers,

    pec-

    tators,

    nd artistic

    irectors.

    The advent

    n 1909 of

    Diaghilev's

    Ballets

    Russes

    with

    its

    dynamic

    new aesthetic

    shattered

    the

    travesty

    paradigm.

    eeing

    real men

    on

    the

    stage

    n

    choreography

    that

    xploited

    he

    strength,

    thleticism,

    nd scale

    of the

    male

    body

    simply

    lectrified

    udiences,

    causing

    them

    to

    look anew at the

    travesty

    ancer.

    But the

    audience itself

    had

    changed

    dramatically.

    he new

    following

    orballet

    came

    from he

    highly ophisticated

    milieuof

    e

    tout aris.

    The

    great onnoisseurs, ollectors,

    musical

    patrons,

    nd

    salonnieres f the Frenchcapital-manyofwhom were

    women-replaced

    the

    portsmen

    nd roues

    of

    the

    oges

    n-

    females.

    At

    the same

    time

    a

    new

    androgynous

    hematic

    and

    iconography,

    articularly

    vident

    n works created

    for

    Nijinsky

    where

    images

    of sexual

    heterodoxy

    rans-

    gressed

    igid ategories

    f

    masculinity

    nd

    femininity,

    e-

    gendered

    he

    ideology

    f

    ballet,

    ending

    the

    reign

    of the

    feminine

    mystique.

    he era

    ofthedanseuse n travestiad

    come to

    an

    end.

    NOTES

    1.

    For he ramatic

    hanges

    n he

    rganization

    f he aris pera fter

    the Revolution f

    1830,

    see Ivor

    Guest,

    The

    Romantic allet

    n

    Paris,

    forewordsinette e

    Valois

    nd Lillian

    Moore,

    nd

    d. rev.

    London:

    DanceBooks, 980), p.22-25. n England, ineteenth-centuryallet

    appeared xclusively

    na commercial

    etting. ohn

    bers,

    former

    ticket

    gent,

    ssumed he

    management

    f he

    King's

    heatre

    n

    1820,

    an

    associationhat nded n

    bankruptcy

    n

    1827.He

    was succeeded

    n

    1828

    by

    Pierre

    aporte,

    ho,

    with

    he

    xception

    fthe 1832

    eason,

    controlledhe

    opera

    houseuntil

    is death

    n

    1841,

    whereupon

    en-

    jamin umley,

    n

    charge

    f

    financesince

    836,

    ssumed he heater's

    management.

    n

    thehands f

    his

    olicitor/impresario,

    er

    Majesty's

    (as

    the

    King's

    heatre adbeen

    enamed)

    ntered

    pon

    neraof

    glory.

    In

    the 1830s nd

    1840s,

    nder he

    management

    fAlfred

    unn,

    he

    Theatre

    oyal, rury

    anebecame

    nother

    mportant

    enue or

    allet.

    During

    he atter

    art

    f he

    nineteenth

    enturyp

    to

    the ve ofWorld

    War

    ,

    ballet ived n

    in

    the

    music-halls,

    bove

    all,

    the

    Empire

    nd

    Alhambra. vor

    Guest,

    The Romantic

    allet

    n

    England:

    ts

    Development,

    Fulfilment

    nd

    Decline

    London:

    hoenix

    ouse,

    1954),

    p.

    33, 46,

    83-

    87, 128-131;

    he

    mpire

    allet

    London:

    ociety

    or

    heatre

    esearch,

    1962);

    The

    Alhambra

    allet,"

    ance

    erspectives,

    utumn

    959.

    Dance

    Research

    ournal

    7/2

    &

    18/1

    1985-861

    39

  • 8/9/2019 Travesty Dancer in Nineteenth-Century Ballet.

    7/7

    In

    France,

    t

    should be

    noted,

    the

    commercial

    oulevard

    tage

    was

    the

    breeding

    round

    for

    heatrical omanticism.

    ong

    before

    he Paris

    Opera's

    Robert

    e

    Diable,

    usually

    considered

    he official

    oint

    f

    depar-

    ture

    for

    omantic

    allet,

    pectacular echniques

    nd

    supernatural

    ffec-

    ts were

    commonplace

    in

    the melodramas and

    vaudevilles

    of the

    popular

    theaters.

    Ballet was an

    important omponent

    of

    these

    spec-

    tacles.

    ndeed,

    t

    was at theaters ike the

    Thatre de

    la

    Porte-Saint-Mar-

    tin,

    which maintained

    resident

    roupe

    nd

    regularly resented

    new

    ballets and revivals, hat

    the aerial

    style

    of

    dancing

    associated

    with

    romanticism

    egan

    to

    crystallize arly

    n

    the 1820s.

    Among

    he talents

    associated

    with he

    flowering

    f romantic

    allet

    t the Paris

    Opera who

    gainedearly xperience n the boulevard tagewereJeanCoralli,who

    produced

    everal

    ballets

    t

    the

    Th6etre

    e

    la

    Galte.

    Guest,

    The Roman-

    tic

    Ballet n

    Paris,

    pp.

    4-5,

    13-14,16,

    Appendix

    D,

    pp.

    272-274;

    Marian

    Hannah

    Winter,

    he

    Pre-Romanticallet

    London:

    Pitman,

    1974),

    pp.

    178-179,

    93-197.

    2.

    Some

    instances

    f

    gender

    wappingprior

    o

    the nineteenth

    entury

    are

    Marie Salle's

    appearance

    as

    Amour

    n Handel's

    Alcina

    which

    Salle

    choreographed

    erself)

    nd the three

    graces

    mpersonated

    y

    men

    in

    Plathee,

    Jean-Philippe

    ameau's

    spoof

    of his own

    operatic

    tyle.

    The

    lover

    n

    disguise

    la

    Shakespeare's

    Twelfth

    ight

    was a

    popular

    onceit

    that

    called

    for

    cross-dressing.

    am

    grateful

    o Catherine

    Turocy

    for

    this

    nformation.

    or the

    response

    of the London

    audience to

    Salle's

    performance,

    ee

    Parmenia

    Migel,

    The

    Ballerinas

    rom

    the Court

    of

    Louis

    XIV toPavlova

    1972; rpt.

    New

    York: Da

    Capo,

    1980),

    p.

    25.

    3. Le

    Constitutionnel,

    uoted

    n

    Guest,

    The

    Romantic

    allet

    n

    Paris,

    .

    1.

    4. Les

    Petits

    Mysteres

    e

    l'Opera,

    quoted

    n

    Guest,

    The Romantic

    allet

    in

    Paris,

    p.

    25.

    5.

    August

    Bournonville,

    My

    Theatre

    ife,

    rans.PatriciaN.

    McAndrew

    (Middletown:

    Wesleyan

    Univ.

    Press,

    1979),

    p.

    52.

    6.

    Fanny

    Cerrito's

    iaison

    with

    the

    Marques

    de Bedmar,

    Carlotta

    Grisi's

    with

    Prince

    Radziwill,

    Fanny

    Elssler's

    with the

    Marquis

    de

    La

    Valette,

    Pauline

    Duvernay's

    with

    (among

    others)

    Valette

    and

    Lyne

    Stephens,

    nd

    Elisa

    Scheffer's

    iththe Earl

    of Pembroke re a few

    of

    the

    romances

    that

    dot the ballet chronicleof

    the

    1830s, 1840s,

    and

    1850s.

    7.

    For

    the

    changes

    ntroduced

    y

    Dr. Louis

    Veron

    t

    the

    Paris

    Opera

    after he Revolution

    f

    1830,

    see

    Guest,

    TheRomantic

    allet

    n

    Paris,

    p.

    28. Under

    Ebers,

    the

    Green

    Room built t

    the

    Kings's

    Theatre

    perfor-

    med

    a

    similar

    unction s

    the

    Foyer

    de la

    Danse,

    while at

    Drury

    Lane,

    Bunn

    allowed

    the more influential

    atrons

    the

    run

    of the

    coulisses.

    Procuresses

    f "of theworst

    ype"

    circulated

    ackstage

    t

    Drury

    Lane,

    among

    them

    the

    blackmailing

    eauty specialist

    known

    as

    Madame

    Rachel.

    Guest,

    TheRomantic

    allet n

    England,

    p.

    36-37,

    113.

    8. Migel,TheBallerinas, . 218. Married n 1845 (to the chagrin f

    Cerrito's

    arents

    who had

    hoped

    for

    son-in-law

    with fortune

    r at

    least

    title),

    he

    couple

    broke

    up

    in 1851.

    Shortly

    hereafter,

    er iaison

    with

    the

    Marques

    de Bedar

    became

    public

    knowledge.

    Whenrumors

    began

    to circulate

    n

    1844 about Cerrito's

    mpending

    marriage

    o Saint-

    Leon,

    the ballerina's

    London

    admirers,

    eaded

    by

    Lord

    MacDonald,

    created

    a

    public

    disturbance

    when Saint-Leon

    appeared

    onstage.

    During

    ne

    performance,

    hedancer

    topped

    before

    heir

    ox

    and with

    a

    "sarcastic

    grin"

    nd

    an

    "indescribable

    esture"

    hissed

    menacingly

    t

    Lord

    Macdonald. The word

    cochonwas heard

    to leave

    Saint-Leon's

    mouth,

    gross

    mpertinenceoming

    from dancer.

    Saint-LIon's

    writ-

    ten

    apology ppeared

    n the Times

    few

    days

    ater.

    vor

    Guest,

    Fanny

    Cerrito:

    he

    Life

    f

    Romantic

    allerina,

    2nd

    ed.

    rev.

    London:

    Dance

    Books,

    1974),

    p.

    85.

    9.

    "Fanny

    Elssler

    n La

    Tempete',"

    n The Romantic

    allet

    s

    Seen

    by

    Theophile

    autier,

    rans.

    Cyril

    W. Beaumont

    London,

    1932;

    rpt.

    New

    York:ArnoPress,1980),p. 16.

    10.

    "Perrot nd Carlotta

    Grisi

    n

    Le

    Zingaro',"

    bid.,

    .

    44.

    11.

    "The

    Elsslers

    n

    La

    Voliere',"

    bid.,

    .

    24.

    12. 2 March

    1840,

    quoted

    n

    Guest,

    Romantic

    allet,

    .

    21.

    13.

    Quoted

    n vor

    Guest,

    TheBallet

    f

    he

    econd

    mpire

    Middletown:

    Wesleyan

    Univ.

    Press,

    1974),

    p.

    200.

    14.

    "Fanny

    Elssler,"

    n

    Gautier,

    .

    22.

    15.

    "The Elsslers

    n

    La

    Voliere',"

    p.

    24.

    40

    Dance

    Research

    Journal

    7/2& 18/1

    1985-86)