Carlotta Brianza (1867–1930) was an Italian prima ballerina, dancing with La Scala in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and later with the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Biography

Born in Milan, Brianza studied at the ballet school of La Scala under Carlo Blasis. She went on to dance as the company's prima ballerina in

Luigi Manzotti Luigi Manzotti (2 February 1835 – 15 March 1905) was an Italian mime dancer and choreographer.''Oxford Dictionary of Dance'' (2004) Oxford University Press Born in Milan, Manzotti created his first ballet in 1858 and his subsequent productions ...

's ''Excelsior''. She toured the United States with the ballet in 1883 and danced it in Saint Petersburg in 1887. Thanks to her popularity there, in 1889 she was hired by the Mariinsky Theatre where she danced with

Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) 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 ...

Lev Ivanov Lev Ivanovich Ivanov (russian: link=no, Лев Ива́нович Ива́нов; 2 March 1834, Moscow – 24 December 1901, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet. ...

's '' The Tulip of Haarlem'' in 1889. On 15 January 1890, she danced Aurora in the premiere of Marius Petipa's ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

''. She continued her dancing career in Vienna, Italy, Paris and London before returning to Paris where she taught until she retired. In 1921,

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

brought her out of retirement to dance (as the 'bad fairy', Carabosse) in ''The Sleeping Beauty''. She died in Paris in 1930.

Notable performances

Among Brianza's notable appearances are: *c. 1883: debut in

's ''Excelsior'' at La Scala, Milan *1883: one of five Star Premiere Danseuses in the Kiralfy Brothers ''Excelsior'' in New York *1887: as the Spirit of Light in

's ''Excelsior'', Arcadia Theatre, Saint Petersburg *1890: as Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' *1892: as Sylvia in '' Sylvia'', Arcadia Theatre, St Petersburg *1895: Sylvia, La Scala *1896: Aurora in ''The Sleeping Beauty'', staged by Giorgio Saracco, La Scala *1921: Carabosse in the Ballets Russes production of ''The Sleeping Beauty'', London

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brianza, Carlotta 1867 births 19th-century Italian ballet dancers Dancers from Milan Prima ballerinas 1930 deaths Italian ballerinas

Biography

Notable performances

See also

Further reading

References