Gaetano Saracco (25 April 1856 – 12 February 1922) was an Italian choreographer and dancer. He was baptised at the

Santa Maria delle Vigne Santa Maria delle Vigne is a Roman Catholic basilica church in Genoa, Italy. It was built in the 10th century. The main altar was completed in 1730 by Giacomo Antonio Ponsonelli. The church is also the final resting place of the leading early It ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

on the 25th of April 1856 and died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on the 12th of February 1922. Saracco was the son of Giuseppe Saracco, a well known

mime artist A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a theatrical medium ...

at the

Teatro della Pergola The Teatro della Pergola is an historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name. It was built in 1656 under the patronage of Cardinal Gian Carlo de' Med ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, and Maddalena Balbo. He made his debut in the

Teatro Quirino The Teatro Quirino is an opera opera house, house in Rome opened in 1871. It hosted the premiere of Pietro Mascagni's operetta ''Sì (operetta), Sì''. Its historical name has been joined by the recognition for one of the most acclaimed Italian A ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1874. He then worked in Florence, Pisa and

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, after which he returned to Florence in 1880. During the season of 1882-1883 Saracco danced at Paris, where he performed the title role of the ballet ''Excelsior'' by

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 ...

and

Romualdo Marenco Romualdo Marenco (March 1, 1841 – October 9, 1907) was an Italian composer primarily noted for ballet music. Marenco started his musical career as a violinist in the Doria Theater in Genoa. His first composition was the ballet ''Garibaldi ...

. The following season, he performed at 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 ...

under the guidance of the famous

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 ...

. He toured throughout the

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in 1884. He then spent a year in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

at the Alhambra Theatre, where he met and married the singer Emma Davies. Saracco left London in 1886 in order to become the ballet master at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, a position he held until 1888. Afterwards, he spent 4 months at the

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...

in Rome, after which he returned to Brussels in March 1889. He then started travelling between Milan,

Monte-Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, and Brussels, and also performed at

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 ...

, Odessa

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, London, and

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. Saracco ended his career in 1916. He died six years later in rue de Trévise, which is located in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...

. He was laid to rest in the

Batignolles Cemetery The Batignolles Cemetery (french: Cimetière des Batignolles) is a cemetery in Paris. History Batignolles Cemetery opened on 22 August 1833. Part of the cemetery had to be closed and the graves moved because of the construction of the great ring ...

Choreographies

* ''La Esmeralda'' (Gênes, 1882) * ''Myosotis'' (Brussels, 11 December 1886) * ''Milenka'' (Brussels, 3 November 1888) * ''Le Cœur de Sîtâ'' (Paris, 16 May 1891) * ''La Bella dormente'' (Milan, 11 March 1896) * ''Javotte'' (Milan 1897) * ''Le Chevalier aux fleurs'' (Paris, 15 May 1897) * ''Saffo'' (Milan 1898) * ''Il Carillon'' (Milan, 4 January 1899) * ''Les Deux Pigeons'' (Brussels, 18 March 1901) * ''La Captive'' (Brussels, 15 April 1902) * ''La Korrigane'' (Brussels, 26 November 1902) * ''Lilia'' (Brussels, 5 March 1903) * ''Zannetta'' (Brussels, 13 November 1904) * ''La Sirène'' (Monte-Carlo, 27 February 1905) * ''Au temps jadis'' (Monte-Carlo, April 1905) * ''La Mariska'' (Monte-Carlo, 28 April 1905) * ''Paquita'' (Monte-Carlo, 27 February 1906) * ''La Sniegourka'' (Monte-Carlo, 20 April 1906) * ''Au printemps'' (Monte-Carlo, 26 January 1907) * ''La Poupée'' (Monte-Carlo, 8 March 1907) * ''Louis XIV'' (Monte-Carlo, 13 March 1907) * ''Espada'' (Monte-Carlo, 15 February 1908) * ''Le Tzar'' (Monte-Carlo, April 1908) * ''Vers l'azur'' (Geneva, September 1908) * ''L'Horloge'' (Lucerne, October 1908) * ''La Fée au bois '' (Maisons-Laffitte, 27 July 1911) * ''Ballet blanc'' (Biarritz, 9 August 1911) * ''Silène libertin'' (Biarritz, 27 August 1911) * ''Brahma'' (Maisons-Laffitte, 24 October 1911) * ''Une nuit d'Ispahan'' (Maisons-Laffitte, 28 July 1912) * ''Kermesse flamande'' (Monte-Carlo, December 1912) * ''Les Fiançailles'' and ''Le Jardin du harem'' (Deauville, 28 September 1913) * ''Divertissement patriotique'' (Monte-Carlo, 5 May 1916) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saracco, Gaetano 1856 births 1922 deaths Dancers from Genoa Ballet masters Italian choreographers 19th-century Italian dancers Burials at Batignolles Cemetery Italian expatriates in France