Gaetano Apolline Baldassarre Vestris (18 April 1729 – 1808), French ballet dancer, was born in

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

and made his debut at the opera in 1749.

Life

Born of an Italian theatrical family, he studied dance with Louis Dupré at the Royal Academy in Paris, later joining the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

where he served as dancing master to

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. Vestris was the first dancer to discard the mask and to use his face in mime. By 1751, his success and his vanity had grown to such a point that he is reported to have said, "There are but three great men in Europe—the king of Prussia,

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

and I." He was an excellent mimic as well as dancer. From 1770 to 1776 he was a master and composer of ballets, retiring, in favour of

Jean Georges Noverre Jean-Georges Noverre (29 April 1727 19 October 1810) was a French dancer and balletmaster, and is generally considered the creator of ''ballet d'action'', a precursor of the narrative ballets of the 19th century. His birthday is now observed as ...

, with a pension. Vestris married a dancer, Anna Heinel (1753–1808), of German origin, who had a wonderful success at the opera. He reappeared at the age of seventy-one on the occasion of his grandson's debut.

Family

Gaetano had several children who also became dancers. He was the lover of French ballerina

Marie Allard Marie Allard (1742–1802) was a French ballerina. She debuted in the Paris Opera in 1761. Marie Allard was born in 1742 to a poor family in Marseille. At the age of 10, she was offered to a Monsieur V. and the Comédie de Marseille. Her mother ...

and their son

Auguste Vestris Marie-Jean-Augustin Vestris, known as Auguste Vestris (27 March 1760 – 5 December 1842), was a French dancer. He was born in Paris, the illegitimate son of Gaétan Vestris and Marie Allard (1742–1802). His father was a Florentine dancer who ...

(1760–1842) was also considered the greatest male dancer of his time. Auguste made his debut at 12 with the Paris Opéra and was the company's leading dancer for 36 years. Auguste's son, Auguste Armand Vestris (1788–1825), husband of

Lucia Elizabeth Vestris Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (''née'' Elizabetta Lucia Bartolozzi; 3 March 1797 – 8 August 1856) was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in works by, among others, Mozart and Rossini. While popular in her time, she was more ...

, took to the same profession and made his debut at the opera in 1800, but left Paris for England, Italy and Vienna never reappearing in France. Gaetano's brother,

Angiolo Vestris Angiolo Maria Gasparo Vestris (19 November 1730, Florence - 10 June 1809, Paris) was a Franco-Italian ballet dancer. The younger brother of Gaétan Vestris and Thérèse Vestris, he studied dance with Louis Dupré (dancer), Louis Dupré and becam ...

(1730–1809), formerly a dancer and later an actor at the

Comédie-Italienne Comédie-Italienne or Théâtre-Italien are French names which have been used to refer to Italian-language theatre and opera when performed in France. The earliest recorded visits by Italian players were commedia dell'arte companies employed b ...

, married Marie Rose Gourgaud, the sister of the actor

Dugazon Jean-Henri Gourgaud (15 November 1746 – 19 October 1809) was a French actor under the stage name Dugazon, the son of Pierre-Antoine Gourgaud, the director of military hospitals there and also an actor. He began his career in the provinces, ma ...

. Gaetano and Angiolo's sister, Thérèse (1726-1808), was also a dancer.

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vestris, Gaetano 1729 births 1808 deaths People from Florence Italian emigrants to France French male ballet dancers French ballet masters 18th-century French ballet dancers Paris Opera Ballet étoiles Paris Opera Ballet artistic directors Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Vestris family