Geneviève-Adélaïde Gosselin (1791 – 1818, ) was a French ballet dancer known for being the first dancer

en pointe Pointe technique ( ) is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns ''pointe work'', in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes. A dancer is said to be ''en pointe'' () wh ...

Biography

Early life

Geneviève Gosselin was the daughter of a ballet master and was also the eldest sister of three other famous ballerinas of Ballet de l’Opera de Paris. Her sister Constance Gosselin was the wife of the dancer Auguste-Anatole Petit. Another sister, Louis Gosselin, was a premier dancer in London and Paris and her other sister, Henriette Gosselin, danced with the Paris Opera from 1821 to 1830.

Ballet career

Geneviève studied under Jean-François Coulon, who was one of the most renowned teachers in Europe at the time. He became professor of the "classe de perfectionnement" at the

Opéra de Paris 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 ...

in 1807 and also helped in the production of pointe shoes after 1810. Gosselin joined the Opéra de Paris in 1806 at the age of fifteen. She had excellent technique and was the first dancer to develop the art of being en pointe in 1813. Julien Louis Geoffroy initially championed Gosselin, among other young performers, but considered public enthusiasm overblown. In 1815, she was cast as the heroine in Flore et Zéphire, one of the first romantic ballets of the time. The ballet was choreographed by

Charles Didelot Charles-Louis Didelot (28 March 1767, Stockholm - 7 November 1837, Kiev) was a French dancer, the creator of the ballet shoes and a choreographer. The son of Charles Didelot, the dance-master of the King of Sweden, he studied dance with his fath ...

, the chief choreographer of the

Russian Imperial Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...

. Didelot had created a "flying machine", instituting the use of cables and wires to give the appearance of weightlessness. Because of his invention, Geneviève Gosselin could perform in

pointe shoes A pointe shoe (, ), also called a ballet toe shoe or simply toe shoe, is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like an ...

. This was the first appearance of dancers en pointe. Gosselin was only able to balance for brief moments on the pointe shoes (although one critic says that she balanced for one minute). and John Chapman noted the significance of Gosselin as

Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...

's predecessor. Gosselin withrew from the stage in 1816, coinciding with the retirement of

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 ...

. Geneviève Gosselin died at the in 1818, three years after her appearance en pointe.

Sources

;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gosselin, Genevieve 1791 births 1818 deaths French ballerinas 19th-century French ballet dancers Gosselin Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Manche

Biography

Early life

Ballet career

See also

Sources