Jean-Baptiste Pitrot (22 May 1729, Bordeaux - 4 January 1809, Brussels), called Pitrot cadet (''Pitrot the younger'') to distinguish him from his elder brother

Antoine Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

, was a French dancer and balletmaster. His father,

Barthélemy Pitrot Barthélemy, or Barthélémy is a French name, a cognate of Bartholomew. Notable people with this name include: Given name * Barthélemy (explorer), French youth who accompanied the explorer de La Salle in 1687 * Barthélémy Bisengimana, Congo ...

, was a French actor and dancer who criss-crossed the French provinces and the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

in the first half of the 18th century.

Life

He began his career before 1748 at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris. He was widely noted in a production of ''L'Opérateur chinois'', a ballet by Jean-Baptiste Dehesse, from 11 January 1749 onwards. He also put on the premiere of ''Les Tartares'' at the same theater on 14 August 1755. The directors of the

Théâtre de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

in Brussels,

D'Hannetaire Jean-Nicolas Servandoni, stage name D'Hannetaire, (3 November 1718 - 1 January 1780) was a French actor and theatre director. Life He was born in Grenoble, the son of the Florentine painter Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (also known as Jean-Nicola ...

and

Gourville Gourville () is a former commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the commune Rouillac.Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

in 1758, and was then co-director of the theatre at

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

from 1758 to 1759, returning to the Comédie-Italienne in 1759. He then obtained authorisation for putting on shows in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

in 1760, and returned to Lille in 1761 and Ghent in 1762. On 7 May 1762, Pitrot made his début at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

as lead dancer and ballet master. He put on one success after another - ''Les Chasseurs'', ''Le Vieillard rajeuni'', ''Le Tailleur'', ''Les Tonneliers allemands'' and ''Le Brouetteur italien''. After a long absence, Pitrot returned to Brussels in 1771 as ballet master, engaged by the directors

Ignaz Vitzthumb Ignaz or Ignace Vitzthumb (also ''Witzthumb''; 14 September 1724 – 23 March 1816) was an Austrian musician, composer and conductor active in the Austrian Netherlands. He was also music director of the La Monnaie theatre in Brussels. Life ...

and Louis Compain. After another absence, he again returned to Brussels in 1784, and there married a young girl 31 years his junior (with whom he had one son called Antoine, who later had a career as a magistrate). On 4 November 1805, he published the following advert in ''L'Oracle'' : There was now little chance of these offers meeting with success, for he was by then 76 years old, and he died shortly afterwards at the Grand Hospice in Brussels.

External links

His ballets and productions of them
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CÉSAR
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitrot, Jean-Baptiste 1729 births 1809 deaths Entertainers from Bordeaux French male ballet dancers French choreographers 18th-century French ballet dancers French ballet masters Culture in Brussels Dance directors of La Monnaie