Antoine Paul (21 December 1798, in Marseille – November 1871, in
Anet
Anet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It lies 14 km north-northeast of Dreux between the rivers Eure and Vesgre, the latter flowing into the former some 4 km no ...
) known as Paul, was a French ballet dancer. After dancing in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
and
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
, Paul débuted 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 1820 and quickly became one of the public's favourite
premiers danseurs. Nicknamed "l'Aérien" due to his technical qualities,
August Bournonville stated "Paul's superiority is his lightness, elasticity, speed, softness and precision. He knows how to combine daring and natural grace." He regularly performed in London, with partners including his sister
Madame Montessu
Pauline-Euphrosine Paul (5 June 1803, in Marseille – 1 August 1877, in Amiens) was a French ballet dancer.Jean-Philippe Van Aelbrouck: Dictionnaire des danseurs: chorégraphes et maîtres de danse à Bruxelles de ... '
She married the dancer La ...
and
Madame Anatole
Constance-Hippolyte Gosselin (2 January 1793, in Paris – date of death unknown) was a French ballet dancer.Jean-Philippe Van Aelbrouck: Dictionnaire des danseurs: chorégraphes et maîtres de danse à Bruxelles de ... ' The daughter of a da ...
, as well as at
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, where he was praised by
Stendhal. He retired from the stage in 1831.
1798 births
1871 deaths
French male ballet dancers
19th-century French ballet dancers
Entertainers from Marseille
Paris Opera Ballet étoiles
{{Ballet-bio-stub