Antonietta Dell'Era (10 February 1860 Milan 22 June 1945 Berlin) was an Italian ''prima

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

'' best known for originating the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's ballet, ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' (1892).

Dance career

Between 1879 and 1909, Dell'Era had a successful career at the Berlin Opera, receiving praise from many critics and writers including author and poet

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...

. Between 1886 and 1894, she danced in Russia, mainly in St. Petersburg, as an export of the "Italian Invasion" - an influx of talented Italian dancers to Russia that included

Pierina Legnani Pierina Legnani (30 September 1863 – 15 November 1930) was an Italian ballerina considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time. Biography Legnani was born in 1863, in Milan and originally studied with famous ballet dancer Caterina B ...

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 ...

, and Virginia Zucchi.

The Nutcracker

In 1892, Dell'Era created the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in

, a new ballet conceived by mastermind choreographer

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (; born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa; 11 March 1818) was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. He is considered one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history ...

and composed by

Pyotr Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

. The ballet premièred at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on December 17, 1892, as a double feature alongside Tchaikovsky's last opera, ''

Iolanta ''Iolanta'', Op. 69, ( ) is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was the last opera he composed. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play ' (''King René's Daughter'') by ...

''; tickets to the première were sold out. Dell'Era reportedly received five curtain calls, but critical reception of the ballet was poor. Russian ballet dancer Nicolai Solyannikov was unimpressed by Dell'Era's performance: "this coarse, ungraceful dancer is much to the German taste". The influence of politics and current affairs on the evolution of ballet is well-documented, and during Dell'Era‘s time as a leading ballerina in Russia, dancers were influenced by the rise of

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

and increasing opposition to the rigidity of classic ballet; she had in fact received better critical reception for her role as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty.

Legacy

Before her death in 1945, Dell'Era had expressed a wish that her estate should help dancers in need. The Dell'Era-Gedächtnis-Stiftung foundation was established after her death to provide dancers and their families with financial assistance towards living costs and expenses, such as medical costs, training and retraining.

Dance career

The Nutcracker

Legacy

References

Further reading