Geneviève-Adélaïde Gosselin (1791 – 1818) was a French
ballet dancer
A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), 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. B ...
known for being the first dancer
en pointe
Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language.
A
À la seconde
() (Literally "to second") If a step is done "à la seconde", it is done to the side. 'Second position'. It can also ...
.
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'Opéra de Paris
The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...
. Her sister
Constance Gosselin was the wife of the dancer
Auguste-Anatole Petit. Another sibling,
Louis-François 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 kn ...
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, Stockholm7 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 father ...
, the chief choreographer of the Russian Imperial Ballet. 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. 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.
See also
* Amalia Brugnoli
*Jules Perrot
Jules-Joseph Perrot (18 August 181029 August 1892) was a French dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including ' ...
* Louis Duport
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