Louis Dupré (; 1697–1774) was a French ballet dancer,

ballet master A ballet master (also balletmaster, ballet mistress, ''premier maître de ballet'' or ''premier maître de ballet en chef'') is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In mo ...

and ballet teacher.

Life

Probably first dancing in child roles under the name "Petit Dupré", he made his official débuts at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in 1714 and became its balletmaster in 1739. From 1725 to 1730, he regularly put on productions in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and at the Polish court. Until 1743, he was one of the principal professors at the dance school of the

National Opera of 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 ...

, where his students included Marie-Anne de Camargo, Gaétan Vestris,

Jean-Georges Noverre Jean-Georges Noverre (29 April 1727 19 October 1810) was a French dancer and ballet master, and is generally considered the creator of ''ballet d'action'', a precursor of the narrative ballets of the 19th century. His birthday is now observed a ...

, Maximilien Gardel and Jean-Baptiste Hus. Casanova was one of his devoted admirers. Technically accomplished, he was an emblematic figure of French ''belle danse'', and in his time, he was called "le Grand Dupré" and "god of the dance".

Collège Louis le Grand

He composed several

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s for the students of the Collège Louis le Grand: * 1748: ''Portrait du Grand Monarque'' * 1749: ''Catilina'' * 1750: ''Le Temple de la fortune'' * 1751: ''Le Génie'' * 1754: ''Les Spectacles du Parnasse'' * 1755: ''La Prospérité''

References

1697 births 1774 deaths 18th-century French ballet dancers French ballet masters French male ballet dancers French ballet choreographers Dupre 20th-century French ballet dancers {{ballet-bio-stub