Rita Sangalli (20 August 1849 – 3 November 1909) was an Italian ballet dancer. Born in

Antegnate Antegnate (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about east of Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, ...

, she danced in the Italian provinces of Asti, Piacenza, and Turin, making her 1865 debut at Milan's

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

in Paul Taglioni's (1808-1884) ''Flik and Flok'', before being hired for the opera at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1872, she danced the principal role in ''La source'' at its successful revival. In the same year, she joined the

Paris Opera Ballet 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 ...

, where she performed in numerous premieres, including in the role of ''Sylvia'' (14 June 1876), ''Yedda'' (1879), and '' Namouna'' (6 March 1882). She retired from the company in 1884. Sangalli toured America where she performed in ''

The Black Crook ''The Black Crook'' is a work of musical theatre first produced in New York City with great success in 1866. Many theatre writers have cautiously identified ''The Black Crook'' as the first popular piece that conforms to the modern notion of a mu ...

'' and ''Flick Flock''. In August 1901, Sangali and

Marie Bonfanti Anna Maria Felicita Bonfanti (1845-1921), known as Marie or Marietta Bonfanti, was an American ballet dancer. She made her New York City debut came at Niblo's Garden on Monday, September 10, 1866. She then was the prima ballerina in ''The Black ...

performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, during the inaugural season of ballet at the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

venue."Revival of the Ballet", ''The New York Times'', September 1, 1901, p. SM3. She died in Carpesino d'Arcellasco, Italy.

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