Ballet is an interesting art form in terms of gender. Although it remains a largely “female” art form, meaning that it is now largely performed and patronised by women, men remain at the helm. The large majority of ballet companies today have male artistic directors, meaning that women are still held out of the highest levels of leadership. However, that does not mean that women have not made significant contributions to ballet as an art form over five centuries. As it is Women’s History Month, there is no better time to explore 7 notable women from ballet history.
7 Notable Women From Ballet History
While it is not always possible, I’ve tried to include video clips of all mentioned here!
Mademoiselle De Lafontaine (1655-1738)
While de Lafontaine’s name is not widely known, it should be. She is considered the first French female ballet dancer; she danced at the French court during Louis XIV’s reign. Yes, female dancers are now considered a requirement of a ballet company (though there are a few male only companies now), in the seventeenth century, female roles would have been danced by men. De Lafontaine became an audience favourite and was known as “the queen of dance”.
Marie Taglioni (1804-1884)
Taglioni remains one of the figures of ballet history and for good reason. An Italian dancer, Taglioni danced across Europe in countless productions. She is considered the dancer who pioneered pointe work- prior to her, dancers would sometimes stay on pointe for a few moments or take a couple steps but she would dance for sustained periods on pointe. Taglioni was considered the favourite Romantic ballerina. Her graceful and ethereal style of dancing on pointe coupled with her longer Romantic tutu is the lasting image of this period in ballet.
Anna Pavlova (1881-1931)
Although Pavlova died nearly a century ago, her legacy in ballet still lives on. A Russian dancer, she trained at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg under Enricho Cecchetti. She was known for her captivating stage presence (although technically was behind other dancers) She is best known for her role in The Dying Swan by Michel Fokine (it is not related to Swan Lake), but also for dancing with the Ballet Russes until she left to form her own company. She continued to tour North America and Europe until the early 1930s where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. Pavlova famously refused an operation that would save her life because it would leave her unable to dance.
Ninette de Valois (1889-2001)
Born as Edris Stannus in Ireland in 1885, she had moved to the UK to live with her grandmother by 1905 and by 1908 she was studying ballet. De Valois trained in England and then also performed with the Ballet Russes in the 1920s. In 1926 she founded a ballet school in London and then a resident ballet company at the Vic-Wells Theatre. This company would go on to become the Sadler’s Wells Ballet- yes, the ballet company that became the Royal Ballet. Notably, de Valois hired Frederick Ashton as a choreographer early in the company’s history in what would become an historic choice.
Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991)
Fonteyn was a prima ballerina assoluta, the highest title given to a female ballet dancer. It denotes that the dancer is a leader amongst leaders and has few equals. Fonteyn began her career with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet and is another dancer who while not technically perfect was captivating. As you can see in the performance above, she had that indefinable quality that few dancers have.
Fonteyn quickly rose through the ranks of the company and travelled with the company for performances during the Second World War. In the 1950s and 1960s, she performed on television numerous times, served as a model for many designers, and was a global celebrity. In 1961, at an age when most dancers would have long retired, Fonteyn began dancing with Rudolf Nureyev- one of the greatest partnerships in ballet’s history. She finally retired at the age of 60 in 1979.
Maria Tallchief (1925-2013)
Tallchief was the first American prima ballerina, and the first Native American to have that title. Tallchief first danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and after meeting George Balanchine there, she joined his new company, the New York City Ballet. Her bold and passionate style of dance set her apart from other dancers, and she was known for performing The Firebird. She was precise, fast, and powerful, and her talent was evident- she was the first American invited to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre. After she retired, she went on to teach ballet and then co-founded the Chicago City Ballet which sadly folded in 1987.
Michaela DePrince (1995-Present)
DePrince is a Sierra Leonean-American dancer who was born in Sierra-Leone and was brought to an orphanage during the civil war. She was often mistreated as she has vitiligo, an autoimmune condition that causes depigmentation, and people considered it to be a bad sign. However, she was adopted by an American couple and began to study ballet after being inspired while she was in the orphanage.
DePrince came to public attention in 2011 when she was featured in First Position, a documentary following several young dancers at the YAGP competition. In 2013, she joined the Dutch National Ballet and by the end of 2016 she was a Soloist with the company. She faced difficulties as the only Black dancer in the company but continued to perform leading roles with aplomb. In 2021, DePrince then joined the Boston Ballet where she is now a Second Soloist. She continues to work with several different charities for children in addition to her ballet career.
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If you are interested in more ballet history, I’ve gathered my favourite ballet history books here for you: https://anhistorianabouttown.com/the-best-ballet-history-books/!
Were you familiar with these women in ballet?
Cheers,
The Historian
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