Joseph Mazilier, dancer, choreographer and ballet master

Major partners of the Paris Opera’s 350th anniversary

Major partners of
the Paris Opera’s 350th anniversary

A suivre:

Abbé Perrin (Director of...

Portrait

Directors, ballet masters, stage directors, choreographers, architects, ... Octave discovers the personalities that have marked the history of the Opera which continues to attract the great names of music and dance.

Joseph Mazilier made his debut as a dancer at the Grand Théâtre de Lyon, then moved to Bordeaux before being hired at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris. He confirmed his reputation by performing all the roles from the traditional repertoire. He was engaged at the Paris Opera Ballet in 1830 where he performed until 1848 before becoming ballet master. He made a particular name for himself in Jean-Pierre Aumer's Manon Lescaut (1830), Jean Coralli's La Tentation (1832), and Philippe Taglioni's romantic ballets (La Sylphide in 1832, La Fille du Danube in 1836). At the Opera, he made his debut as a choreographer in 1839 with La Gipsy, underlining his predilection for dramatic narrative. He was particularly talented at portraying powerful situations in both the comic register (Le Diable à quatre pattes, 1845) and in tragedy (Aelia et Mysis, 1853). Although little attracted by the large-scale movements specific to the "ballet blanc", his work is marked by romanticism. He made extensive use of the picturesque to satisfy the public's taste for exoticism and ever-changing historical settings: the England of centuries gone by in Lady Henriette ou la Servante de Greenwich (1844), Spain in Paquita (1846), Iceland in Orfa (1852) or Mexico in Jovita ou les Boucaniers (1853). The success of his ballets owes as much to stage effects (Le Corsaire, 1856) as to advances in female technique performed by ideal performers such Fanny Essler, Carlotta Grisi and Carolina Rosati.