Jules-Joseph Perrot

Jules-Joseph Perrot was born in Lyon in 1810 and became a defining choreographer of Romantic ballet whose works shaped the era's theatrical vocabulary and star system. He began performing young in popular theatrical settings before training with Auguste Vestris and entering the Paris Opéra in 1830, where he became known for dramatic expressiveness and technical brilliance. His partnership with ballerina Carlotta Grisi placed him near the center of the new Romantic ballet, though his lasting importance would come as much from choreography as from performance.

Perrot worked closely with Grisi as coach, partner and choreographer, helping shape the roles that introduced her to major audiences. For the 1841 Paris premiere of *Giselle*, choreography credit is shared with Paris Opéra ballet master Jean Coralli; composer Adolphe Adam, librettists Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, designer Pierre Ciceri and the original cast were also central creators. From 1842 into the late 1840s, Perrot made London an important Romantic ballet center. At Her Majesty's Theatre he created *Ondine* (1843), *La Esmeralda* (1844) and *Pas de Quatre* (1845), frequently collaborating with composer Cesare Pugni. *Pas de Quatre* famously brought Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito and Marie Taglioni onto one stage while giving each a distinct solo identity.

Perrot later worked at La Scala and became ballet master at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, where he created and restaged works that contributed to the transmission of Romantic repertory into the environment from which later Imperial classical ballet developed. He left Russia in the late 1850s and returned to Paris to teach at the Opéra. Edgar Degas included the elderly Perrot teaching in *The Dance Class*, an image that helped preserve his public identity as a demanding ballet master. Perrot died in Paramé in August 1892.