La Tarentule is a two-act ballet-pantomime made for the Paris Opéra in 1839, with music by Casimir Gide, libretto by Eugène Scribe, and choreography by Jean Coralli. It was created for and premiered by Fanny Elssler, the leading Romantic-era ballerina best known for her character and demi-caractère dancing, opposite Joseph Mazilier, with Elssler's sister Therese also dancing in the first act.
What it contains
- Romantic Ballet — pas de deux (Fanny and Therese Elssler) · Act I, the pas de deux for Fanny and Therese Elssler — A formal duet for two star ballerinas within a Romantic-era Paris Opéra ballet-pantomime; the specific steps are not described, only that it is a pas de deux. Source: "In the first act, Fanny and her sister Therese danced in a pas de deux."
What is danced
The article gives only one concrete piece of choreographic information: 'In the first act, Fanny and her sister Therese danced in a pas de deux.' This places a formal, named duet inside a work otherwise carried by pantomime and plot-driven stage business — the doctor's bargain, Lauretta's ruse, the reunion of the lovers — none of which the article describes in terms of steps or technique. As a ballet-pantomime of 1839, staged at the Paris Opéra with Fanny Elssler in the lead, the work would have combined mimed narrative scenes with set dance numbers in the conventions of the Romantic repertory, but the source text does not itemize further divertissements, solos, or corps work beyond the Act I pas de deux.
Context
1839 sits at the height of the Romantic ballet era at the Paris Opéra, the period defined by Marie Taglioni's ethereal style on one side and Fanny Elssler's earthier, character-inflected virtuosity on the other; the article explicitly places the premiere 'during the Romantic period.' Jean Coralli, who choreographed La Tarentule, was the same year about to make Giselle (1841) with Coralli/Perrot, and Elssler was the era's other great ballerina alongside Taglioni, prized for exactly the kind of demi-caractère, Italianate village setting this work supplies.
Staging history
The article records only the 24 June 1839 premiere at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opéra), with Fanny Elssler and Joseph Mazilier in the leads and Therese Elssler also dancing; no later revivals, companies, or restagings are described.
How to watch it
Watch for the contrast between mimed comic plot (the doctor's blackmail, Lauretta's counter-plot) and the set pas de deux for the two Elssler sisters in Act I — the pas de deux is the one moment the article singles out as formal dance rather than pantomime. The Calabrian village-and-postmistress-house setting signals the demi-caractère, 'local colour' mode Elssler was known for, as distinct from the supernatural idiom of contemporaries like La Sylphide.
Structure
- Act I · pas de deux (Fanny and Therese Elssler)The village of Calabria is set at daybreak by a post office and church; Luigi is bitten by the tarantula, and Fanny and her sister Therese dance a pas de deux.
- Act IIIn the postmistress's room, Lauretta's plan to outwit Dr. Omeopatica unfolds and the lovers are reunited, with the doctor sent back to his wife.
Structure read from an encyclopaedia article, not from a libretto or score we hold. Confirm against a programme before treating the numbering as authoritative.
Credits
- composer: Casimir Gide