Giselle

Jean Coralli (born January 15, 1779, Paris, France—died May 1, 1854, Paris) was a French dancer and choreographer who was ballet master of the Paris Opéra and who, with Jules Perrot, created the Romantic ballet Giselle.

Coralli received his early training in Paris from Pierre Gardel or Jean-François Coulon and made his debut at the Paris Opéra in 1802. In 1806–07 he produced five ballets at the Court Opera in Vienna, and in 1808 he was appointed principal dancer at La Scala in Milan. He remained there as principal dancer until 1815, appearing in ballets by the most celebrated Italian choreographers of the time: Salvatore Viganò, Gaetano Gioja, and Pietro Angiolini. He danced in Lisbon in 1820, and in 1824–25 he returned briefly to Milan, where he staged four ballets.

Coralli spent the rest of his career in Paris. In 1825 he became ballet master at the Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, a commercially run house with a reputation as an alternative arena for dance. Until 1829 he there produced 10 ballets, as well as incidental dances for dramas. Notable among his ballets were Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (1826), based on Molière’s comedy; Gulliver, an adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s satire; La Visite à Bedlam (1826), in which the comic dancer Charles-François Mazurier played a dancing master who took every part in an interpolated ballet; La Neige (1827), which featured a novel ice-skating scene that made use of roller skates; and Léocadie (1828), which gave Parisians their first sight of the virtuoso dancer Jules Perrot. In 1829 Coralli left Paris for a brief engagement in Vienna, where in 1830 he produced an ambitious ballet, Childerich, King of the Franks.

In 1831, following the privatization of the Opéra after the Revolution of 1830, Coralli succeeded Jean-Louis Aumer as ballet master, a post he was to hold until 1850. His appointment coincided with the most brilliant phase of the Romantic ballet, and, while he never composed for the renowned Marie Taglioni (who danced exclusively in her father’s ballets), four of the nine ballets he produced during his engagement were created for her great rival, Fanny Elssler, and another two were created for Carlotta Grisi. For Elssler he produced the ballet La Tempête (1834), in which, on her Paris debut, her sensual appeal and intricate footwork established her as the antithesis of the ethereal Taglioni. This production was followed by Le Diable boiteux (1836), a brilliantly staged version of Alain-René Lesage’s novel, in which she introduced her celebrated character dance, the cachucha. In a lighter vein, La Tarentule (1839) gave her scope for her comedic gift.

Coralli received his early training in Paris from Pierre Gardel or Jean-François Coulon and made his debut at the Paris Opéra in 1802. In 1806–07 he produced five ballets at the Court Opera in Vienna, and in 1808 he was appointed principal dancer at La Scala in Milan. He remained there as principal dancer until 1815, appearing in ballets by the most celebrated Italian choreographers of the time: Salvatore Viganò, Gaetano Gioja, and Pietro Angiolini. He danced in Lisbon in 1820, and in 1824–25 he returned briefly to Milan, where he staged four ballets.

Coralli spent the rest of his career in Paris. In 1825 he became ballet master at the Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, a commercially run house with a reputation as an alternative arena for dance. Until 1829 he there produced 10 ballets, as well as incidental dances for dramas. Notable among his ballets were Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (1826), based on Molière’s comedy; Gulliver, an adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s satire; La Visite à Bedlam (1826), in which the comic dancer Charles-François Mazurier played a dancing master who took every part in an interpolated ballet; La Neige (1827), which featured a novel ice-skating scene that made use of roller skates; and Léocadie (1828), which gave Parisians their first sight of the virtuoso dancer Jules Perrot. In 1829 Coralli left Paris for a brief engagement in Vienna, where in 1830 he produced an ambitious ballet, Childerich, King of the Franks.

In 1831, following the privatization of the Opéra after the Revolution of 1830, Coralli succeeded Jean-Louis Aumer as ballet master, a post he was to hold until 1850. His appointment coincided with the most brilliant phase of the Romantic ballet, and, while he never composed for the renowned Marie Taglioni (who danced exclusively in her father’s ballets), four of the nine ballets he produced during his engagement were created for her great rival, Fanny Elssler, and another two were created for Carlotta Grisi. For Elssler he produced the ballet La Tempête (1834), in which, on her Paris debut, her sensual appeal and intricate footwork established her as the antithesis of the ethereal Taglioni. This production was followed by Le Diable boiteux (1836), a brilliantly staged version of Alain-René Lesage’s novel, in which she introduced her celebrated character dance, the cachucha. In a lighter vein, La Tarentule (1839) gave her scope for her comedic gift.

Guest, Ivor. “Jean Coralli”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Coralli. Accessed 27 May 2026.

Jules Perrot (born August 18, 1810, Lyon, France—died August 18, 1892, Paramé) was a French virtuoso dancer and master choreographer who was celebrated internationally for creating some of the most enduring ballets of the Romantic period.

Jules Perrot first drew attention to his talent in his native Lyon by imitating the antics of the comic dancer Charles Mazurier. This led to an engagement at the Gaîté Theatre in Paris in 1823. Moving to the larger, more prestigious Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, he became a pupil of Auguste Vestris, who prepared him for his successful debut at the Paris Opéra in 1830. Within a year he was promoted to the top rank of premier sujet (“principal dancer”) and selected to partner Marie Taglioni in Flore et Zéphire.

After leaving the Opéra, which refused to offer him a salary commensurate with the earnings of top ballerinas, he was engaged in London in 1835, and in 1836 he moved to Naples, where his path crossed that of the young dancer Carlotta Grisi. As her teacher, mentor, and suitor, he accompanied her to London in 1836, and then to Vienna, where he produced his first important ballet, Der Kobold (1838). He hoped to marry Grisi, but although a daughter was born as a result of their liaison, she was reluctant to enter into such a commitment.

In 1841 Grisi was engaged at the Paris Opéra, but no offer was forthcoming for Perrot. He was, however, to be closely involved in her first Paris creation, Giselle. Most of the action was devised by him, but any hope he might have had that his contribution would be formally acknowledged was dashed because he was not officially on the payroll. As a result, the choreography was long credited solely to the Opéra’s ballet master Jean Coralli.

The couple’s paths then diverged; while Grisi embarked on a long career at the Opéra, Perrot began his seven-year association with London’s opera house, Her Majesty’s Theatre. He started in 1842 as assistant to the aging ballet master André Deshayes, but from 1843 he was in full charge. This was to be the most productive phase of his career. Working with nearly all the most celebrated ballerinas of the time, he produced 23 ballets of varying importance, including several lasting masterpieces, each skillfully crafted to highlight the particular qualities of its ballerina. For Fanny Elssler he produced Le Délire d’un peintre (1843); for Fanny Cerrito, Ondine (1843) and Lalla Rookh (1846); for Grisi, La Esmeralda (1844); and for Lucile Grahn, Eoline (1845) and Catarina (1846). He also staged an extraordinary series of multi-stellar divertissements. His sensational Pas de quatre (1845), which displayed the artistry of Taglioni, Cerrito, Grisi, and Grahn without any one of them feeling disadvantaged, was followed by other divertissements of the same type: Le Jugement de Pâris (1846), Les Éléments (1847), and Les Quatre Saisons (1848).

In 1848 Perrot produced a major ballet, Faust, for Fanny Elssler at La Scala in Milan, in which he himself played Mephistopheles. The following year, after producing La Filleule des fées for Grisi at the Paris Opéra, he left for Russia, where he was engaged as principal ballet master of the Imperial Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg until 1860. There he produced expanded versions of Esmeralda and Catarina and a series of major new works, including The Naiad and the Fisherman (1851), The War of the Women (1852), and Gazelda (1853), all for Grisi, and Armida (1855) for Cerrito.

Perrot retired after a disappointing season in Milan in 1864. In later years he gave classes at the Paris Opéra, where as a teacher he was immortalized by the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas in paintings such as The Dance Class (1874).

Guest, Ivor. “Jules Perrot”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jules-Perrot. Accessed 27 May 2026.

Adolphe Adam (born July 24, 1803, Paris, France—died May 3, 1856, Paris) was a French composer whose music for the ballet Giselle (1841) is noted for its easy grace and cogency. It has retained its popularity with dancers and audiences to the present day.

Adam wrote more than 70 operas, of which the most popular in their day were Le Châlet (1834), Le Postillon de Longjumeau (1836), and Giralda (1850). In his ballets—which he composed for production in London, Berlin, and St. Petersburg, as well as Paris—he skillfully coordinated the music with choreographic demands. His works were successful during the mid-19th century, but few, other than Giselle, are regularly revived.

Britannica Editors. “Adolphe Adam”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Apr. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolphe-Adam. Accessed 27 May 2026.

Tony Tucci, former resident lighting designer for Ballet Austin, has created lighting design for the company’s repertory for over 34 years, lighting designer/director for Ben Stevenson’s Texas Ballet Theater and Bruce Wood Dance. Recently designed Flemming Flindt’s Phaedra Ballet for the Mariinsky Theatre in Vladivostok Russia. Tucci created the lighting designs for Bernstein’s Mass at the Long Center in June 2018. In September 2018, Tucci designed a new production of Cinderella, choreographed by Ben Stevenson for the National Ballet of China. Tucci and has created designs for national and international dance companies: Washington Ballet, Houston Dance Salad, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Colorado Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet West, Cirque Ziva-Golden Dragon Acrobats, Royal Danish Ballet, Winnipeg and Swedish Ballets, Hong Kong Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Ballet Contemporaneo de Caracas, Christopher Bruce’s Kingdom- Geneva Ballet, Flemming Flindt’s Caroline Mathilde and Lucifer’s Daughter-Royal Danish Ballet. Tucci has designed for musical theater, including Austin productions of Damn Yankees, Carousel, West Side Story, Annie, Gypsy, Jesus Christ Superstar, Music Man, Oklahoma, A Chorus Line, Carousel and Sound of Music as well as Charles Duggan’s productions of Dames at Sea in San Francisco and at the Goodspeed Opera House. For 1996 Summer Olympics, Tucci designed for the Cultural Olympiad, showcasing national and international companies. He is the recipient of two Iden Payne Awards and Critics Table awards for lighting in Austin.

David Heuvel continues to have an illustrious career in costume design and production that has taken him to every corner of the globe. Five decades ago, Heuvel started as an apprentice at the Opera Theatre in Pretoria, South Africa. He quickly moved up the ranks in the state-run arts organization to become the director of the costume shop for PACT Ballet.

In 1979, then-artistic director of Ballet West, Bruce Marks, invited Heuvel to head the fledgling company’s costume shop. Under Marks, Heuvel helped build the reputation of Ballet West from a regional ballet company to one with international stature. The company received worldwide acclaim, with international tours, daring new works, and notable artistry on stage, from the dancers, and, yes, the costumes.

The Ballet West costume shop, under Heuvel’s direction, is unparalleled. Today, few companies have the luxury of the vast talent and experience that he offers. From cohesive designs with historical accuracy, to the ability to dye garments, his costume shop is the definition of full-service. “My philosophy is that the costume must move with the dancer,” says Heuvel. “If they touch the stage feeling comfortable and regal, I have done my job.”

Apart from Heuvel’s work with Ballet West, he has designed and built costumes for ballet companies both nationally and international, including Ballet Du Nord (France), Alberta Ballet, Ballet Met, Singapore Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Carolina Ballet, Ballet Hawaii, Nashville Ballet, and Ballet Memphis.

In December 2018, he received Governor Gary Herbert‘s prestigious Artist Award for Visual Arts.

Peter Cazalet was born in Zambia and graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where he also received his ballet training. Following his graduation, Cazalet danced for various companies including London Festival Ballet, Ballet Rambert and Scottish Ballet, where he became a principal dancer. Cazalet began working in stage design in the late 1960’s. After an injury, he returned to Cape Town to become Head of Design for Opera, Ballet and Drama for the Cape Town Performing Arts Board. Cazalet’s collaborations with Ballet West began in 2002 and have come to include a number of classics, including two complete Swan Lakes, as well as The Sleeping Beauty. He has designed for all the ballet classics and has extended his work base to include Tokyo, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.

Founded in 1911, the Austin Symphony Orchestra is the city’s oldest performing arts organization. The Symphony presents a full season of musical and educational programming, including the Masterworks Series and the Butler Pops Series, which run from September through May at the state-of-the-art Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts. Special events include the Halloween Children’s Concert, Handel’s Messiah, and free community concerts during the summer.  The James C. Armstrong Youth Educations Programs include ASO Tuneful Tales, Young People’s Concerts, and a variety of other school programs.