Pierina Legnani
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
, a terre-à-terre virtuosa extraordinaire, considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time.
Career
Legnani was born on September 30, 1863 in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. From 1893 until 1901 she was Prima Ballerina Assoluta
Prima ballerina assoluta
Prima ballerina assoluta is a rank or title given to notable female ballet dancers. To be recognised as a prima ballerina assoluta is a very rare honour, reserved only for the most exceptional soloists, usually those who have achieved international acclaim....
with the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
's Imperial Ballet
Mariinsky Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
at the Maryinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. Legnani trained at La Scala
Scuola di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala
La Scala Theatre Ballet School is one of the leading classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of La Scala Theatre Ballet, an international ballet company based at La Scala in Milan, Italy...
where she developed her technical expertise. She was the first ballerina to introduce the 32 fouettés en tournant
32 fouettés en tournant
32 fouettés en tournant is a movement in classical ballet.-Movement:A fouetté rond de jambe en tournant is an action where the dancer stands momentarily on flat foot with the supporting knee bent as the other "working" leg is whipped around to the side, creating the impetus to spin one turn...
into the coda
Coda
Coda can denote any concluding event, summation, or section.Coda may also refer to:-Acronyms:* Calgary Olympic Development Association, the former name of the Canadian Winter Sport Institute, a non profit organization...
of the Grand Pas d'action of the ballet Cinderella
Cinderella (Fitinhof-Schell)
Cinderella - ballet-féerie in 3 Acts, with choreography by Enrico Cecchetti and Lev Ivanov , with the production being supervised under the counsel and instruction of Marius Petipa. Music by Baron Boris Vietinghoff-Scheel...
. The 32 turns on pointe is a bravura
Bravura
In classical music, a bravura is a virtuosic passage intended to show off the skill of a performer, generally as a solo, and often in a cadenza. It can also be used as an adjective , or to refer to a performance of extraordinary virtuosity. The term comes from the Italian language for great skill....
procedure emphasising the strength and technique of the dancer.
Legnani danced the rôles of Odette and Odile in the 1895 Riccardo Drigo
Riccardo Drigo
Riccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
revised version of the ballet Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
.
Her last performance was in the Minkus/Petipa ballet La Camargo on January 28, 1901 after which she retired to live in her villa at Lake Como
Lake Como
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
.
Ballets of Petipa featuring Pierina Legnani
The ballets of Marius PetipaMarius Petipa
Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
that she danced were as follows—
- CinderellaCinderella (Fitinhof-Schell)Cinderella - ballet-féerie in 3 Acts, with choreography by Enrico Cecchetti and Lev Ivanov , with the production being supervised under the counsel and instruction of Marius Petipa. Music by Baron Boris Vietinghoff-Scheel...
from Petipa/IvanovLev IvanovLev Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet....
/Cecchetti (music by Fitingof-Shell, 1893), Legnani was the first to establish 32 fouettés en tournant. - The TalismanThe Talisman (ballet)The Talisman - Fantastic ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Riccardo Drigo. Libretto by Konstantin Augustovich Tarnovsky and Marius Petipa....
(music by Riccardo DrigoRiccardo DrigoRiccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....
, 1895 ) - La Perle (music by Drigo, 1896)
- RaymondaRaymondaRaymonda is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov, his opus 57. First presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on in St. Petersburg, Russia...
(music by Aleksandr Glazunov, 1898) - Les ruses d’amour (music by Glazunov)
- CoppéliaCoppéliaCoppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
(version from Petipa/Cecchetti, music by Léo DelibesLéo DelibesClément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
, 1896) - The Cavalry Halt (music by Johann Armsheimer, 1896)