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(Charles Victor) Arthur
Michel Saint-Leon was born
September 17, 1815, though
the exact date of his
birth has never been
definitely established;
some sources give 1821. He
was the son of the ballet
master of the Wuertemberg
Ducal Theatre, Stuttgart
and made his debut as a
violinist in Stuttgart in
1834, and began his dance
career in 1835 in Munich.
He also studied with
Albert.
In 1833, he began a series
of European appearances
which lasted until 1859.
In Milan he met the
celebrated ballerina Fanny
Cerito, whom he later
married, and for whom he
choreographed what was
probably his first ballet,
La Vivandiere ed il
Postiglione, which he
produced in London for
her. He created the role
of Matteo to Cerito's
Ondine in Jules Perrot's
ballet Ondine, and
Phoebus in Perrot's La
Esmeralda. For
Cerito's Paris debut,
Saint-Leon choreographed
La Fille de Marbre.
This ballet was a huge
success and led to the
production of some sixteen
of his ballets and
divertissements for the
Paris Opera, among them
Le Violon du
Diable, in which
Saint-Leon played a violin
solo, and Stella, ou
Les
Contrebandiers.
Saint-Leon and Cerito
separated in 1850 and
Saint-Leon made his debut
as a ballet master of the
Imperial Theatre in 1859.
It is interesting that
Saint-Leon, a Frenchman,
was the first to produce a
ballet on a Russian theme,
The Humpbacked
Horse.
Saint-Leon was in great
demand, both as dancer and
choreographer, and
received invitations to
visit Lisbon, Bordeaux,
Vienna, Berlin, Madrid,
Rome, Florence, Turin,
Brussels, Venice, Pest,
and other important
cities, where he revived
many of his ballets.
Saint-Leon staged ballets
in all the major European
cities except Milan. He
always wanted to be, but
never was engaged by La
Scala, Milan. Traveling as
a guest choreographer from
city to city, Saint-Leon
generally staged the same
ballets under different
titles; thus Nemea
in Paris became
Fiammetta in St.
Petersburg and
Salamander in
Moscow. Saint-Leon left
St. Petersburg in 1867 and
became ballet master of
the Paris Opera, a post he
held until his death on
September 2,
1870.
Saint-Leon was one of the
best dancers of his time,
famous for his remarkable
ballon and elevation. He
sometimes composed the
music to his ballets, and
was much admired as a
choreographer for his
skillful ballet
adaptations of national
dance. In addition to his
ballets, Saint-Leon left a
treatise on a new method
of dance notation which he
had devised Le
Stenochoregraphie, ou
l'Art d'Ecrire Promptement
la Danse, which he
used to record his
ballets. He also composed
some forty pieces for the
violin.
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