A ballet master (also balletmaster, ballet mistress, premier maître de ballet or premier maître de ballet en chef) is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In modern times, ballet masters are generally charged with teaching the daily company ballet class and rehearsing the dancers for both new and established ballets in the company's repertoire.[1] The artistic director of a ballet company, whether a male or female, may also be called its ballet master. Historic use of gender marking in job titles in ballet (and live theatre) is being supplanted by gender-neutral language job titles regardless of an employee's gender (e.g. ballet master in lieu of ballet mistress, wig master as an alternative to wig mistress).
History of the position
Especially during the early centuries of ballet troupes and ballet companies from the 18th century until the early 20th century, the position of first ballet master, referred to traditionally as the premier maître de ballet en chef or more simply as the maître de ballet, was the undisputed head of the company who acted as chief choreographer and artistic director. His duties included creating ballets, dances in operas, commissioning music, and presiding over the teaching of the dancers and style desired. It was this head ballet master who had the responsibility of the artistic directorship of a particular group of dancers or of a theatre. Since the early 20th century, primarily after the disbandment of the original Ballets Russes, the title has been used more to describe the master teachers/assistant directors of a ballet company, (previously known as second ballet master), with the head of a company being referred to as the artistic director.
In recent years, companies have quietly begun to change the title's name given its hierarchical and dominating connotations.[2] They have switched the name of the position to various titles such as Principal Teacher,[3] Artistic Manager,[4] and other such titles to avoid the politically charged word "master."
Filippo Taglioni (1777–1871), ballet master of the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm from 1803 to 1804 and 1817–1818. Born and trained as a dancer in his native Italy, he is known today as the father of Romantic ballet. Also a great choreographer and teacher, he was instrumental in the training of his daughter, Marie Taglioni.
Carlo Blasis (1797–1878), ballet master of La Scala Theatre Ballet School in Milan from 1838 to 1853. He was the first to publish a complete analysis of ballet techniques in 1820, in a work named Traité élémentaire, théorique, et pratique de l'art de la danse ("Elementary Treaty on the Art of the Dance, Theory and Practice").
Paul Taglioni (1808–1883), Deuxieme Maître de Ballet of the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre from 1847 to 1848, Maître de Ballet en Chef from 1849 to 1851. Maître de Ballet en Chef of the Court Opera Ballet in Berlin from 1852 to 1866.
Marius Petipa (1818–1910), Maître de Ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1871 to 1903, Deuxieme Maître de Ballet from 1862 to 1871. "The Father of Classical Ballet".
Arthur Saint-Léon, born Arthur Michel (1821–1870), a Frenchman who was ballet master of the Paris Opera Ballet from 1850 to 1853, then Maître de Ballet en Chef of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1859 until 1869.
Lev Ivanov (1834–1901), Deuxieme Maître de Ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres from 1885 to 1901.
Vera Shvetsova (born 1929), ballet master of the State School of Ballet and Choreography of Minsk (Belarus).
Rudolph Nureyev (1938–1993), ballet master and director of the Paris Opera Ballet from 1983 to 1992. Before that, he enjoyed an illustrious career as a dancer in both the Soviet Union and in the west.
Jean Coralli, one of the creators of the ballet Giselle, Paris, circa 1810
Arthur Saint-Léon, Paris, circa 1865
Lithograph of Jean Dauberval, Paris, circa 1790
August Bournonville, 1841
Enrico Cecchetti, St. Petersburg, circa 1900
References
^Craine, Debra; Mackrell, Judith (19 August 2010). The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Oxford University Press. p. 39. ISBN9780199563449. Originally a term describing the man at court who oversaw all dance aspects of a production, it now commonly refers to the individual who is responsible for setting the rehearsal schedule in a ballet company. Ballet masters are also in charge of ensuring the maintenance of performing standards and frequently coach dancers in new roles.
