When was La Sylphide created?



1832in 1832, the first of the “ballets blancs,” or Romantic “white ballets.”

Who created La Sylphide?

Filippo Taglioni

August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, one of the oldest ballets in existence, was born from an 1832 French ballet by Filippo Taglioni which signalled the dawn of a new, Romantic era of ballet.

Why was La Sylphide created?





The ballet premiered on March 12, 1832, at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra with music by Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer. Taglioni created the work to showcase his daughter, Marie Taglioni, who remains one of the most celebrated ballerinas of the Romantic era.

What was the Romantic ballet La Sylphide inspired on?

It was the first fully fledged Romantic ballet. Based on Charles Nodier’s Trilby, ou le Lutin d’Argail (1822), its plot and atmosphere were also inspired by the supernatural ‘Ballet of the Nuns’ which had appeared in Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le diable (1831).

What is the difference between Les Sylphides and La Sylphide?

Les Sylphides, not to be confused with La Sylphide (a Romantic two-act ballet choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836) is considered the first plotless, or abstract, ballet.

What is the story of La Sylphide?

The story of La Sylphide concerns a young Scotsman, James, who is about to be married to Effie. The morning of the wedding day, James is dozing in a chair by the fire when a Sylphide appears beside him and wakens him with an airy kiss. She dances for him before she vanishes up the chimney.



Why is La Sylphide an important ballet?



La Sylphide was the first major Romantic ballet and it is one of the oldest still regularly performed. Its story derives from the Romantic Period, more exactly from the obsessive stories of French writer Charles Nodier.

Who composed the music for La Sylphide ballet?

La Sylphide is one of the classic themes of romantic ballet, a story of a Scotsman enticed away from his wedding celebrations by a winged spirit (the Sylphide).
Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(La) Sylphide Hermann Lovenskjold, Composer David Garforth, Conductor Hermann Lovenskjold, Composer Royal Danish Orchestra

Who designed the costumes for La Sylphide?

The Best Dressed Celebrities at the 2022 Met Gala



Not looking to do it alone, Martins has enlisted Susan Tammany, his “La Sylphide” collaborator from his Pennsylvania years, to design the production’s sets and costumes.