Born in Paris, Mérante was a pupil of Lucien Petipa, with whom he figured on the six-member select jury of the first annual competition for the Corps de ballet, held on 13 April 1860. The jury included the director of the new Conservatoire de danse, as well as the former ballerina Marie Taglioni, its guiding spirit.
Following Sylvia Mérante choreographed Le Fandango, a ballet-pantomime that premiered November 26, 1877 and had as librettists for the mimed action the team of Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, who provided librettos to Offenbach and had recently delivered a libretto on a similarly Spanish theme to Georges Bizet—Carmen.
His ballet, Les Deux Pigeons, after the fable by La Fontaine, to music by André Messager has been revived with new choreography, as a showpiece for the youngest dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet. But other ballets, with a mime libretto whose authors normally shared credit with Mérante, are perhaps an irretrievably lost part of ballet history: La Korrigane, "ballet fantastique" by François Coppée, choreographed by Mérante; Les Jumeaux de Bergame, "ballet-arlequinade" by Charles Nuitter and Mérante, to music by Th. de Lajarte, and others, produced season after season for the Opéra Garnier.
Edgar Degas included the figure of Mérante, in an immaculate white suit, with the traditional baton for beating time on the floorboards, in his 1872 painting Le foyer de danse. The painting marked the beginning of Dégas' long infatuation with the ballet, but though he had sketched the individual dancers, and the practice room in the company's old premises in the Salle Le Peletier, with its great arched mirror, he was not permitted to attend a rehearsal in person.
Edgar Degas included Mérante in his Foyer de Danse à l'Opéra de la rue Le Peletier, which shows the Balletmaster rehearsing in the Foyer de la Danse of the Salle Le Peletier, 1872
Wife (in 1861): the Russian ballerina Zinaida Richard [ru] (Mlle Zina, étoile in 1857-1863), whose father Joseph Richard was a French ballet dancer who had come to Russia in 1823 with his niece (or sister) Félicité Hullin Sor [fr] and her husband Fernando Sor.
^. Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-11-28.
External linksedit
(pdf file; in French)
from Ballet Magazine August 2000
January 01, 1970
louis, mérante, louis, alexandre, mérante, july, 1828, courbevoie, july, 1887, dancer, choreographer, maître, ballet, first, balletmaster, chief, choreographer, paris, opera, ballet, salle, peletier, until, destruction, fire, 1873, subsequently, first, ballet,. Louis Alexandre Merante 23 July 1828 Courbevoie 17 July 1887 was a dancer and choreographer the Maitre de Ballet First Balletmaster Chief Choreographer of the Paris Opera Ballet at the Salle Le Peletier until its destruction by fire in 1873 and subsequently the first Ballet Master at the company s new Palais Garnier which opened in 1875 He is best remembered as the choreographer of Leo Delibes Sylvia ou la nymphe de Diane 1876 With Arthur Saint Leon and Jules Perrot he is one of the three choreographers who defined the French ballet tradition during the Second French Empire and the Third Republic according to choreographer Pierre Lacotte 1 Louis Merante as Djemil in the Saint Leon Delibes La Source Paris 1866 Contents 1 Biography 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksBiography editBorn in Paris Merante was a pupil of Lucien Petipa with whom he figured on the six member select jury of the first annual competition for the Corps de ballet held on 13 April 1860 The jury included the director of the new Conservatoire de danse as well as the former ballerina Marie Taglioni its guiding spirit Following Sylvia Merante choreographed Le Fandango a ballet pantomime that premiered November 26 1877 and had as librettists for the mimed action the team of Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy who provided librettos to Offenbach and had recently delivered a libretto on a similarly Spanish theme to Georges Bizet Carmen His ballet Les Deux Pigeons after the fable by La Fontaine to music by Andre Messager has been revived with new choreography as a showpiece for the youngest dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet But other ballets with a mime libretto whose authors normally shared credit with Merante are perhaps an irretrievably lost part of ballet history La Korrigane ballet fantastique by Francois Coppee choreographed by Merante Les Jumeaux de Bergame ballet arlequinade by Charles Nuitter and Merante to music by Th de Lajarte and others produced season after season for the Opera Garnier Edgar Degas included the figure of Merante in an immaculate white suit with the traditional baton for beating time on the floorboards in his 1872 painting Le foyer de danse The painting marked the beginning of Degas long infatuation with the ballet but though he had sketched the individual dancers and the practice room in the company s old premises in the Salle Le Peletier with its great arched mirror he was not permitted to attend a rehearsal in person nbsp Edgar Degas included Merante in his Foyer de Danse a l Opera de la rue Le Peletier which shows the Balletmaster rehearsing in the Foyer de la Danse of the Salle Le Peletier 1872 Wife in 1861 the Russian ballerina Zinaida Richard ru Mlle Zina etoile in 1857 1863 whose father Joseph Richard was a French ballet dancer who had come to Russia in 1823 with his niece or sister Felicite Hullin Sor fr and her husband Fernando Sor See also editLeap References edit B co Pierre Lacotte Interview Archived from the original on 2006 12 06 Retrieved 2006 11 28 External links editLe Fandango Concours Annuel du Corps de ballet de l Opera pdf file in French Interview with Pierre Lacotte from Ballet Magazine August 2000 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Louis Merante amp oldid 1165952515, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
