Jean Georges Noverre abolished the singing and established
the five-act ballet on its own footing in 1776. In this it appears he
had partly the advice of Garrick, whom he met in London. The names of
the celebrated dancers are numerous, such as Pecourt, Blaudy (who
taught Mlle. Camargo), Laval, Vestris, Germain, Prevost, Lafontaine,
and Camargo (fig. 61), of the 18th century; Taglioni, Grisi, Duvernay,
Cerito, Ellsler, etc., of the 19th century, to those of our own day. A
fair notice of all of these would be a work in itself.
[Illustration: Fig. 64.--Mlle. Taglioni. From a lithograph of the
period.]
The introduction of the ballet into England was as late as 1734, when
the French dancers, Mlle. Salle, the rival of Mlle. Camargo, and Mlle.
de Subligny made a great success at Covent Garden in "Ariadne and
Galatea," and Mlle. Salle danced in her own choregraphic invention of
"Pygmalion," since which time it has been popular in England, when
those of the first class can be obtained. There are, however, some
interesting and romantic circumstances connected with the ballet in
London in the last century, which it will not be out of place to
record here.
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