Photo of Emma Livry, c. 1860

Emma Livry (September 24, 1842 – July 26, 1863) was one of the last ballerinas of the Romantic ballet era, and a protégée of Marie Taglioni. She perished from burn injuries when her costume caught fire during a performance rehearsal. Image File history File links Emmalivry. ... Image File history File links Emmalivry. ... September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... Maya Plisetskaya, prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet from 1943 to 1960 and prima ballerina assoluta from 1960 to 1990. ... Pas de Quatre: Carlotta Grisi, Marie Taglioni, Lucile Grahn and Fanny Cerito 1845. ... Marie Taglioni circa 1831. ...

Emma studied dancing while young and attended the Paris Opera School. She made her debut at age sixteen with the Paris Opera as the sylph in La Sylphide. Her talent brought her fame and she became a widely respected ballerina. Opéra National de Paris is the leading opera company of France. ... Sylph is a faux-mythological creature in the Western tradition. ... La Sylphide is one of the worlds best-known ballets. ...

Marie Taglioni noticed her during one of her performances and immediately took a liking to the girl, becoming her mentor. Marie choreographed for Emma in the opera Le Papillon, a piece by Jacques Offenbach that was especially created just for Emma. Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880), composer and cellist, was one of the originators of the operetta form, a precursor of the modern musical comedy. ...

An opera critic at the time remarked, "She was so, ethereal, and diaphanous, an intangible artist imperative, an artist with ballon … Mlle. Livry had a ballon which has never been equaled - she bounds and leaps as no one else could do. She skims over the ground, the water and the flowers, apparently without touching them. Shims like feather and falls like a snowflake." Ballon may refer to: Look up Ballon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Ballon (Balana in Irish), a village in County Carlow, Ireland Ballon, in the Charente-Maritime département, in France Ballon, in the Sarthe département, in France This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with...

Her budding career was cut short in November of 1862. During a rehearsal for the opera La Muette di Portici her ballet dress caught fire on a stage gaslight and she suffered horrible burns. She died eight months later.

External link

Andros on Ballet