Gaétan Vestris
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
dancer, was born in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and made his debut at the opera in 1749.
Born of an Italian theatrical family, he studied dance with Louis Dupré
Louis Dupré
Louis Dupré was a French ballet dancer, ballet master and ballet teacher.-Life:Probably first dancing in child rôles under the name "petit Dupré", he made his official débuts at the Académie royale de musique in 1714 and became its ballet master in 1739. From 1725 to 1730, he regularly put on...
at the Royal Academy in Paris, later joining the Paris Opéra where he served as dancing master to Louis XVI. Vestris was the first dancer to discard the mask and to use his face in mime.
By 1751 his success and his vanity had grown to such a point that he is reported to have said, "There are but three great men in Europe--the king of Prussia, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and I." He was an excellent mimic as well as dancer. From 1770 to 1776 he was a master and composer of ballets, retiring, in favour of Jean Georges Noverre, with a pension.
Vestris married a dancer, Anna Heinel (1753–1808), of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
origin, who had a wonderful success at the opera. He reappeared at the age of seventy-one on the occasion of his grandson's debut.
Gaetano had several children who also became dancers. His illegitimate son Auguste Vestris
Auguste Vestris
Marie-Jean-Augustin Vestris, known as Auguste Vestris was a French dancer.Born in Paris as the illegitimate son of Gaëtan Vestris and of Marie Allard, he was dubbed "le dieu de la danse", , a popular title bestowed on the leading male dancer of each generation...
(1760–1842) was also considered the greatest male dancer of his time. Auguste made his debut at 12 with the Paris Opéra and was the company’s leading dancer for 36 years. Auguste Vestris's son, Auguste Armand Vestris (1788–1825), husband of Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in Mozart and Rossini works. While popular in her time, she was more notable as a theatre producer and manager...
, who took to the same profession, made his debut at the opera in 1800, but left Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and never reappeared in France. Gaetano's brother, Angiolo Vestris
Angiolo Vestris
Angiolo Maria Gasparo Vestris was a Franco-Italian ballet dancer.The younger brother of Gaëtan Vestris, he studied dance with Louis Dupré and became a soloist of the Opéra de Paris in 1753...
(1730–1809), married Marie Rose Gourgaud, the sister of the actor Dugazon
Jean-Henry Gourgaud
Jean-Henri Gourgaud , French actor under the stage name Dugazon, was born in Marseille, the son of Pierre-Antoine Gourgaud, the director of military hospitals there and also an actor....
. Their sister Therese was better known for her lovers than for her dancing.