Rosita Mauri
Encyclopedia
Rosita Isabel Armanda Mauri or Roseta Mauri y Segura (born 15 September 1849 at Reus and died in Paris on 23 September 1923) was a dancer and ballet teacher of Catalan
origin.
saw her dancing at La Scala
, Milan, and persuaded the Paris Opera
to engage her the following year, when she premiered in Gounod's Polyeucte. After she retired from full-time dancing, she taught future generations of dancers at the Ballet d’Opera's ‘Class of perfection’ between 1898-1920. On her death in 1923, she was buried in the Montparnasse cemetery
. The Rosita Mauri Academy of Dance in Barcelona
was named after her in 1978 and her home town of Reus
has hosted an international dance competition in her name since 2002.
Because of her warm nature, Rosita Mauri was a favourite in artistic circles. The poet François Coppée
created for her the very popular ballet La Korrigane (The Goblin Maiden), first performed in 1880 with music by Charles-Marie Widor
and choreography by Louis Mérante
. He was followed in 1885 by Jules Massenet
, who created the ballet in his opera El Cid (1885) especially for her. After seeing her performing with her long black hair loose in the lead role of André Messager
's Les Deux Pigeons the following year, the poet Stéphane Mallarmé
wrote how impressed he was by her ritualistic animality (sa divination mêlée d’animalité).
She was frequently portrayed by artists. Edgar Degas
painted her several times onstage: Fin d'arabesque (1877); Danseuse sur la scène (1878); Ballet vu d'une loge de l'Òpera (1885). Others included Edouard Manet
(Portrait of Rosita Mauri (1877/9), also known as Jeune femme en rose, in the Pushkin Museum
), Auguste Renoir, Léon Bonnat
, Léon Comerre
, Anders Zorn
(a portrait in 1888 and an etching in 1889), and Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic
. She was also sculpted by Denys Puech
, Laurent Marqueste
, and Eusebi Arnau. The photographer Nadar
made portraits of her throughout her career.
Another side of her artistic temperament was her quick temper. There is an anecdote that she refused to eat caviar because the tsar had turned to talk to a companion during one of her performances. Another rumoured to have suffered on her account was the French politician Antonin Proust, who had formerly studied art with his childhood friend Edouard Manet and was for a short period Minister for the Arts (1881-2). In March 1905 he shot himself two days after dining with Rosita Mauri, according to some papers as a result of quarreling with her.
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
origin.
Career
The daughter of a ballet master and choreographer, she began her dancing career in 1865 and went on to became one of Europe’s principal ballerinas. In 1877 the French composer Charles GounodCharles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
saw her dancing at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan, and persuaded the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
to engage her the following year, when she premiered in Gounod's Polyeucte. After she retired from full-time dancing, she taught future generations of dancers at the Ballet d’Opera's ‘Class of perfection’ between 1898-1920. On her death in 1923, she was buried in the Montparnasse cemetery
Montparnasse Cemetery
Montparnasse Cemetery is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, part of the city's 14th arrondissement.-History:Created from three farms in 1824, the cemetery at Montparnasse was originally known as Le Cimetière du Sud. Cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the closure, owing to...
. The Rosita Mauri Academy of Dance in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
was named after her in 1978 and her home town of Reus
Reus
Reus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague...
has hosted an international dance competition in her name since 2002.
Because of her warm nature, Rosita Mauri was a favourite in artistic circles. The poet François Coppée
François Coppée
François Edouard Joachim Coppée was a French poet and novelist.-Biography:He was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war, and won public favour as a poet of the Parnassian school. His first printed verses date from 1864...
created for her the very popular ballet La Korrigane (The Goblin Maiden), first performed in 1880 with music by Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
and choreography by Louis Mérante
Louis Mérante
Louis Alexandre Mérante was a dancer and choreographer, the Maître de Ballet 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 was followed in 1885 by Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
, who created the ballet in his opera El Cid (1885) especially for her. After seeing her performing with her long black hair loose in the lead role of André Messager
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
's Les Deux Pigeons the following year, the poet Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
wrote how impressed he was by her ritualistic animality (sa divination mêlée d’animalité).
She was frequently portrayed by artists. Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
painted her several times onstage: Fin d'arabesque (1877); Danseuse sur la scène (1878); Ballet vu d'une loge de l'Òpera (1885). Others included Edouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
(Portrait of Rosita Mauri (1877/9), also known as Jeune femme en rose, in the Pushkin Museum
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour....
), Auguste Renoir, Léon Bonnat
Léon Bonnat
Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat was a French painter.He was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in Madrid, where his father owned a bookshop. While tending his father's shop, he copied engravings of works by the Old Masters, developing a passion for drawing...
, Léon Comerre
Léon Comerre
Léon François Comerre was a French academic painter, famous for his portraits of beautiful women.-Life:Comerre was born in Trélon, in the Département du Nord, the son of a schoolteacher. He moved to Lille with his family in 1853...
, Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained international success as a painter, sculptor and printmaker in etching.-Biography:...
(a portrait in 1888 and an etching in 1889), and Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic
Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic
Vicomte Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic was a French artist, archaeologist and patron of the arts. He is best remembered today as a friend of Edgar Degas, who included him in some eleven paintings and pastels...
. She was also sculpted by Denys Puech
Denys Puech
Denys Puech was a French sculptor.-Life:From a family of farmers , he began as an apprentice in the marble workshop of François Mahoux in Rodez...
, Laurent Marqueste
Laurent Marqueste
Laurent-Honoré Marqueste was a French sculptor in the neo-Baroque Beaux-Arts tradition. He was a pupil of François Jouffroy and of Alexandre Falguière and won the Prix de Rome in 1871. On his return he made his official debut at the Paris salon of 1874 . In 1893 he became a professor at the École...
, and Eusebi Arnau. The photographer Nadar
Nadar (photographer)
Félix Nadar was the pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon , a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist. Some photographs by Nadar are marked "P. Nadar" for "Photographie Nadar" .-Life: born in April 1820 in Paris...
made portraits of her throughout her career.
Another side of her artistic temperament was her quick temper. There is an anecdote that she refused to eat caviar because the tsar had turned to talk to a companion during one of her performances. Another rumoured to have suffered on her account was the French politician Antonin Proust, who had formerly studied art with his childhood friend Edouard Manet and was for a short period Minister for the Arts (1881-2). In March 1905 he shot himself two days after dining with Rosita Mauri, according to some papers as a result of quarreling with her.
Sources
- Spanish: http://es.encydia.com/ca/Roseta_Mauri_y_Segura
- Catalan: http://www.rosetamauri.org/biografia.php