Research Catalog

Title

[Nathalie Fitzjames and Auguste Mabille dancing in Giselle] [graphic].

Publication

[1842?]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

1 print : lithograph, b&w; 21 x 16 cm.

Summary

Full-length image of two ballet dancers in rustic costume, captured in action against a plain background. The woman, in front, appears to be jumping in arabesque; the tip of her toe does not touch her shadow on the ground. She extends both arms towards the left, but turns her head to face front. The man supports her with one arm around her waist, and curves his left arm overhead.

Subjects

• Fitzjames, Nathalie, 1819-
• Coralli, Jean, 1779-1854 > Giselle
• Mabille, Auguste
• Lithographs

Genre/Form

Lithographs.

Note

• Title devised by cataloger.
• Library's copy has been trimmed and lacks identifying captions.
• Penciled on the verso: Quadrille dansé par Melle Natalie Fitz James et Mabille dans Giselle ou les Willis.
• Lith. Guillet.

Indexed In (note)

• This may be a copy of the print of Nathalie Fitzjames and Auguste Mabille listed in: Chaffee, George, "Catalogue of the French souvenir lithographs (and varia) of the Romantic Ballet," in Dance Index

Biography (note)

• This print probably depicts Nathalie Fitzjames and Auguste Mabille, the first performers of the peasant pas de deux from Giselle (choreography, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot), which they danced at the Paris Opéra in 1841. Although the rest of the ballet's score was composed by Adolphe Adam, this pas de deux was set to interpolated music by Friedrich Burgmüller. Fitzjames and Mabille were both principal dancers of the Paris Opéra at the time.
• This print may have been a sheet music cover illustration for a score titled "Quadrille sur les motifs de F. Burgmüller ... dans Giselle ou les wilis," composed by Nicolas Louis. According to Harvard Library, which holds a copy, the score was published in Paris by Colombier, probably in 1842, and included the inscription "Dansée par Melle. Natalie Fitz-James & Mabille."

Call Number

*MGZFX Anon Gis 1

OCLC

825563969

Title

[Nathalie Fitzjames and Auguste Mabille dancing in Giselle] [graphic].

Imprint

[1842?]

Indexed In:

This may be a copy of the print of Nathalie Fitzjames and Auguste Mabille listed in: Chaffee, George, "Catalogue of the French souvenir lithographs (and varia) of the Romantic Ballet," in Dance Index, vol. III, nos. 9-11, Sept.-Nov. 1944, p. 196, no. 36. Chaffee's copy is also trimmed (5 3/4 x 5 3/4 in.), with handwritten identification, but it too is inscribed "Lith. Guillet."

Biography

This print probably depicts Nathalie Fitzjames and Auguste Mabille, the first performers of the peasant pas de deux from Giselle (choreography, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot), which they danced at the Paris Opéra in 1841. Although the rest of the ballet's score was composed by Adolphe Adam, this pas de deux was set to interpolated music by Friedrich Burgmüller. Fitzjames and Mabille were both principal dancers of the Paris Opéra at the time.

This print may have been a sheet music cover illustration for a score titled "Quadrille sur les motifs de F. Burgmüller ... dans Giselle ou les wilis," composed by Nicolas Louis. According to Harvard Library, which holds a copy, the score was published in Paris by Colombier, probably in 1842, and included the inscription "Dansée par Melle. Natalie Fitz-James & Mabille."

Local Note

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Research Call Number

*MGZFX Anon Gis 1