La Sylphide

La Sylphide is a Romantic ballet in which a Scottish farmer pursues a supernatural sylph and loses his human bride. Its 1832 Paris premiere helped establish pointe work as a defining feature of ballet.

Filippo Taglioni: Filippo Taglioni was an Italian ballet dancer and choreographer who created La Sylphide. He choreographed the 1832 production for his daughter Marie.
Sylph: A sylph is an elemental spirit of air in Western European folklore and literature. The title character embodies the ballet's supernatural attraction.
1832 La Sylphide: The 1832 La Sylphide was Filippo Taglioni's original ballet, first performed at the Paris Opéra. This production introduced the work and made Marie Taglioni famous in its title role.
La Sylphide (1836 ballet): La Sylphide is an 1836 Danish ballet choreographed by August Bournonville, distinct from Filippo Taglioni's 1832 ballet. The two works share a title and sylph subject but differ in choreography and score.
Marie Taglioni: Marie Taglioni was an Italian-Swedish ballerina celebrated for her Romantic-era style and pointe work. Her performance as the sylph made the ballet a defining vehicle for her artistry.
Pointe technique: Pointe technique is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, supported by specialized shoes. Marie Taglioni's light, seemingly suspended movement became closely associated with this technique.
Bournonville La Sylphide: Bournonville La Sylphide is August Bournonville's 1836 Danish version of the ballet, still performed today. It preserves a distinct choreographic tradition rather than reproducing Taglioni's original staging.
Les Sylphides: Les Sylphides is a short, plotless ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine to music by Frédéric Chopin. Its similar title can cause confusion, but it has no narrative connection to La Sylphide.
Adolphe Nourrit: Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor and librettist at the Paris Opéra. He wrote the libretto for the original 1832 ballet.
Ballet blanc: Ballet blanc is a ballet convention featuring ensembles of female dancers in white, often as supernatural beings. The sylphs' white costumes helped define the ballet's otherworldly visual world.

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