Marie Sallé

Marie Sallé (c. 1707–1756) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer who helped make theatrical dance more expressive and dramatically integrated.

Jean-Georges Noverre: A French dancer and ballet master who advocated expressive, plot-driven dance in the 18th century. His later ballet reforms developed similar ideas about gesture and dramatic expression.
Paris Opera Ballet: The ballet company of the Paris Opera, founded in 1669 and among the oldest continually operating ballet institutions. Sallé trained and performed within the Parisian institution that defined French ballet.
Pantomime: A form of performance that conveys action and emotion chiefly through gesture and movement rather than spoken dialogue. Sallé used expressive movement to give dance stronger dramatic force.
Terpsichore (Handel): A 1734 prologue by George Frideric Handel, written for a revival of his opera Il pastor fido and featuring dance. Sallé performed and choreographed for the work during her London career.
Marie Camargo: A French ballet dancer celebrated for technical virtuosity and changes to performance dress. Her public image emphasized technical brilliance, contrasting with Sallé’s expressive reforming reputation.
Royal Academy of Music (London): An 18th-century London opera company established in 1719 to produce Italian opera. Sallé performed in London opera productions associated with this company.
Ballet d'action: A narrative ballet that tells a coherent story primarily through dance and expressive gesture. Sallé’s reforms anticipated the dramatic principles later associated with this form.
Pygmalion (Rameau): A 1748 one-act opera-ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau based on the myth of the sculptor who brings a statue to life. Sallé’s celebrated dancing in the work exemplified expressive movement and dramatic characterization.
George Frideric Handel: A German-born composer who spent much of his career in Britain and composed operas and oratorios. Sallé danced in Handel’s London productions, including Terpsichore.
French ballet: A tradition of theatrical dance shaped by French court culture, opera, and formal technique. Its conventions supplied the forms Sallé sought to make more expressive.

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Marie-Madeleine GuimardCompared with: Her earlier reforms provide a precedent for the expressive style associated with Guimard.