So Revealing: Ballerinas on Antebellum US Stages

Abstract

Starting in the late 1820s, romantic ballet swept over US stages, most often presented by European ballerinas who revealed a new movement world, new theatrical expressivity, and their bodies to viewers curious, shocked, inspired, and moved by their performances. These dancers were subject to visual, aesthetic, and moral scrutiny – notable in both graphic and textual descriptions emerging from US presses. Three ballerinas are the subject of this presentation, based on their depictions in American-produced visual and verbal commentary. This essay investigates the corporeal and costume allusions in these depictions, as they reveal the technical and expressive capacities of performers, and – perhaps more so – the aesthetic exaltation and moral scruples expressed by viewers of those performances.