Who was August Bournonville?
August Bournonville (1805-1879) was soloist, choreographer, and ballet master of the Royal Danish Ballet from 1830 to 1877. His father, Antoine, had been born in France and had studied with Noverre. August went his own way and created a style that persists in Danish ballet to this day. Unlike most 19th-century ballet, it has significant roles for male dancers, and dancers of both sexes are given very demanding technical work to do. Pointe work was less important in the Bournonville style than elsewhere, and the ballerina did not have the commanding position she had elsewhere in Europe at that time. • The primacy of the ballerina In the nineteenth century, the ballerina became the central figure in ballet. This led to a curious reversal: in the seventeenth century, women were generally not allowed to dance, and female parts were danced by men in women’s costumes. In the nineteenth century, almost the exact opposite situation prevailed: the ballerina reigned supreme, and male roles were
