‘Celebrities’ and ‘artists’ : a history of the feminization of the Paris Opera Ballet, 1830-1860

Cette étude propose une histoire de la féminisation des « artistes de la danse » de l’Opéra, groupe qui rassemble les professionnels des deux sexes les plus qualifiés (solistes et maîtres de ballet) dans un contexte où la production des spectacles s’appuie sur le vedettariat. Après avoir démontré que la féminisation des emplois résulte d’une dynamique statistique remontant au siècle précédent, on étudie la trajectoire parisienne de la danseuse Marie Taglioni (1827-1837) pour montrer que le vedettariat féminin peut être le fruit de la reproduction sociale et qu’il s’adosse à une définition économique de la valeur artistique. Mais, si l’étoile féminine étend sa responsabilité dans la réussite commerciale des œuvres chorégraphiques et devient l’objet de discours et d’appropriations commerciales qui valorisent son statut d’artiste interprète, l’examen de la carrière du maître de ballet Jean Coralli (1831-1850) montre combien les emplois consacrés à la composition des danses demeurent une spécificité masculine. L’étude de l’auctoralité masculine sur les danses combinée aux effets de la féminisation des emplois permet enfin de comprendre les conditions d’émergence à l'Opéra des chorégraphes féminines Fanny Cerrito et Marie Taglioni.This dissertation retraces the history of the feminization of a professional category of “dance artists” at the Paris Opera that included the most highly qualified dance professionals of both genders (soloists and ballet masters) who were working within a system where the production of ballet performances relied on a culture of celebrity. Once having demonstrated that the feminization of the professional corps of dancers at the Opera resulted from a statistical dynamic that emerged in the 18th century, I study the Paris-based career trajectory of the female dancer Marie Taglioni (1827-1837) in order to demonstrate that female celebrity was the fruit of social reproduction that served to reify an economic model of assessing artistic value. This female celebrity culture meant that female ballet stars extended their professional responsibility to include the commercial success of the choreographic works they performed, and this resulted in their serving as the objects of discourse and as subjects of commercial appropriations valorising their status as performers. Yet, a close examination of the career path of the ballet master Jean Coralli (1831-1850) reveals to what extent any professional employment related to the composition of ballets still remained a masculine affair. Our study of male auctoriality over ballet composition, combined with our historical survey of the feminisation of the ballet profession in the early 19th century, reveals what made it possible for a certain number of female dancers, notably Fanny Cerrito and Marie Taglioni, to emerge as choreographers despite the institutional constraints of the Paris Opera