Artifacts of my life!

(1. Montpellier France)

I was born in Montpellier France in 1742. Its a little town about 3 hours from Paris. I was actually born as Jean Bercher, my fathers name. I lived with his father in Montpellier until I moved out to better my commitment to my job and art. I loved this town I was born it as it was always full of art and was so small that you knew everyone

(2. Paris Opera house)

For this part of my life I've provided two pictures. The first picture you see is a drawing of the Paris Opera ballet, older and closer to the time I lived and went there. The second picture is the Paris Opera to this day. This was a humongous part of my life and I loved it. I trained within this beautiful building with my ballet master, Jean Noverre. It was also in this place that I myself became an assistant ballet master. It truly shaped me to the dancer I became.




(3. Ballet d'action)
While studying with my teacher Noverre, I learned a lot about new ideas for ballet. One of his ideas was ballet d'action which means ballet with a plot. This picture is an example of ballet d'action because you can see the people on stage are acting a scene out. Ballets with a plot soon became extremely popular and the kind everyone wanted to see.




(4. Example of a danseur noble. note:pictured is not Dauberval)
During my early years I was a Danseur noble. This was a very important dancer who played serious, heroic, and sometimes tragic characters. To be a noble you had to have a well-proportioned body and admiral posture. These kinds of dancers have to be able to preform the newest technique and steps with seemingly no trouble. The, as you might say, "top dog" of the company.

(5. London's King's Theatre)

Another part of my life was the London's King's Theatre. I worked here ,while at the Paris opera house, as both a dancer and choreographer. I taught demi-caractère which I loved and truly wanted to spread knowledge about around the world. Some say this is what prepared me for becoming a dance master and I have to say I agree. This led up to my big break in Bordeaux. Which reminds me...

(6. Bordeaux)

Oh my! Bordeaux seems even bigger than how I remember!  I moved to Bordeaux after becoming an assistant ballet master at the Paris Opera. Once there, I started at Le Ballet de l'Opéra National de Bordeaux. Finally, this is my big break! I became a ballet master and people started to recognize me as a choreographer. It was a wonderful dream come true. But perhaps my favourite part of Bordeaux is that I met my wife there. The beautiful Marie-Madeleine Crespé (also known as Madame Théodore) was a dancer whom I choreographed in many of my ballets.

(7. My wife and I)
Ah this picture brings back so many memories! This is a picture of me teaching my wife a new dance. Though I don't know who drew this, I am thankful they did. It is thought that in this picture I was teaching her the role I made especially for her in my most famous ballet "La Fille mal gardée." We were commonly know as the couple of choreographer and dancer. For her I am forever grateful.


(8. My pupil, Charles Didelot)
This is a picture of one of my finest students, Charles Didelot. He did so well he was sometimes referred to as "Father of Russian ballet." Teaching was something very dear to me. I loved spreading my knowledge and ideas and especially loved seeing my students prosper. I eventually passed Charles to my former teacher, Jean Noveree, to learn more.




(9.Tours, France)
I died in Tours of France on February 4th, 1806. I died living with my beautiful wife in a beautiful place of natural causes. I am forever grateful for all my life and opportunities and am very honored you wanted to interview me, merci.


(10. La Fille Mal Gardee)
My most famous ballet was La Fille Mal Gardee. This was a ballet with lots of character. I choreographed the main part for my wife and she danced it beautifully. Sadly my choreography was lost but the people loved it so much that they continue to dance adaptions of it, like the one pictured above. This is a picture of a modern adaption that is still preformed in the Royal Opera House and around the world.





Cited sources

1.  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Montpellier(France)1.JL.jpg

2. http://yvesfey.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Op%C3%A9ra_de_Paris_Garnier_18753-400x255.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Paris_Opera_full_frontal_architecture,_May_2009.jpg

3. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Ga%C3%ABtan_Vestris_dans_Jason_et_M%C3%A9d%C3%A9e.jpg

4. http://ancrehistoire.fr/danse/vestris.jpeg

5. http://www.hberlioz.com/London/HerMajesty3B.jpg

6. https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0xd5527da44cfc085:0x753333f9128100e1!2m5!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i100!3m1!7e1!4shttps://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/30979474!5sLe+Ballet+de+l%27Op%C3%A9ra+National+de+Bordeaux+building+-+Google+Search&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikm9qJiNXJAhUOm4MKHY59B1AQoioIeTAK

7. http://imageweb-cdn.magnoliasoft.net/printcollector/supersize/1218334.jpg

8. http://www.ballet.utah.edu/ballet4410/images/figure148.jpg

9. http://directory.tourdust.com/photos/3363/wine_tasting_tours_in_france_-_puy_leveque_cropped_large.jpg

10. https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRVpofDdD6xZf43tM_hiZ5dix_xK9jY2fCzwzWz_9oApEzC7bC4