CORALLI, JEAN

born Jan. 15, 1779, Paris died May 1, 1854, Paris original name Jean Coralli Peracini French ballet dancer and a choreographer of Giselle, considered by many the finest example of Romantic ballet. Trained at the Paris Acadmie (now Opra), Coralli made his debut there in 1802. He danced and choreographed in Milan, Lisbon, and Marseille (181524); in 1825 he returned to Paris as choreographer for the Thtre de la Porte Saint-Martin. He was choreographer in residence at the Paris Acadmie (183145), where, during the height of ballet's Romantic period, he choreographed for such famous ballerinas as Fanny Elssler and Carlotta Grisi, creator of the title role in Giselle (1841). Coralli also helped establish Elssler's popularity by including in several of his ballets the spectacular pas de caractre, or theatricalized folk dances, in which she excelled. In addition to Giselle, which he choreographed with Jules Perrot, Coralli also choreographed such successful and frequently revived ballets as Le Diable Boiteux (1836), La Tarentule (1839), and La Pri (1843).