DAUBERVAL, JEAN

born Aug. 19, 1742, Montpellier, France died Feb. 14, 1806, Tours Dauberval also spelled D'auberval, original name Jean Bercher French ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer often credited with establishing the comic ballet as a genre. In 1761 Dauberval made his debut at the Paris Acadmie (now Opra) and became noted for his pantomimic dance ability; in 1773 he was made an assistant ballet master. In 1783 he went as a dancer to Bordeaux, where he later served as ballet master. A leading pupil of the choreographer JeanGeorges Noverre, Dauberval did much to disseminate his teacher's ideas on the ballet d'action (ballet with a plot). Dauberval's pupils included Charles Didelot, sometimes called the father of the Russian ballet, and Salvatore Vigan, who introduced the dance-drama into Italy. Among the several ballets that Dauberval choreographed, the best known was La Fille mal garde (1786), in which Mlle Thodore (Marie-Madeleine Cresp), Dauberval's wife and one of Noverre's favourite ballerinas, created the leading role of Lise. La Fille mal garde was both one of the first comic ballets and one of the first to include realistic rather than mythological or idealistic characters. With Vincenzo Galeotti's Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master (also 1786), it is one of the two oldest ballets still in the repertoire of contemporary companies; although Dauberval's original choreography was lost, there are several more recent versions based on the original scenario, notably those by Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa (1882) and by Frederick Ashton (1960).