VESTRIS, AUGUSTE

born March 27, 1760, Paris died Dec. 5, 1842, Paris also called Vestr' Allard, original name Marie-Jean-Augustin Vestris son of the great ballet dancer Gaetano Vestris and the ballerina Marie Allard, himself a dancer whose unusually brilliant technique and prodigious leaps set a new style of ballet. He was a star of the Paris Opra from his debut in 1772 until his retirement in 1816, spending the 1791 season in London. Vestris's greatest roles were in Tlmaque and as Amour in Pierre Gardel's Psych. His later years were devoted to teaching, his pupils including August Bournonville, Fanny Elssler, and his son Auguste-Armand, who also became a dancer but is remembered chiefly as the first husband of the English actress and theatrical manager Madame Vestris.