Overview
Françoise Prévost
(c. 1680—1681)
Quick Reference
(b Paris, c.1680 or 1681; d Paris, 13 Sept. 1741)
French dancer. She made her official debut at the Paris Opera in 1699 in Lully's Atys. For three decades she was the reigning French prima ballerina and, indeed, was one of the first ballerinas in France given that women had only recently been admitted onto the stage (her predecessors were La Fontaine and Subligny). She also choreographed her own material including Les Caractères de la danse (mus. Rebel, 1715), in which she danced and mimed the parts of eleven different lovers, both male and female. She also taught in Paris, where her pupils included Marie Camargo and Marie Sallé, who went on to become famous rivals. She retired from the Opera in 1730.
Subjects: Performing arts — Dance
