Traité élémentaire théorique et pratique de l'art de la danse

Blasis, Carlo (1803-1878) Milan, 1820. Chez Joseph Beati et Antoine Tenenti First edition Carlo Blasis, dancer, choreographer and dance theoretician, was born in Naples. When he was young, his family moved to Marseilles. His father, who came from a long line of naval officers, was a well-established musician and composer. Blasis went to Milan where he established his career at La Scala. He danced all over Italy and in London. He married Annunziata Ramaccine and danced with her until a leg injury forced him to abandon his career as a performer. In 1837, he was made Director of the Imperial Academy at Milan, where he taught Carlotta Grisi and Fanny Cerrito, both already established stars of the dance. He published his first work, and the first codified analysis on ballet technique, Traité, and continued to write on the technique, theory and history of dance for the rest of his life. He is best known for developing the attitude position, based on the statue of Mercury by Geovanni da Bologna. He developed the technique called "spotting," which prevents dizziness while performing turns. He taught Enrico Cecchetti, who would later expand Blasis's technique and would become famous for ballet instruction that is still used.