Marius Petipa is a Frenchman who dedicated his life to the Russian ballet, not to mention his name sounds like an element of classical dance: little steps.
Marius Petipa was born in Marseilles in 1818. His first dance teacher and choreographer was Jean Antoine Petipa’s father. “When I was seven years old, I began to learn to dance in my father’s class, breaking many bars to make sure I learnt the steps and positions and secrets of choreography perfectly.” recalled Marius Petipa. Initially, the young dancer from the ballet was not seemingly talented, to put it mildly, but in just 9 years he became the premier at the Nantes Theater. He began to come up with dance numbers and divertissements. Together with his father, they toured all over France, America, Spain. Refusing to join the troupe of the Paris Opera, the dancer went to study Spanish dances in order to apply all the knowledge he gained in both France and Spain – in Russia.
