Born: c. 1775
Died: After 1837
Biography:
Mademoiselle Parisot (c. 1775 – after 1837) was a French opera singer and ballet dancer in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Her provocative costumes and dances caused an uproar in London and led to the imposition of restrictions on performances.
Parisot’s given name has been cited as Rose and as Céline, but during her career, she was commonly referred to simply as Mademoiselle or Madame Parisot. She made her debut at the Théâtre de Monsieur in Paris at the tender age of 14, in a production of l’Infante de Zamora on 20 December 1789. Parisot was trained by Jean-Antoine Favre Guiardele, the ballet-master of the French Opera.
The Victoria & Albert Museum identifies Parisot’s father as the journalist Pierre-Germain Pariseau, who was mistaken for a royalist and subsequently guillotined in 1794. However, in Louis Péricaud’s chronicle of the Théâtre de Monsieur, Parisot’s first name was Eugénie, and her father was a sculptor. It is said that her father told her, My daughter was raised between a linnet and a lark, but it was a nightingale which taught her to sing.
After the death of her father, Parisot moved to London, where she made her stage debut at the King’s Theatre on 9 February 1796, in a production of Piramo e Tisbe. The Morning Chronicle spoke highly of the 19-year-old’s performance, describing her balance as positively magical, for her person was almost horizontal while turning as a pivot on her toe.
Parisot frequently wore costumes that accentuated her legs as she danced, leading the Monthly Mirror to remark on her degree of flexibility in a 1796 performance in the ballet le Triomphe de l’Amour, stating that she created a stir by raising her legs far higher than was customary for dancers. It was noted that she was very thin and always smiling by Leigh Hunt.
Throughout her career, Parisot enjoyed success and acclaim. Her salary for the 1795-1796 season was £600, and she earned £577 in 1799-1800 and £840 during the 1803-1804 season. In the late 1790s, Parisot often danced alongside Rose and Charles Didelot, a husband and wife ballet pair who were trained in Paris and later influential in developing Russian ballet.
However, Parisot’s provocativeness on stage did not sit well with certain members of society. In 1798, The Hon. Shute Barrington, Bishop of Durham, denounced a dress she had worn while dancing at the Opera as indecent. The risqué dance moves of Parisot and the Didelots, along with Parisot’s use of sheer, neoclassical costumes that often exposed one breast, led the same bishop to denounce the immoral antics of the French ballet dancers.
The church’s response attracted much ridicule and was parodied by many British caricaturists, including James Gilray and Isaac Cruikshank. Ultimately, the uproar caused by Parisot’s performances and costumes led to the imposition of restrictions on ballet performances in London.
Mademoiselle Parisot’s influence on the arts cannot be underestimated. Her daring and provocative performances paved the way for future generations of ballet dancers, challenging cultural norms and pushing the boundaries of artistic expression. She left a lasting mark on the history of ballet, and her legacy continues to inspire dancers and performers to this day.