Famous 19th Century Choreographers

Isadora Duncan was a dancer acclaimed in USA, Europe, and the Soviet Union. Raised by a single mother, she grew up in poverty and started teaching dance to children to earn some money. She later joined Augustin Daly's theater company. Eventually, she opened her own dance schools to teach her unique philosophy and techniques to her students. 

Sergei Diaghilev was a Russian ballet impresario, patron, and art critic. He is credited with founding the popular ballet company Ballets Russes, which has produced some of the greatest and popular choreographers and dancers like Tamara Karsavina, Lydia Sokolova, Serge Lifar, and Alicia Markova. Sergei Diaghilev is remembered for placing the needs of his company and dancers above his own.

Marius Petipa was a French pedagogue, ballet dancer, and choreographer. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and important ballet choreographers and masters in ballet history. From 1871 to 1903, he served as the principal choreographer and Ballet Master of the popular Imperial Russian Ballet. In the 1983 biopic Anna Pavlova, Petipa was played by Pyotr Gusev.

Michel Fokine was a Russian dancer and choreographer whose pieces are performed internationally to this day. Fokine is credited with choreographing the works of popular dancers like Anna Pavlova. Renowned for his groundbreaking works, such as Le Pavillon d'Armide, Michel Fokine has been portrayed in a couple of films, namely Nijinsky and A Woman for All Time.

One of the pioneers of American modern dance, Doris Humphrey had begun her career with the Denishawn dance school. The daughter of a pianist mother, she later launched her own dance school with her mother as the manager. She also excelled in American vaudeville and promoted the dance movement theory.

Maud Allan was a Canadian dancer who became known for her Dance of the Seven Veils. She studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik and became a piano teacher. She later abandoned the piano in favor of dance. She was very creative as a dancer and even designed her own costumes. She became a dance teacher in her later years.  

Tamara Karsavina was a Russian ballet dancer who served as a principal artist at Sergei Diaghilev's popular company The Ballets Russes. Karsavina also taught ballet and is credited with co-founding modern British ballet. After settling in Britain, Tamara Karsavina popularized the dance form in Britain and helped establish The Royal Academy of Dance as well as The Royal Ballet.

Jean-Georges Noverre was a French balletmaster and dancer. It is widely believed that he created ballet d'action, a predecessor of the story ballet of the 19th century. Noverre's works continue to inspire and influence several ballet dancers around the world. Such was his contribution to ballet that Jean-Georges Noverre's birthday is celebrated as International Dance Day.

Hanya Holm was a dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. One of the founders of American modern dance, Holm taught at prestigious institutions like the Juilliard School. In 1976, she was honored with the Heritage Award by the National Dance Association. In 1988, Hanya Holm was made an inductee of The National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.

Jules Perrot was a French dancer and choreographer who served as the ballet master of the prestigious Imperial Russian Ballet. Perrot is credited with creating some of the 19th century's most popular ballets, such as La Esmeralda, Pas de Quatre, Giselle, and Ondine. During his illustrious career, Jules Perrot coached famous ballerinas like Carlotta Grisi and Fanny Cerrito.

Arthur Saint-Léon was a ballet master who worked with the Imperial Russian Ballet from 1859 to 1869. He is remembered for choreographing a popular ballet named Coppélia. He is also remembered for inventing a method of choreographic notation, which was the first notation to document the movements of the torso, head, and arms apart from the movements of the feet.  

Charles Didelot was a French dancer and choreographer. Didelot is credited with creating ballet shoes and popularizing Russian ballet around the world. After studying with prominent balletmasters like Jean Dauberval and Jean-Georges Noverre, Charles Didelot went on to teach ballet at the Imperial Theatres of Russian Empire. He is also credited with choreographing the famous Flore et Zéphire in 1796.

Best known for co-creating the romantic ballet Giselle with Jules Perrot, Jean Coralli was associated with La Scala in Milan and Porte-Saint-Martin Theater in Paris. The famed ballet dancer and choreographer, who was the son of a Théâtre Italien comedian, also excelled in works such as La Péri and La Tentation.

Alexander Alexeyevich Gorsky was a Russian ballet choreographer. A contemporary of Marius Petipa, Gorsky is best remembered for restaging the former's classical ballets like The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Swan Lake. Alexander Alexeyevich Gorsky is also remembered for valuing acting skills over dance technique which made him one of the most controversial ballet choreographers of his generation.

Christian Johansson was a ballet teacher and choreographer. He is best remembered for working at the Imperial Russian Ballet where he served as a ballet master. Johansson is widely regarded as one of the most prominent teachers in the history of Russian ballet. Christian Johansson is credited with influencing a generation of ballet dancers.

A renowned Bolshoi Ballet dancer, Vasily Tikhomirov is best remembered for his performance in The Red Poppy with his wife Yekaterina Geltzer. His powerful and masculine moves added to the typical Bolshoi Ballet style of dance. He developed the Bolshoi school markedly after the 1917 Revolution.

Nicholas Sergeyev was a Russian ballet choreographer, dancer, and teacher. He served as a theatre director of the Imperial Russian Ballet at the Maryinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. From 1919 onwards, he produced ballets for several leading western companies. Nicholas Sergeyev is credited with preserving the records of the Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa choreographies of classical ballets.

Popularly known as Madame Placide, Suzanne Douvillier is regarded by some as the first trained female choreographer to perform in the US. Not much is known about her childhood apart from the fact that she was an illegitimate child. She made history with her debut in The Bird Catcher.

Apart from being one of the first female university graduates from Hungary, Valéria Dienes was a pioneering dancer and choreographer, who revolutionized the field of movement art. Initially interested in math, she later deviated to music and psychology, and eventually to dance, developing the orchestics system of movement.

A child prodigy, Louis Duport excelled in both dance and the violin since his early days. He not only developed the classical technique of ballet but also gained fame for his appearances in Charles Didelot’s ballets, such as Zéphyre et Flore. He was also a principal dancer at the Opéra de Paris.