5 Performances that Reimagined the Female Lead

Choreographer: Filippo Taglioni
Premiere: 12 March 1832. Paris Opera Ballet

Italian choreographer Filippo Taglioni created this Romantic ballet in the early 19th century as an opportunity for his daughter Marie to show off one of her particular skills – pointe work. While not the first to go en pointe, this performance is believed to be the first where, rather than an acrobatic stunt, it served a dramatic purpose, adding a supernatural grace and weightlessness to the ghost-like Sylph. Her billowy romantic tutu was starkly white compared to the ornate costumes of earlier ballet productions. Additionally, her tutu was shortened to show off her delicately balanced feet, while the recently invented gaslight enhanced the ghostly, moonlit effect.

Taglioni was an overnight sensation: women wore Sylphide-inspired dresses and coiffed their hair into styles termed “a la Taglioni”. Her footwork was so sensational that during a tour to St Petersburg a group of superfans were rumoured to have bought her used shoes, cooked them, and eaten them with white sauce.

While the choreography for this work was sadly as ephemeral as its characters, Taglioni’s performance laid the groundwork for future pointe artists. She epitomised the new era of Romantic ballet, transforming pointe work from a circus trick into an expressive art form in its own right.

Choreographer: Jean Coralli
Premiere: 28 June 1841. Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique

Carlotta Grisi was already a beloved star by 1841, but her debut performance of Giselle established her legacy and changed ballet forever. In contrast to earlier roles for female dancers that limited their presence to primarily decorative or virtuosic, Romantic ballets created characters that demanded psychological depth and emotional range. As Giselle, a peasant girl fatally betrayed by a rich lover, Grisi combined technical brilliance with authentic dramatic expression, moving from innocence, joy, and love to heartbreak, madness, and death, finally finding ethereal peace and forgiveness.

Audiences marvelled at Grisi's ability to toe the line between dancer and actress, as moved by her storytelling as they were by her airy leaps and dainty footwork. Grisi’s characterisation of Giselle embodied the ideal Romantic ballet heroine, paving the way for ballerinas to be recognised not simply as pretty muses but as powerful artists capable of expressing profound human truths through their talent.

Choreographer: Michel Fokine
Premiere: 25 June 1910, Ballet Russe

 Admired for her lyricism and dramatic instincts, Tamara Karsavina was one of the great stars of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, performing in La Fille mal Gardee and Le Corsaire. 

However, Karsavina's performance as the titular Firebird was a role unlike anything any ballerina had danced before. With a challenging modern score composed by Igor Stravinsky, The Firebird combined traditional Russian iconography and mythology with expressive, naturalistic choreography by Michel Fokine to create something entirely modern.

Unlike previous roles where female dancers embodied youthful princesses, swooning swans, or the heroines of romantic tragedies, the Firebird was a dangerous, magical creature, more elemental force than mortal woman. Karsavina’s movement featured exaggerated classical steps and deep bends from the waist, with Fokine describing the character as “powerful, hard to manage and rebellious” rather than graceful. This thoroughly modern performance helped shift ballet into the twentieth century, opening possibilities for female roles defined by strength, energy and a touch of mystery.

Choreographer: William Forsythe
Premiere: May 29, 1987. Paris Opera Ballet

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated marked a dramatic transformation in ballet, and at its centre was a young Sylvie Guillem. Already known for her striking physicality and exceptional technique, Guillem pushed the boundaries of what a ballerina could do and look like on stage. Forsythe’s choreography was sharp and explosive, demanding an extreme range of motion and athleticism. Guillem’s famously long lines, hyperextended legs, and fearless stage presence made her the perfect artist for this new, contemporary dance aesthetic.

Rejecting the image of a ballerina as pure, fragile and obedient to classicism, Guillem embraced her strength, individuality and defiance, to bend the rules of classical technique, redefining it for a new era.