Trailblazers

Italian noblewoman Catherine de Medici brought the Renaissance court dances of her home country to France upon her marriage to King Henri II. On October 15, 1581, the first ballet de cour, Ballet Comique de la Reine, premiered at the Hôtel de Bourbon as part of the Duke de Joyeuse and Marguerite de Vaudemont’s wedding celebrations.

In 1681, De Lafontaine changed ballet forever when she made her debut as the premiere danseuse at The Paris Opera in Le Triomphe de l'amour (The Triumph of Love). Prior to this performance, ballet had been exclusively danced by men. Le Triomphe de l'amour became the first professional, publicly performed ballet to include women with De Lafontaine as its star. Between 1681 and 1693, De Lafontaine continued to pioneer female ballet roles, performing in up to 18 ballets and operas during her career.

Born into a family of travelling performers, 18th-century French dancer and choreographer Marie Sallé, along with her brother Francis, made her dancing debut in London in 1716. The pair returned to France in 1718, where they studied with Paris Opera stars Claude Balon and Françoise Prévost. In 1927, Sallé danced alongside fellow ballet pioneer Marie Camargo, whose technicality was in direct contrast to Sallé’s theatricality. In 1934, Sallé debuted Pygmalion, making history by being the first woman to choreograph a ballet in which she also danced.

Dancer, choreographer and one of People Magazine's “Icons of the Century”, Martha Graham is recognised as one of the 20th century's most prolific artists. Graham’s revolutionary approach to dance technique expanded the physical vocabulary and emotional range available to a dancer. Alongside her revolutionary technique, Graham created 181 ballets in her career, and in 1976 she became the first dancer to receive the United States' highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.