Louis ballet biography

American dancer and choreographer (1930–2020)

Louis Johnson (March 19, 1930 – March 31, 2020) was an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and director whose work spanned ballet and modern dance.

Early life

Johnson was born on March 19, 1930, in Statesville, North Carolina, and grew up in Washington, D.C., raised by his mother and grandmother.^[1] During his childhood, he was active in an acrobatics group at his local YMCA. When the facility was undergoing renovations, the group was invited to practice at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, leading Doris Jones and Claire Haywood to offer him a scholarship to attend dance training while in high school.^[2][3]

In 1950, he was accepted to George Balanchine'sSchool of American Ballet where Black students were uncommon. Of his time in the school, Johnson later recalled,

"I had started out at the beginning and worked my way up the class levels and inom

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Directors, ballet masters, stage directors, choreographers, architects, ... Octave discovers the personalities that have marked the history of the Opera which continues to attract the great names of music and dance.     

Born in Paris in 1828 into a family of Italian heritage, Louis Mérante made his debut at an early age on the stage of the Théâtre de Liège. In 1846, he was engaged as a Premier Danseur at the Marseille Opera. Two years later, he came to Paris to perfect his skills under the guidance of Lucien Petipa. He soon succeeded his master in Noble Dancer roles on the stage of the Paris Opera, earning recognition for his performances in Fanny Cerrito’s Gemma (1854) and La Fonti (1855); Joseph Mazilier’s Marco Spada (1857);Lucien Petipa’s Sacountala (1858), Marie Taglioni’s Le Papillon (1860—in which he sang alongside Emma Livry); Pasquale Borri’s L’Étoile de Messine (1861), Néméa ou l’Amour vengé (1864), Diavolina and La Source (1866) by

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Louis XIV and the French Influence

When Louis XIV was crowned his interest in dancing was strongly supported and encouraged by Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin, (formerly Mazarini), who assiste Louis XIV. The young king made his ballet debut as a boy, but it was in 1653 as a teenager that he accomplished his most memorable feat as a dancer. He performed a series of dances in Le Ballet de la Nuit and for his final piece he appeared as Apollo, god of the sun. Wearing a fancy golden Roman-cut corselet and a kilt of golden rays he came to be known as the Sun King.

Cardinal Mazarin promoted Italian influences in the French spectacle. The ballet master he imported from Italy was Giovanni Baptista Lulli, who was rechristened Jean Baptiste Lully for work in France. Lully became one of the king's favorite dancers and rivaled the king as the best dancer in France.

In 1661 Louis established the Académie Royale de Danse in a room of the Louvre, the world's first ballet school. Also in