This is the first English translation of Andre Levinson's classic biography of the celebrated ballerina Marie Taglioni, one of the greatest representatives of the art of classical ballet. The book affords a complete account of the dancer's career from her first appearance at Vienna in 1822 to her triumphs in La Sylphide, La Gitane, and La Fille du Danube; it tells the story of her immensely successful tours all over continental Europe, and ends with the sadness of her last years, when straightened circumstances forced her to eke out a bare living by giving lessons in deportment to young ladies of the aristocracy."