Marie Taglioni is known as being one of the most influential ballerinas in history. Her astounding talent and graceful dancing set her apart from most other dancers of her time. Taglioni’s debut was the brilliant La Sulphide which was made with her in mind, at least the Italian version did.
http://www.dancespirit.com/uncategorized/crazy-moments-in-pointe-shoe-history/
Taglioni danced during the romantic era of the mid 1800s. This was the time of urbanization in Europe and opera houses were on the rise to meet the need of the upper and middle class want of the arts. Ballet was entering the romantic period where ballerinas were faced with fantastical worlds where good and evil were always at war.
One of the main reason that Taglioni was so popular was because news of her performances could travel quickly throughout Europe. The Italian dancer was popular in France, England, Spain, and many other European countries. The new found love in arts dominated European news and one of the most spectacular story in the dance world during this time was the soup that was made in celebration of Marie Taglioni.
Taglioni used pointe shoes, which was not a new fad, however, it was still an impressive feat, much like it is today! People were fascinated with Taglioni, obsessed even. Fans in Russia were considered to be particularly intense in their devotion to the dancer. It is said that
“A group of her fans even ate a pair of her ballet shoes after her last performance in 1842.”
http://www.nederlandsmuziekinstituut.nl/en/collections/web-presentations/taglioni/1-opening-a-box
I know that you’ve got to be thinking that was a disgusting thing to do; and, as a former dancer who did pointe, I completely agree that pointe shoe soup is a gross and disgusting thought!
What does this have to do with news? The romantic period of this time, combined with the ability for news to spread quickly allowed for people to become enthralled with Marie Baglioni’s talent and career. News allowed for Taglioni to become internationally famous in just a few years. The spread of news made it possible for her career to spread throughout Europe and it became possible for fans to follow her career and even get their hands on her pointe shoes so they could make a soup out of them.
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