Jean Dauberval

Who was Jean Dauberval?

Jean Dauberval, a.k.a. Jean D’Auberval, was a French dancer and ballet master. He is most noted for creating the ballet, La fille mal gardée, one the most enduring and popular works of the ballet repertoire.

Dauberval was trained at the school of the Paris Opéra where he studied under the great Jean-Georges Noverre. He was appointed premier danseur of the ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique in 1763, and, in 1771, he was named ballet master. From 1781 until 1783, he was engaged as Maître de Ballet to the Académie.

In 1783, Dauberval moved to Bordeaux, where he accepted the post of maître de ballet to the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, a position he held until 1791. In 1789, Dauberval created his most enduring ballet, La Fille mal gardée, in which his wife, the dancer Marie-Madeleine Crespé, who is known to history as Madame Théodore, created the role of Lison.