Gardel, Maximilien Léopold Philippe Joseph (EN)

Gardel, Maximilien Léopold Philippe Joseph, known as l’Aîné, *18 December 1741 Mannheim, †11 March 1787 Paris son of Claude, French dancer and choreographer.

Between 1760 and 1781 he performed as a principal dancer; from 1773 to 1787 he was maître de ballet at the Paris Opera, and from 1774 also maître de ballet de la cour. He competed with A. Vestris. Thanks to his virtuoso technique, he was also known as the “demi-dieu de danse.” He reformed ballet costume by rejecting masks that had been the norm until then (Apollo in the ballet Castor and Pollux, music by J.Ph. Rameau, 1772).