Bigottini, Emilie (1784–1858)

Italian ballerina. Born in 1784; died in April 1858; daughter of an Italian actor who toured the provinces; sister of Louise Bigottini, who became Mme Milon , wife of the dancer Milon; children: four.

First public appearance in Pygmalion staged by Milon (1799); debuted in Gardel's Psyché (1800); danced the title roll in Nina, ou la folle par amour (November 23, 1813), the title role in Clari, ou la Promesse

de Mariage (1820), and Suzanne in Le Page inconstant; also appeared in Aumer's Alfred le Grand, Cendrillon, and Aline, Reine de Golconde.

In a world of intrigue, Emilie Bigottini was known as generous. In a world of beauty, Bigottini was plain. But the public found her an appealing ballerina. In 1801, she was a 17-year-old debutante; three years later, she was dancing solo. By 1812, she was premiere danseuse, starring in many new ballets: eleven by Gardel and three by Milon. But her strength was not in technique, it was in acting, which was only discovered when Milon staged the story-ballet Nina, ou la folle par amour on November 23, 1813, leaving the audience red eyed. The emotional life Bigottini brought to the role of Nina was even more powerful when the audience suspected that her tears might be over the recent death at the Battle of Bautzen of her lover, Général Géraud-Christophe-Michel Duroc, the duke de Frioul, who was a friend of Napoleon and the father of two of her children (another child was conceived with the Comte de Fuentes). In 1820, she followed Nina with the title role in Clari, ou la Promesse de Mariage. Before retirement, she performed ten additional roles and acted in a farewell benefit (December 18, 1823) opposite Mlle Mars (Ann Françoise Mars ), who was contributing her time away from the Comédie-Française.