Marie-Madeleine Guimard | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Guimard | |
| Born | 27 December 1743 |
| Died | 4 May 1816 (aged 72) Paris, France |
| Spouse | |
| Partners | Leger Jean-Benjamin de La Borde Charles de Rohan |
| Children | 2 |
Marie-Madeleine Guimard (27 December 1743[1] — 4 May 1816) was a French ballerina who dominated the Parisian stage during the reign of Louis XVI.[2] For twenty-five years she was the star of the Paris Opera. She made herself even more famous by her love affairs, especially by her long liaison with the Prince of Soubise. According to Edmond de Goncourt, when d'Alembert was asked why dancers like La Guimard made such prodigious fortunes, when singers did not, he responded, "It is a necessary consequence of the laws of motion".[3]
- ^ Born and baptised the same day, according to her baptismal record reported in Edmond de Goncourt, La Guimard: d'après les registres des menus-plaisirs, de la bibliothèque de l'Opéra, etc (Paris, 1893) p. 5. Goncourt's life is the source for virtually all the modern references.
- ^ P. Migel, The Ballerinas, from the Court of Louis XIV to Pavlova, 1972.
- ^ Edmond de Goncourt 1893, preface.