ABSTRACT
Now long forgotten, Madame Stichel (1856–c. 1935) was one of the most remarkable French choreographers of the early twentieth century. She was the first woman choreographer to hold the position of ballet mistress at the Opéra, the first to challenge critics for their misogynist reviews, and the first to demand an equal share of authors’ rights for her work. Her strength was, however, no match for the male-dominated institutions that she depended on. Crushed by the establishment as World War I broke out, she had to rebuild her career in a complex and quickly changing theatrical world after the war.
Using Stichel as a case study, this chapter traces the institutional and cultural barriers that French women choreographers faced in the 1910s through the 1920s. Not only were ballet mistresses beholden to their institutions, their work was also circumscribed by the conventions of the genre they worked with, by a shrinking market for classical dance, and by evolving public perceptions of ballet masters/mistresses. This chapter also discusses the impact that early twentieth-century perceptions of French choreographers had on ballet historiography, and in turn, how these perceptions, along with a fixation on Ballets Russes research, have helped bury Stichel’s extraordinary achievements.
