Jean-Étienne Despréaux

• Born — 31 August 1748 • Birthplace — Paris, Kingdom of France • Died — 26 March 1820 • Place of death — Paris, Kingdom of France • Occupation — Ballet dancer Choreographer playwright • Spouse — Marie-Madeleine Guimard

The son of an oboist of the orchestra of the Académie royale de musique, he made here his début in 1763, four years after his brother Claude-Jean-François. A remarkable dancer for his lightness in the high dance, he was applauded in several ballets: • 1771: Pyramus and Thisbe, by La Serre, Rebel and Francœur • 1773: Les Amours de Ragonde, by Destouches and Mouret • 1774: Iphigénie en Aulide, by Du Roullet and Gluck • 1774: Sabinus, by Chabanon and Gossec • 1778: La Chercheuse d'esprit, a ballet by Maximilien Gardel. He retired in 1781 with a 1,000 livres pension and married the famous ballerina Marie-Madeleine Guimard on 14 August 1789. Charles-Maurice Descombes, in his 1856 Histoire anecdotique du théâtre, writes:

Despréaux wrote several parodies of operas that Louis XV particularly appreciated. • 1777: Berlingue, parody of Ernelinde by Sedaine and Philidor • 1778: Momie, parody of Iphigénie en Aulide by Gluck • 1778: Romans, parody of Roland by Quinault and Lully • 1780: Christophe et Pierre-Luc, parody of Castor et Pollux by Gentil Bernard and Rameau • 1786: Syncope, reine de Mic-Mac, parody of Pénélope by Cimarosa • 1801: Jenesaiki, ou les Exaltés de Charenton, parody of Béniovski ou les Exilés du Kamchattka by Boieldieu • 1801: La Tragédie au vaudeville, en attendant le vaudeville à la tragédie, parody of Othello by Jean-François Ducis He also made the opening prologue for the Théâtre de la Reine in May 1780. But he is mostly known as the author of Mes passe-temps: chansons, suivies de l'Art de la danse, poème en quatre chants, calqué sur lArt poétique de Boileau Despréaux, seminal work for choreography considered as an art in itself, and not as mere entertainment.

Jean-Étienne Despréaux is recorded as poet, singer, playwright, actor and composer.