Marie Taglioni (April 23, 1804-April 24, 1884). Her father, Filippo Taglioni, was her teacher and pushed her to develop strong feet so she could show the world the beauty of pointe work. Marie Shortened the hem of her ballet skirt to show legwork and her pointe work. Ballet was never the same again. Displays of legwork became more important, dresses shortened, and the style of ballet took two paths:

1. Ethereal, beautiful, god-like artistic ballet of which Marie was famous. In 1832, she danced magically in pointe shoes in the ballet created for her, La Sylphide. Even though pointe shoes are said to have been used before Marie, they were never used like this.

2.Dramatic and powerful ballet for which Fanny Esler was famous for.

Marie pioneered and developed the technique of pointe work and revolutionized ballet as a result. Ballets of this time included Ballerina’s characters to be inhabitants of the supernatural world: Sylph in La Sylphide, wilis in Giselle, fairies in Sleeping Beauty. Swanhilda in Coppelia is just about the only healthy flesh and blood female character. This supernatural woman is the symbol of beauty, nature, love and immortality. Ballerinas are always depicted as a woman not bound to earth, so dainty she could balance on a flower. In her long, white, romantic tutu she is all feminine, purity and virtue. When she rose en pointe, she achieved an ethereal lightness, an other worldly grace. She enters the realm of the spirit. The Ballet world went wild.