Louis Milon

Louis-Jacques-Jessé Milon (18 April 1766 – 26 November 1849) was a French ballet dancer, choreographer, and ballet master.

Life Born in Saint-Martin de Caux,

Later he began studying dance at the Paris Opera Ballet School, joining the corps de ballet of the school's parent company in 1787 and making a favorable impression as the Grand Cousin in Maximilien Gardel's Le déserteur on 16 January 1788 and as the Mentor in Pierre Gardel's Télémaque on 23 February 1790. He became double in 1791 and was only promoted to replacement in the noble genre in 1799, before retiring as a dancer in 1800. he became assistant ballet master to Pierre Gardel, with whom he worked in great harmony. Their collaboration, Les Noces de Gamache, with a libretto by Milon based on comic episodes from Cervantes's novel Don Quixote, premiered on 18 January 1801 and was retained in the repertory until 1841. He continued to teach and created many other works for the company until his retirement in 1826.

Many of his ballets were also produced in the main stages of Europe. In parallel to his choreography career, he was also the last "Grand Professeur" of pantomime at the Opéra.

He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1849.

Though not revolutionary, his works were well in line with the tastes of the time and perfectly legible for audiences. With Bigottini, Milon put on pieces full of fantasy and humour as well as melodramas, with the latter having great success right up until the rise of romantic ballet around 1830.

Selected works 1799 : Pygmalion 1799 : Héro et Léandre 1801 : Les Noces de Gamache 1803 : Lucas et Laurette 1813 : L'Enlèvement des Sabines 1813 : Nina ou la Folle par amour 1815 : L'Épreuve villageoise 1816 : Le Carnaval de Venise 1820 : Clari ou la Promesse de mariage