Pierre Frédéric Malevergne

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Pierre-Frederic Malevergne (or Malavergne or Malovergne; 1810, France — 1872, Russian Empire) was a French dancer who worked in Russia. All English-speaking and French-speaking sources call him Malevergne;[1][2] all Russian-speaking sources call him Malavergne (Russian: Малавернь) or Malovergne (Russian: Маловернь), Russian: Пьер Фредерик Малавернь/Маловернь.[3][4][5]

His birth name is unknown, he himself preferred to be called by alias Monsieur Frédéric or Frédéric (ru: Фредерик). Of his youth nothing is known. He received an invitation from the Russian Imperial troupe and arrived to Saint Petersburg in 1831.[3][5]

Monsieur Frédéric became a solo performer of many parties in ballets by such choreographers as Charles Didelot and Marius Petipa, among others. He became a choreographer himself; his greatest work was Paquita[1][5][6][7][8] together with Marius Petipa in 1847, Saint Petersburg (Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre) and 1848, Moscow (Bolshoi Theatre) with Yelena Andreyanova in the main party. Another his well-known works is Le Corsaire (1858).[5]

Monsieur Frédéric became a dance teacher. He taught for many years. His students included Lev Ivanov and Timofei Stukolkin. In Russia, there were two Imperial troupes: in Saint Petersburg and in Moscow, he worked in both, and eventually he was transferred to Moscow. He died in 1872. Some sources[9] attribute his death place to Moscow while other sources[3] claim he died in Saint Petersburg.

An historian of Russian ballet Alexander Pleshcheyev [ru] wrote (Our ballet: 1673-1899): The art of Choreography suffered a great loss in the face of the deceased in Moscow as a dance teacher in the school, old man Frederick Malovergne (ru: «Хореографическое искусство понесло большую потерю в лице скончавшегося в Москве учителя танцев в школе, старика Фредерика Маловерн»[9]).

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