Barbara Campanini. Barbara Campanini, known as La Barbarina, was a famous Italian ballerina, one of the most important ballet dancers of the 18th century.
Barbara Campanini was born in Parma. She became a student at Teatro Farnese under the instruction of Antonio Rinaldi Fossano, with whom she gave her debut at the Paris Opera in 1739, which became an immediate success.
In 1740, she became well known for her talent not only as a dancer but also as an actress. People began to call her La Barbarina or The Flying Goddess because of her impeccable execution of entrechats.
She is sometimes thought to be the reason for the early retirement of Marie Sallé. After a tour in London she performed in Vienna before she returned to Paris in 1743.
She was noted by the young Prussian king Frederick the Great, who offered her a position at the newly erected Court Opera in Berlin, where she performed from 1744 onwards. She appeared in her first performance there on 13 May 1744. Before she arrived, however, she had eloped her contract to Venice with her lover James Stuart-Mackenzie, and King Frederick used political pressure arresting a Venetian envoy to have her turned over to Prussia. Jean-Jacques Rousseau who was a secretary at the French embassy at that time, was involved with her case. In Berlin, she had a privileged position, demonstrated by the fact that she negotiated her own annual salary of 7,000 Reichsth
Barbara Campanini was born in Parma. She became a student at Teatro Farnese under the instruction of Antonio Rinaldi Fossano, with whom she gave her debut at the Paris Opera in 1739, which became an immediate success.
In 1740, she became well known for her talent not only as a dancer but also as an actress. People began to call her La Barbarina or The Flying Goddess because of her impeccable execution of entrechats.
She is sometimes thought to be the reason for the early retirement of Marie Sallé. After a tour in London she performed in Vienna before she returned to Paris in 1743.
She was noted by the young Prussian king Frederick the Great, who offered her a position at the newly erected Court Opera in Berlin, where she performed from 1744 onwards. She appeared in her first performance there on 13 May 1744. Before she arrived, however, she had eloped her contract to Venice with her lover James Stuart-Mackenzie, and King Frederick used political pressure arresting a Venetian envoy to have her turned over to Prussia. Jean-Jacques Rousseau who was a secretary at the French embassy at that time, was involved with her case. In Berlin, she had a privileged position, demonstrated by the fact that she negotiated her own annual salary of 7,000 Reichsth
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