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(b Paris, March 1648; d Paris, 1719). French dancing-master, choreographer, violinist and possibly composer. He came from a family of violinists and dancing-masters. He danced the role of a monkey in 1660, and by 1666 he was clearly an accomplished and versatile professional. In 1674 he choreographed a divertissement by Cambert for performance at the English court. Among his illustrious pupils was the dauphine, Marie-Anne Christine-Victoire.

Favier was one of several late 17th-century French dancing-masters to devise a dance-notation system. He used it to preserve his choreography for A.D. Philidor's Le mariage de la grosse Cathos (1688), which includes movement notation for all 28 performers, including singers and instrumentalists. Favier notation lacks the visual attractiveness and readily discernible floor patterns of Beauchamp-Feuillet notation, but it has two advantages over the latter: dances for large groups are more easily notated, since each dancer has his own ‘part’, as in a music score; and greater rhythmic precision is possible....

(fl Mantua, 1580–1608). Italian singer, lutenist, dancer and choreographer . He appears in court records from Mantua from about 1580. For the wedding of Duke Vincenzo I and Margherita Farnese, he arranged the dances for Bernardo Pino da Cagli's Ingiusti sdegni, presented in Parma in 1584 by the Jewish theatrical company of Mantua. In 1591–2 he was commissioned to provide the dances for the performance in Mantua of Battista Guarini's Pastor fido, which was postponed until 1598; Massarano planned the dance scheme for the ‘Gioco della cieca’. Other productions on which he collaborated were Leone de' Sommi's Le tre sorelle (1598) and Torquato Tasso's Delli intrighi de amor (1606). In 1608 Massarano appeared, together with Salamone Rossi, in an entertainment at the home of the Paduan nobleman Pietro Priuli.

(John )

( b Skipton, Yorks., May 24, 1945). English flautist and choreographer of historical dance. He studied at the GSM from 1963 to 1966 with John Francis and Geoffrey Gilbert, and later with Wieland Kuijken in Amsterdam. His technical skill and interpretative insight into period flute playing led to principal positions in the Academy of Ancient Music, English Baroque Soloists and London Classical Players in their pioneering years. Preston was also a founder member of the English Concert, and has made acclaimed recordings of works including Bach's flute sonatas and concertos by Vivaldi. Alongside his active playing and teaching career he is artistic director of the MZT dance company and has choreographed operas by composers ranging from Purcell to Gluck....

(b Paris, Sept 17, 1821; d Paris, Sept 2, 1870). French violinist, dancer, choreographer and composer. His real surname was Michel. He studied ballet with his father, a ballet-master at the royal theatre in Stuttgart, and studied the violin with Paganini and Mayseder. He made his début as a violinist in Stuttgart in 1834 and as a dancer in Munich in 1835, when he adopted the name Saint-Léon. In 1837–8 he studied ballet with François Decombe (known as Albert) at the Paris Opéra. From 1838 he toured Europe as a dancer and in 1843 he created the ballet La vivandiera ed il postiglione (music by Rolland) in Rome. He married the ballerina Fanny Cerrito (1817–1909) in 1845; they danced together frequently until their separation in 1851. Meanwhile he became famous as a choreographer. In the early 1850s he was premier maître de ballet at the Opéra. He appeared as choreographer, dancer and violinist in ...