Marie Taglioni’s constitution was not typical for a ballet dancer: despite constant practicing, she was round-shouldered, and her long legs were not considered good for ballet dancing. The ballerina’s father Filippo Taglioni, a teacher and a choreographer, was always looking for ways to show his daughter’s figure to the full advantage and conceal her imperfections.

Filippo Taglioni trained Marie himself, trying to find the best movements for her long arms. He also designed her white diaphanous puffy dress that covered the knees. Other ballerinas started wearing dresses of the same design, which would be shortened till it became the modern tutu skirt.

The lithograph by Pierre Louis Grevedon depicted Marie Taglioni as Sylphide in the eponymous ballet to the music by Jean-Madeleine Schneizhoffer. Taglioni went down in ballet history as the first and unrivaled performer of the romantic role of Sylphide. The unique characteristics, floating leaps and airy quality of her dancing made her an outstanding performer.

Taglioni conveyed the captivating and dreamy atmosphere of poetry with mesmerizing grace. The viewers were fascinated with the heavenly ethereal creature floating in a leap above the scene. The Taglioni’s leap became a theater legend, and she was one of the first to master the renowned dance en pointe.

According to the writer Dalia Truskinovskaya, “La Sylphide” became the first ballet where female dancers were more expressive in their technique than male ones. Ballerinas were given new opportunities by using pointe shoes and showing their abilities to the full extent, leading to female variations coming to the fore in romantic ballet.