Gaetano Saracco

Gaetano Saracco (25 April 1856 – 12 February 1922) was an Italian choreographer and dancer. He was baptised at the Santa Maria delle Vigne of Genoa on 25 April 1856 and died in Paris on 12 February 1922.

Saracco was the son of Giuseppe Saracco, a well known mime artist at the Teatro della Pergola of Florence, and Maddalena Balbo. He made his debut in the Teatro Quirino in Rome in 1874. He then worked in Florence, Pisa and Turin, after which he returned to Florence in 1880.

During the season of 1882-1883 Saracco danced at Paris, where he performed the title role of the ballet Excelsior by Luigi Manzotti and Romualdo Marenco. The following season, he performed at La Scala in Milan under the guidance of the famous Enrico Cecchetti.

He toured throughout the United States in 1884. He then spent a year in London at the Alhambra Theatre, where he met and married the singer Emma Davies.

Saracco left London in 1886 in order to become the ballet master at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, a position he held until 1888. Afterwards, he spent 4 months at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in Rome, after which he returned to Brussels in March 1889. He then started travelling between Milan, Monte-Carlo, and Brussels, and also performed at Saint Petersburg, Odessa Moscow, London, and Geneva.

Saracco ended his career in 1916. He died six years later in rue de Trévise, which is located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. He was laid to rest in the Batignolles Cemetery.