Saint-Léon, (Charles-Victor-) Arthur (-Michel)

(born Sept. 17, 1821, Paris, Fr.—died Sept. 2, 1870, Paris) French dancer, choreographer, and violinist. He trained with his ballet-master father and toured extensively throughout Europe (1838–59), often playing the violin as he danced. He was ballet master at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg (1859–69); his (1864) was the first ballet based on Russian folk themes. In 1870 he became ballet master at the Paris Opéra, where he choreographed his most famous ballet, . He developed an early system of dance notation, which he published in 1852.

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