“Alma” was succeeded in the following year by “Ondine,” also composed specially for her, by Perrot, with admirable music by Pugni, and produced at Her Majesty’s on June 22nd, 1843. The plot is somewhat like that of Hans Andersen’s story, “The Little Mermaid,” and the production gave Cerito fine opportunities for expressive miming as well as dancing, one of the great moments of the ballet being the scene in which the little Naiad realises at last the mortal life which has been given her, when, for the first time she sees her shadow cast by the moonlight; and then came one of the chief sensations of the ballet—Cerito’s dancing of the famous pas de l’ombre, a thing of such beauty that the audience wished it a joy for ever.
Cerito made her Parisian début with success in 1847, in a ballet called “La Fille de Marbre,” composed by St. Leon.
A French critic, speaking of her personal attractions, described her as “petite et dodue ... les bras ronds et d’un contour moelleux, les yeux bleus, le sourire facile, la jambe forte, le pied petit, mais épais, la chevelure blonde, mais rebelle.” A charming little picture.
Fanny Cerito and St. Leon
Lucille Grahn and Perrot
Another critic wrote: “Short in stature and round in frame, Cerito is one example of how grace will overcome the lack of personal elegance, how mental animation will convey vivacity and attraction to features which, in repose, are heavy and inexpressive. With a figure which would be too redundant, were it not for its extreme flexibility and abandon, Cerito is yet a charming artiste, who has honourably earned a high popularity and deservedly retained it.”
Some idea of her style as a dancer, as well as of her personal appearance, is afforded by another contemporary who described her as “bondante and abondante.”
Among her other successes were “La Vivandière” and “Le Diable au Violon.” For the last-named the violin was played by St. Leon, the violinist and ballet-master, whom she married. She separated from him in 1850. In April, 1854, she won a striking success in a ballet, “Gemma,” which she had composed in collaboration with Théophile Gautier—a great admirer of her—and she retired later in the same year.