Mérante, Louis-François (27 July 1828, Paris; 17 July 1887, Courbevoie), choreographer, was born into a family of dancers and made his stage debut at the age of six in Liége at the Théâtre Royal. He enjoyed a successful engagement as a youth at La Scala in Milan, and, two years later in 1846, he went to Marseilles as premier danseur for the company there. Finally, in 1848, he was offered and accepted an invitation from the Opéra to understudy Lucien Petipa . After the retirement of Justament in…