The Marguerite Peyre Prize
The Marguerite Peyre Prize is awarded to graduate students in recognition of excellence in the thesis or exceptional contributions to the Department, or a combination of qualities of research, teaching, and collegiality.
2023 Marguerite Peyre Prize Recipient: Madison Mainwaring
Dissertation: “Reclaiming the Silences of Dance: Women and Ballet in Nineteenth-Century France”
Through a detailed reconstruction of the records of the Opera, this dissertation rewrites the history of the French romantic ballet from the dancers’ perspectives, analyzing what happened backstage through contemporary accounts and readings of visual material. Mainwaring casts a new light on women’s and performance history, reversing two centuries of ignorance about the women artists of the dance stage.
