Arthur Saint-Léon was born Charles Victor Arthur Michel in Paris and raised in Stuttgart, where his father was dance master for the court and theatre ballet. He studied violin with Joseph Mayseder and Niccolò Paganini, alongside ballet training, and performed as both a violinist and a dancer throughout his career.
As a choreographer, Saint-Léon’s output spanned the major stages of Europe. He created La Vivandière (1843) as a showcase for Fanny Cerrito — whom he later married — scoring a significant hit in London. He also choreographed works for the Teatro La Fenice in Venice and the Paris Opéra, where he served as master class teacher and was entrusted with divertissements for the company’s most important productions. After touring Europe and a three-year tenure at the Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon, he succeeded Jules Perrot in 1859 as Maître de Ballet at the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, a post he held until 1869, when Marius Petipa succeeded him.
His most enduring work is Coppélia (1870), originally intended for his favorite ballerina, Adèle Grantzow. Though Saint-Léon choreographed many ballets throughout his life, Coppélia is the only one to survive nearly complete. He died two days after the premiere season was cut short by the Franco-Prussian War.
Saint-Léon also invented a system of ballet notation — La Sténochoréographie (1852) — the first method to document not only footwork but also the movements of the arms, torso, and head.