the Devil, Little Jack Sheppard and Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué. In British pantomime, which is still regularly performed, the young male protagonist or Principal boy is traditionally played by an actress in boy's clothes. The practice of women performing en travesti in operas became increasingly common in the early 19th century as castrato singers went out of fashion and were replaced by mezzo-sopranos or contraltos in the young masculine roles. For example, the title role of Rossini's 1813 Tancredi was specifically written for a female singer. However, travesti mezzo-sopranos had been used earlier by both Handel and Mozart, sometimes because a castrato was not available, or to portray a boy or very young man, such as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. In 20th-century opera, composers continued to use women to sing the roles of young men, when they felt the mature tenor voice sounded wrong for the part. One notable example was Richard Strauss, who used a mezzo-soprano for Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos. From 1830 to 1850, female ballet dancers were increasingly seen in the corps de ballet portraying matadors, hussars, and cavaliers, and even as the prima ballerina's 'leading man', a practice which was to last well into the 20th century in France. Although both Fanny Elssler and her sister Thérèse danced travesti roles at the Paris Opera, Thérèse, who was very tall by the standards of the day, danced them more frequently, often partnering Fanny as her leading man. The French ballerina Eugénie Fiocre, who created the role of Franz in Coppélia, was particularly known for her travesti performances. Gallery See also Cross-dressing in music and opera Cross-dressing in film and television Cross-gender acting Commedia dell'arte (a theatrical form where female roles were played by men from as early as the 1560s) Cross-dressing Drag show Köçek* Onnagata (male actors who play female roles in Japanese kabuki theatre) Stage Beauty a film about the advent of women in Restoration era theater, threatening the career of Edward Kynaston, one of the last English boy players. Takarazuka Revue (a Japanese musical theatre troupe in which all roles are played by women) Womanless wedding References Works cited Anderson, Jack (1992). Ballet & Modern Dance: A concise history, 2nd edition. Princeton Book Co. Bibliothèque musicale du Théâtre de l'opéra, Volume 2 (1876). Librairie des bibliophiles. Blackmer, Corinne E. and Smith, Patricia Juliana (eds)