"Ballet of the Nuns" in the third act, featuring the great ballerina, Marie Taglioni. The choreography for the ballet was elaborated by the ballerina's father, Filippo Taglioni. The audience's prurient delight in this scandalous scene is well conveyed by the reviewer for the Revue des Deux-Mondes: A crowd of mute shades glides through the arches. All these women cast off their nuns' costume, they shake off the cold powder of the grave; suddenly they throw themselves into the delights of their past life; they dance like bacchantes, they play like lords, they drink like sappers. What a pleasure to see these light women... The set for the ballet was an innovative and striking design by Henri Duponchel and Pierre-Luc-Charles Ciceri. Duponchel had also introduced technical innovations for the staging, including 'English traps' for the sudden appearance and disappearance of the ghosts. (Meyerbeer was led to complain that the spectacle was too much and was pushing his music into the background). Taglioni danced the Abbess only six times in Paris; she was replaced by Louise Fitzjames, (who danced the role 232 times). At the invitation of Nourrit, Cornélie Falcon made her debut at the age of 18 at the Opéra in the role of Alice on 20 July 1832. The cast included Nourrit. Although suffering from stage fright, Falcon managed to sing her first aria without error, and finished her role with "ease and competence." Her tragic demeanor and dark looks were highly appropriate to the part, and she made a vivid impression on the public, which included on that night Auber, Berlioz, Halévy, Maria Malibran, Giulia Grisi, Honoré Daumier, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. On hearing her in the role, Meyerbeer himself declared his opera at last 'complete'. By April 1834 the opera had received over 100 performances in Paris. Nourrit sang the role of Robert until 1837, when he was replaced as premier tenor at the Opéra by Gilbert Duprez, whom, however, Meyerbeer did not like in the role; nor did he approve of an alternative, Lafont. However, he was impressed by the newcomer Mario (Cavaliere Giovanni Matteo di Candia), and wrote for him a new aria for Robert which was performed at his debut in the revival of the opera on 30 November 1838. Mario's debut was the launch of his very successful career. Others singing in the 1838 revival included Julie Dorus-Gras (Alice), Prosper Dérivis (Bertram) and