Jean-Louis Aumer (21 April 1774 – 6 July 1833), also referred to as Jean-Pierre Aumer, was a French ballet dancer and choreographer.

Early life and career as a dancer

Aumer was born in Strasbourg of a manual labourer and non-theatrical parents and received little formal education. At an early age he became a pupil of Jean Dauberval of the Paris Opera Ballet. When Dauberval became maître de ballet in Bordeaux, Aumer went with him. In 1791 when Aumer was still sixteen, he went with Dauberval to London, where he first performed professionally. Believing he was growing too tall to be completely successful as a dancer, he studied Dauberval's choreographic methods and the related fields of music and art as well. He was engaged as a dancer with the Paris company in 1797 and made his debut there on 15 May 1798 in the "action ballet" Le déserteur, with choreography by Maximilien Gardel and music by Ernest-Louis Müller. At the Paris Opera he was never to rise above the modest level of double, although due to his height he was useful as a mime.

Career as a choreographer

The Paris Opera's maître de ballet Pierre Gardel presented an obstacle which led Aumer to choose the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin as the venue for which to choreograph and produce his early ballets. Faced with the implacable competition from Gardel, Aumer left France for engagements in Kassel (1808–1814) and Vienna (1814–1820). Brief periods in Paris (1821–1822) and London (1824–1825) were followed by his return to the Paris Opera Ballet (1820–1831), where, enriched by the experience of working abroad, he engaged in a profound renovation of the French repertory, capped by his chef-d'œuvre, Manon Lescaut (1830). Aumer resigned from the Paris Opera in 1831 and died of a stroke in the summer of 1833 in Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville. His daughter Sophie-Julie married the danseur Étienne Leblond around 1826.

Works

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