John D'Auban
[7] D'Auban quickly became popular as a grotesque dancer and "star trap" performer in London music halls early in his career.
[14] In 1876, D'Auban arranged the dances for the Gilbert and Frederic Clay comic opera Princess Toto, starring Kate Santley.
[15] In 1877, D'Auban began working with Richard D'Oyly Carte, Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan by arranging the dances for their comic opera The Sorcerer.
[19] In 1880, D'Auban choreographed and appeared with his wife and sister in E. L. Blanchard's pantomime of Mother Goose at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
In 1881, D'Auban appeared in and arranged the dances for Robinson Crusoe, followed in subsequent years by such Drury Lane pantomimes as Sinbad The Sailor, Cinderella and Aladdin.
[22] In 1886, D'Auban choreographed Vetah, a comic opera with a libretto by Kate Santley and music by Firmin Bernicat and Georges Jacobi, which toured the British provinces in 1886.
[24] He also choreographed Faust up to date by Meyer Lutz, including his famous ballet music, a Pas de Quatre (1888), that became very popular and is still available today on CD.
These included Iolanthe (1882),[28]Princess Ida (1884),[11] The Mikado (1885)[29] (D'Auban is played by Andy Serkis in the 1999 film Topsy-Turvy concerning the making of The Mikado), Ruddigore (1887),[30] The Yeomen of the Guard (1888),[31] The Vicar of Bray (1892), Captain Billy (1892), Haddon Hall (1892),[32] Jane Annie (1892), Utopia Limited (1893),[33] The Chieftain (1894),[34] The Grand Duke (1896),[35] His Majesty (1897),[36] The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (1897), The Beauty Stone (1898)[37] and The Emerald Isle (1901).
[39] He and his wife danced in a revised version of The Golden Web, libretto by Frederick Corder and B. C. Stephenson, music by Arthur Goring Thomas at the Lyric in 1893.
[41] His other choreographic work during this period embraced pantomime, comic opera and musical comedy, including a revival of the hit comic opera Dorothy by B. C. Stephenson and Alfred Cellier at the Trafalgar Square Theatre (1892),[42] Gilbert's The Mountebanks at the Lyric (1892),[43] The Black Domino by George R. Sims and Robert Buchanan at the Adelphi Theatre (1893)[44] and Gilbert's His Excellency at the Lyric (1894).
[46] In 1896, he choreographed a revised version of a musical, The New Barmaid, followed by A Man About Town and The Mermaids at the Avenue Theatre,[47] Aladdin at Drury Lane, in which his son Ernest appeared with Decima Moore, Dan Leno and Paul Cinquevalli[48] and Black-ey'ed Susan at the Adelphi.
[11] He then choreographed the British production of Lost, Strayed or Stolen (1897) a musical comedy by J. Cheever Goodwin, Woolson Morse and Leslie Stuart at the Duke of York's Theatre[49] and Babes in the Wood at Drury Lane (1898).
Among his dance students were Alice Lethbridge,[53] Sylvia Grey, Mabel Love, Margaret Morris, Lillie Langtry, Mary Anderson, Ruby Ray and Letty Lind.
