Purists would argue that Emma Livry was born too late to be truly listed as a Romantic ballerina, but she must be included in the tradition of Taglioni, Elssler, Grisi, Cerrito, and the other great dancers of the period. Extremely talented, she was thought to be the successor to her mentor, Marie Taglioni, who commissioned the ballet La Papillon for Livry in 1860. But her life was cut tragically short when she succumbed to burns after her dress caught fire backstage during a rehearsal of La Muette di Portici in November of 1862. All of Paris mourned her tortured death, which was a national tragedy for the late Romantic ballet of France.