Question: Who is the father of the ballerina credited with being the first to truly dance en pointe?
Context: Odette Valery (spelled Valéry in French publications), née Helene Vasilardi, (1883–?)  was an Italian dancer of Greek parentage.  She made her début at La Scala in 1898 at the age of fifteen.  She moved to Paris where she danced with the Ballet Excelsior at the Folies Bergère.  She came to regard dancing "en pointe" as "old-fashioned" and made her name doing reconstructions of ancient Greek dances in bare feet.  Later she portrayed Cleopatra and did an Egyptian dance with a live asp.  She was well-educated and spoke French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian as well as some English and she played the piano well.  In 1908, she caused a sensation in New York when she danced in the last act of "Samson and Delilah" at the Manhattan Opera House where she had been engaged by Oscar Hammerstein I.  Her dance included the participation of one of three snakes (with fangs removed) which were cared for by their own groom, Robert, whom she had engaged in addition to other servants who travelled with her.  In 1910 she was earning $1000 a week when dancing in the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.  She owned several automobiles and amassed a fortune in jewellery.  She spent lavishly and by 1912, she was destitute.  Her money ran out when she had to have an operation and as a result she could not work for an extended period.  Although her weekly salary was what a workman earned in a year at the time, she hadn't saved a penny.  She was found ill and starving in a cheap boarding house in Notting Hill, London where she was being cared for by her seven-year-old son Gaeton.  She had been surviving thus for a year by pawning her jewellery.  She was found by a friend who was performing at Hammerstein's London Opera House.  The friend took her in and was planning to send her back to her home in France to recover.  She returned to Paris and although she was reputed to have had twenty-eight love affairs in one year at the height of her fame, she had few real friends and continued to live in poverty.  It was a California heiress, Mrs. Jackson Gouraud, who came to her aid on reading about her plight and gave a fund-raising ball in her honour at Martin's, New York.  The hostess wore a live python around her neck for the event. Marie Taglioni (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.  She was one of the most celebrated ballerinas of the romantic ballet, which was cultivated primarily at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, and at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique of the Paris Opera Ballet.  She is credited with (though not confirmed) being the first ballerina to truly dance en pointe. Vaslav Nijinsky (also Vatslav; Russian: Ва́цлав Фоми́ч Нижи́нский ; ] ; Polish: "Wacław Niżyński" ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century.  He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations.  He could dance "en pointe", a rare skill among male dancers at the time and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Filippo Taglioni (aka Philippe Taglioni; 5 November 1777 – 11 February 1871) was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, the famous Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni.  (He had another child who also danced ballet, Paul Taglioni.)  Also, although August Bournonville's version is better known, it was Taglioni who was the original choreographer of "La Sylphide", in 1832. Dori shoes are dance shoes that combine the toe box of a pointe shoe with a dance heel approximately 3 inches ( about 7.5 cm ) in length.  These allow the dancer to combine steps from multiple dance styles with classical ballet, by switching balance from standing on the heel to standing en pointe, and vice versa.  In 2007, Dorimar Bonilla, a Las Vegas choreographer and dancer originally from Puerto Rico, first created the shoes.  They were first used for performance at a cabaret show by "The Coquettes" at CatHouse, inside the Luxor Hotel and casino in Las Vegas.  They have also been seen in shows such as "Ran Can Can" in Puerto Rico, "Sin City Comedy" in Las Vegas, and "Broadway Bares- Las Vegas", produced by American theater choreographer and director, Jerry Mitchell. The ballet boot is a contemporary style of fetish footwear that merges the look of the pointe shoe with a high heel.  The idea is to force the wearer's feet almost "en pointe", like those of a ballerina, with the aid of long, slender heels.  When upright, the feet are held nearly vertical by the shoe, thus putting nearly all of the body's weight on the tips of the toes.  However, a properly tight fit (firmly laced) will hold the shoe to the wearer's instep and heel, thereby reducing the weight on the wearer's toes. Flore et Zéphire is a one-act ballet choreographed by Charles-Louis Didelot to music by Cesare Bossi, premiered in London at the King's Theatre, Haymarket on Thursday, 7 July 1796.  The ballet tells the story of Zephyr, the fickle west wind, and his wife Flora, a nymph of flowers and springtime.  The ballet was originally composed in 1795 for performance in Lyon, France, and was revised in 1796 prior to its London premiere.  "Flore et Zéphire" used "flying machines" to send dancers soaring above the stage on nearly invisible wires, in order to enhance the presentation of Flora and Zephyr as spirits of the air.  The ballet is credited with the introduction of dancing "en pointe" to the stage. In dance (particularly ballet), arabesque (] ; literally, "in Arabic fashion") is a body position in which a dancer stands on one leg (the "supporting" leg) with the other leg (the "working" leg) turned out and extended behind the body, with both legs held straight.  In classical ballet, an arabesque can be executed with the supporting leg "en pointe" or "demi pointe" or with foot flat on the floor. Pointe technique is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns "pointe work", in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes.  A dancer is said to be "en pointe" when the dancer's body is supported in this manner, and a fully extended vertical foot is said to be "en pointe" when touching the floor, even when not bearing weight.  Pointe work is performed while wearing pointe shoes, which employ structural reinforcing to distribute the dancer's weight load throughout the foot, thus reducing the load on the toes enough to enable the dancer to support all body weight on fully vertical feet. A pointe shoe is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work.  Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and have evolved to enable dancers to dance "en pointe" (on the tips of their toes) for extended periods of time.  They are manufactured in a variety of colors, most commonly in shades of light pink.
Answer: Filippo Taglioni