 The son of Jean-Antoine Petipa, he was the original interpreter of many of the principal male roles during the Romantic era, working with choreographers such as Jean Coralli among others.Probably the most known role he created was Albert, duke of Sliesa (later to be known as count Albrecht) in the two-act ballet of "Giselle" in 1841, opposite the Italian-born ballerina Carlotta Grisi for whom the ballet was created.Between 1860–68 he was "maître de ballet" at the Paris Opera and between 1872 and 1873 he ran the La Monnaie theater in Brussels.