Marie Sallé (1707–1756) was a French dancer and choreographer in the 18th century known for her expressive, dramatic performances rather than a series of "leaps and frolics" typical of ballet of her time.

Marie Sallé was a prominent dancer and choreographer in early 18th-century dance. She helped to create ballet d'action (a form continued by her student, Jean-Georges Noverre); she reformed traditional "feminine" costumes. Born to fairground performers and tumblers in 1707, Marie grew up performing around France with her family.

She made her first public performance with her brother, Francis, at London's Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in 1716. They made their Paris debut at the Saint Laurent fair in 1718 performing La Princesse Charisme, created by Véronique Lesage. In 1725, their family returned to England, but they stayed. The pair is said to have studied with Claude Balon, star of the Paris Opéra, as well as his partner, Françoise Prévost, and fellow dancer at Paris Opera, Michel Blondy. They spent two more seasons at Lincoln's Field Inn, performing dances from George Frideric Handel's opera Rinaldo as well as pantomimes.

Sallé went solo and started performing with the Paris Opera in late 1727. In her premiere, she performed in Jean-Joseph Mouret's Les Amours des Dieux. She danced alongside Marie Camargo, also a student of Prévost; however, they each formed different approaches to their dancing – Camargo as the technician and Sallé as the actress. Her legacy never quite separated from Camargo despite their differing styles. Sallé never settled in at the Paris Opera as she left three times after conflicts with the administration. Nevertheless, she left her mark there, especially during her collaboration with Jean-Philippe Rameau. She continued to London in 1734 for her fourth season. She was engaged by John Rich to perform at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She danced in Terpsicore, a prologue to a revision of Handel's Il pastor fido and in the premieres of the same composer's Alcina and Ariodante.

Also In 1734 she presented her first original, and almost famous work in 1734, Pygmalion, a mythological tale of a statue that comes to life and the sculptor who creates it. This piece made her the first woman to choreograph a ballet in which she also danced. In Pygmalion, Sallé chose to dress in Greek robes, wear her hair down and dance in sandals while playing the role of the statue in an attempt to make it a more realistic characterization. According to Susan Au, her choreography "gave the impression of a danced conversation". During this season, Covent Garden also saw her pantomime Bacchus and Ariadne and her collaboration with Handel.

She returned to Paris in 1735 and choreographed and danced in scenes for Jean-Phillipe Rameau's opéra-ballets. She retired from the public stage in 1741. However, she continued to dance at court (i.e. to the request of royalty for them and the nobility at court). She taught at the Opéra-Comique in 1743 and, according to her student Jean-Georges Noverre, she practised daily. Sallé came out of retirement for a few performances at Versailles between 1745 and 1747. She died on 27 June 1756.

The theatrical scene in 18th-century London and Paris was generally a male preserve and unreceptive to change. It was mostly men who held influential positions in theaters, who were the artists, while women were mostly seen as merely able to interpret what men had created. Marie Sallé, not only an expressive dancer but also a noteworthy choreographer, expanded the boundaries assigned to women. However, despite being one of the first women to stage and dance in her own original productions in London and Paris opera houses, her achievements received negative feedback compared with her male counterparts. Sallé's accomplishments in her early years were interpreted by the public and the theater world in terms of virtuosity and the proper role of femininity. She was often described as "virginal" earning her the nickname of "La Vestale," in a reference to the vestal virgins of Rome who were the only women excused from having male guardianship. In fact, Nicholas Lancret, in 1732, painted a portrait of Sallé as the virgin goddess, Diana, further cementing Sallé's public virtuous image in her early years. Images of the rose also followed her after her role in Rameau's Les Indes galantes in 1735.

In contrast, Sallé also gained a reputation for being sensual and mysterious as regarded her private life. In dancing, she was described as the goddess of Grace and Voluptuousness, but this alternate image clashed with the one centering on virginity and virtuosity, creating a tension that critics and public spectators struggled to reconcile. As a result, Sallé's public image of purity began to deteriorate and be replaced by one of sexual predilection and scandal. After Sallé's return to Paris in 1735, rumors began to spread of an affair between her and Manon (Marie) Grognet, a dancer and colleague Sallé had met in London. At this time, Sallé was in her mid-thirties and had no heterosexual attachment, thus, the public speculated that colleagues of hers may have used her abstinence as a cover for her affairs. However, all rumors and publications on Sallé's sexual or romantic activity were not based on any tangible evidence.