Ballet-master, dancer, and choreographer, credited with the development of Russian classical ballet, born in Marseille, S France. After touring France, Spain, and the USA, he went to St Petersburg in 1847 as the principal dancer at the Imperial Theatre. There he staged his first ballet, Pharaoh's Daughter (1858), setting the style of ballet à grand spectacle which was to dominate Russian ballet for the rest of the century. In 1867 he became ballet-master at the Mariinsky Theatre (Kirov Ballet) in St Petersburg, creating 50 original ballets and restagings, the most famous being Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty (1890). In collaboration with Tchaikovsky he planned in detail the 1892 production of The Nutcracker.
Marius Ivanovich Petipa (Russian Мариус Иванович Петипа) (born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa on 11 March 1818 in Marseille, France - died in Gurzuf in the Crimea, Russian Empire, in what is today the Ukraine, on 14 July 1910) - was a ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the "Father of Classical Ballet", and cited by the world of classical dance as the most influential balletmaster and choreographer that has ever lived.
Petipa is also equally noted for the ballets he created, some of which have survived to the present day in versions either faithful to, inspired by, or reconstructed from the original - The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862); There are a number of various divertessement and incidental Pas from Petipa's original works and revivals that have survived in performance even when the full-length work did not, either in versions based on Petipa's original or choreographed anew by others - the Grand Pas Classique, Pas de Trios and Children's Polonaise and Mazurka from Paquita (1881); All of the full-length ballets and individual pieces which have survived in performance are today considered to be cornerstones of the Classical Ballet repertory.
Petipa's father began Marius' lessons in ballet at the age of seven.
The Petipa family relocated to Bordeaux, France in 1841 where Marius' father was appointed Maître de Ballet to the Ballet of the Grand Théâtre. Here, Marius not only completed his academic education but also his ballet training under the great Auguste Vestris, and in 1838 at the age of twenty was appointed Premiere Danseur to the Ballet de Nantes in Nantes, France. It was during his engagement with the company that the young Petipa began to try his hand at choreography, creating a string of one-act ballets and divertessments. Among the many dates was a performance of Jean Coralli's La Tarentule at the National Theatre on Broadway (a theatre which burned down two days after Petipa's performance), being the first ballet performance ever seen in New York City. He also took part in performances with the Ballet of the Academie Royale de Musique (or the Paris Opera Ballet, as it is known today), where his brother Lucien Petipa was engaged as Premiere Danseur.
Bordeaux
Petipa was offered the position of Premiere Danseur to the Ballet of the Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux in 1841. While performing with the Ballet of the Grand Théâtre his skills as not only a dancer but as a partner were much celebrated - his partnering of Carlotta Grisi during a performance of La Péri was talked about for years to come, particularly one acrobatic catch of the Ballerina that dazzled the audience, prompting the famous dramatist Théophile Gautier to say that the feat would become "...as famous as the Niagra Falls". While in Bordeaux Petipa also began to mount his own original productions, which were viewed with considerable respect, among them - La Jolie Bordelaise (The Beauty of Bordeaux), La Vendange (The Grape Picker), L’Intrigue Amoureuse (The Intrigues of Love), and Le Langage des Fleurs (The Voice of the Flowers).
Madrid
In 1843 Petipa was offered the position Premiere Danseur to the King's Theatre in Madrid, Spain, where for the next three years he would acquire an acute knowledge of traditional Spanish Dancing, while producing new works, most of them on Spanish themes - Carmen et Son Toréro (Carmen and the Bullfighter), La Perle de Séville (The Pearl of Seville), L’Aventure d’une Fille de Madrid (The Adventures of a Madrileña), La Fleur de Grenada (The Flower of Grenada), and Départ Pour la Course des Taureaux (Leaving for the Bull Races).
St. Petersburg, Russia
Early career
Petipa accepted the position of Premiere Danseur to the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia, a position which had become vacant upon the departure of the French Danseur Emile Gredlu.
For his début, Petipa mounted the first Russian production of Joseph Mazilier's celebrated ballet of 1846 Paquita, mounted with assistance of the Danseur Frédéric Malevergne. Petipa then staged another of Mazilier's works with his father (who had followed Petipa to Russia not long after he arrived there), the celebrated 1840 ballet Le Diable Amoureux (The Devil In Love), first presented in St. Petersburg under the title Satanella on February 10, 1848, for which Petipa performed the lead male role of Fabio. It is significant to note that Petipa's father became teacher of the Classe de Perfection for the graduating class of Ballerinas at the Imperial Ballet School (school of the Imperial Ballet - known today as the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet), and held the position until his death in 1855 at the age of fiftynine.
At the time Petipa had arrived in St. Petersburg the Imperial Ballet had been in a considerable decline since the 1842 departure of the great Marie Taglioni, who had been engaged in the Imperial Capital as guest Ballerina. According to the critic Raphael Zotov - "Our lovely ballet company was reborn with the productions of 'Paquita' and 'Satanella', and its superlative performances placed the company again at its former level of glory and universal affection."
In December of 1849 Petipa then presented his own original, full-length ballet, Leda, the Swiss Milkmaid. Later that month Petipa staged the ballet sections of Friedrich von Flotow's Alessandro Stradella for the Moscow Bolshoi Opera, which would prove to be the first and last choreography he would stage for the next six years, as his duties as a dancer would soon take first place to those as fledgling choreographer. He was accompanied by his chief collaborator, the prolific Italian ballet composer Cesare Pugni, who was appointed First Imperial Ballet Composer. The majority of the works that Perrot would go on to stage in St. Petersburg were revivals of ballets he had already produced with Pugni as composer in London for the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, where he had been engaged previously as Maître de Ballet. It was around this time that Petipa began teaching at the Imperial Ballet School, along with rehearsing the great Ballerinas of the day. Together they had two children - Marie Mariusovna Petipa (1857-1930) (who would go on to become a celebrated dancer with the Imperial Ballet, creating the role of the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty in 1890), and Jean Mariusovich Petipa (1859-1971?).
On January 9, 1855 Petipa presented his first original ballet in over six years, a divertessment titled The Star of Grenada, for which he collaborated for the first time with the composer Pugni. The work was presented not on the main stage of the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (principle theatre of the Imperial Ballet and Opera until 1886) but in the theatre of the Mikhailovsky Palace in St. Petersburg. It would be two years until Petipa would present his next work, mounted especially for a gala performance at Peterhof on October 8, 1857 - The Rose, the Violet, and the Butterfly, to the music of Grand Duke Peter II of Oldenburg (AKA Prince Oldenburg) proved to be very successful, though when it was presented on the stage of the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre two weeks later the production was credited to Perrot. The ballet was a great success, so much so that Petipa was invited to Paris two years later to mount the work for the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique (today known as the Paris Opera Ballet) under the title Le Marché des Innocents with his wife again in the lead.
In 1858 Perrot retired to his native France, never to return to Russia again, and Petipa hoped to succeed him as Maître de Ballet - choreography was a logical alternative to dancing for the now 41 year old Petipa, who was soon to retire from the stage, and he had shown much promise in the annals of creating ballets. But it was not to be - the great French choreographer Arthur Saint-Léon was given the position instead by the director of the Imperial Theatres Andrei Saburov, and soon a healthy and productive rivalry between he and Petipa ensued, bringing the Imperial Ballet to new hieghts throughout the 1860s. Petipa's ten years as an assistant to Perrot had taught him much, and although he had only staged two ballets of his own in previous decade, the success of The Parisian Market, as well as the many dances for various operas he staged allowed him to perfect his talent, and in 1862 he staged a ballet that shown with the genius for which he would be forever remembered. Saburov soon put all other rehearsals and projects on hold, and asked Petipa if he could stage a ballet for Rosati in only six weeks. Confidently, Petipa answered "Yes, I shall try, and probably succeed."
While in Paris staging his ballet The Parisian Market, Petipa had received the completely worked out scenario from the dramatist Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges for a ballet titled The Pharaoh's Daughter (Saint-Georges was a much celebrated and sought-after librettist, having created among many other libretti the scenario for the Romantic masterwork Giselle). During this time Europe was fascinated with all things concerning the art and culture of the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, and Petipa was sure that a ballet on such a subject would be a great success. The Pharaoh's Daughter premiered on January 18, 1862 to an unrivaled success - the work exceeded even the opulent tastes of the age, as so lavish and exotic a ballet had not been seen on the Imperial stage for some time.
Saint-Léon answered the success of Petipa's The Pharaoh's Daughter with a ballet adaptation of Pyotr Yershov's famous poem The Little Humpbacked Horse. Though Saint-Léon was by title and technicality Petipa's superior, the two men were viewed as equals by the critics and balletomanes, and would rival one another with splendid productions throughout the 1860s, with the two of them having not only their own respective audiences but also their own Ballerinas - Petipa mounted the majority of his works at that time for his wife, the Prima Ballerina Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa, while Saint-Léon mounted his works mostly for the great Marfa Muravieva (interestingly, nearly every work Petipa and Saint-Léon produced during the 1860s was set to the music of the composer Pugni). Petipa's final ballet of the 1860s would prove to be one of his most successful and enduring works - Don Quixote was mounted for the Ballet of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and was the first ballet in which Petipa collaborated with the Czech composer Léon Minkus.
Maître de Ballet of the Imperial Ballet
In 1868 Petipa presented the exotic grand ballet Tsar Candavl (AKA Le Roi Candaule). The failues of his two most recent ballets - his 1866 Le Poisson Doré (a ballet adaptation of Pushkin's 1835 poem The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish), and his 1869 Le Lys (The Lily) - caused the Minister of the Imperial Court to not renew his contract. For the remainder of the 19th century Petipa would transform the ballet of St. Petersburg with his Grand Ballet Spectacles, all the while redifining the pure-dance element in ballet. Although the Imperial Ballet School (school of the Imperial Theatres) had always been among the greatest ballet academies in Europe, a renaissance in the quality of teaching methods of the instructors of the school began, improving the quality of teaching even more. As a result a syllabus of sorts began to evolve for training the young students, though it would be decades before this form of teaching the art of ballet would be cultivated, perfected, and given a name - the Vaganova method. Together, they had six children - Nadezhda Mariusovna Petipa (1874-1945), Evgeniia Mariusovna Petipa (1877-1892), Victor Mariusovich Petipa (1879-1939), Lyubov Mariusovna Petipa (1880-1917), Marius Mariusovich Petipa II (1884-1922), and Vera Mariusovna Petipa (1885-1961). The cheered premiere on January 23, 1877 turned out to be a point of intersection for the art of ballet - La Bayadère contained Petipa's masterfully choreographed Grand Pas Classique set in the context of a vision scene (or Ballet Blanc) that would in essence mark the transition of the Romantic ballet evolving into what we now know today to be the Classical Ballet - The Kingdom of the Shades.
By the early 1880s Petipa began mounting revivals of older ballets more frequently. Another was Mazilier's 1856 Le Corsaire - a ballet Petipa had revived in 1856, 1863, and 1868, he would present his definitive staging in 1885. Petipa also revived Giselle - another ballet that Petipa had revised quite a few times, 1884 would see his definitive revival of the work, a version which it is said is still performed in his staging largely unchanged by the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. Other ballets Petipa would revive during the 1880s - Saint-Léon's final ballet Coppelia in 1884, Paul Taglioni's 1864 version of La Fille Mal Gardée (with his Second Balletmaster Lev Ivanov) in 1885 for the visiting Italian Ballerina Virginia Zucchi, and Perrot's La Esmeralda in 1886, again for Zucchi.
The Golden Age of Petipa and the Imperial Ballet
The ballets of Petipa were lavish spectacles that could have only been produced in the opulent atmosphere of the Imperial Russian court, which was at the time the wealthiest and most resplendant in all Europe. The treasury of the Tsar lavished over 10,000,000 roubles a year on the Imperial Ballet, opera, and the Imperial Theatrical School, home of the Imperial Ballet School (today the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet). Every season Petipa presented a new ballet, as well as revivals of older works, the staging of dance sections for operas, and the preparations of various galas and celebrations for royal nuptuals and birthdays, or visiting Royalty.
The works of the Imperial Ballet were presented to a public that adored the ballet, and knew the artform very intimately. To create ballets for such a public meant that Petipa had to constantly maintain the utmost level of perfection and excellence in his works, and by the 1890s the Imperial Ballet had reached the beginning of what many historins site as its "golden age". The ballet's premiere on January 3, 1890 was, a resounding success, and is today considered to be the quintessential Classical Ballet, as well as among Petipa's ultimate masterpieces of choreography. The ballet proved to be so popular in fact that by April of 1903 it had been performed 100 times in only thirteen years, being one of the most popular works in the Imperial Ballet's repertory, second only to Petipa's The Pharaoh's Daughter.
In essence, what is now considered to be the art of Classical Ballet and classical technique came into its own in the 1890s in St. Petersburg, where virtuoso Ballerinas were finally met in technique from the Danseurs, and lavish productions accentuated the masterful choreography Petipa created for not only his new works but for his many revivals of older ballets, such as Perrot's Ondine and Philippe Taglioni's original La Sylphide, both staged in 1892. Petipa soon passed on the duties of mounting the ballet to his Second Balletmaster Lev Ivanov. It is believed that this was done because Petipa fell ill, but illness did not keep him from rehearsing other ballets during that time. It is likely Peitpa "washed his hands" of the ballet, as long experience showed him that such a work would not be well received (there are many contemporary accounts that site Petipa as choreographer of The Nutcracker, with Ivanov merely putting on the "finishing touches").
A ballet adaptation of Charles Perrault's Cinderella (or Zolushka) was chosen for the new production of the 1893-1894 season to music by the composer Baron Boris Fitinhof-Schell, and being that Petipa was ill the choreography fell into the hands of Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti. Legnani's success in Cinderella was so great she was quickly named Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Imperial Ballet, and though her initial contract was for only two years, she was nevertheless invited to remain with the Imperial Ballet for eight more years. In 1894 the Ballerina Mathilde Kschessinskaya was named Prima Ballerina of the Imperial Ballet, second only in rank to Legnani, and although she was eventually named Prima Ballerina Assoluta it was nevertheless Legnani who proved to be Petipa's greatest muse, as nearly every new ballet he mounted throughout his remaining years with the Imperial Ballet were with Legnani in the principle role, among them - Raymonda in 1898, and Les Ruses d'Amour in 1900 - while he would give Kschessinskaya almost all of the leads in his revivals - among them, his 1898 revivals of The Pharaoh's Daughter and La Esmeralda.
For the 1893-1894 season Petipa returned to choreography from his illness with his first completely original ballet since The Sleeping Beauty. Drigo would in fact prove to be Petipa's chief collaborator for his remaining ten years with the Imperial Ballet. It was soon decided that a revival of the full-length work be mounted for the 1894-1895 season - Ivanov would stage the scenes with the swans (act I-scene II and act III - or act II and act IV as in most western productions), while Petipa would stage the rest of the work (act I-scene I and act II, or act I and act II as in most modern western productions), Drigo would revise the 1877 score in accordance with Petipa's instructions, and Tchaikovsky's brother Modest would revise the ballet's scenario. The premiere on January 15, 1895 with Legnani in the dual role of Odette/Odile was a great success, and in Petipa and Ivanov's version Swan Lake would go on to become one of the greatest of all ballets, remaining to the present day as one of the ultimate tests for the Classical Ballerina and the Corps de Ballet.
The End of the 19th Century
Feeling his advanced old age, and (as reflected in his diaries) feeling that his time was running out, Petipa would spend the remainder of the 19th century putting most of his energies into reviving old ballets in an obvious effort to preserve forever his choreographic masterworks.
This period also saw Petipa present masterfully staged original ballets - on May 14, 1896 the new Emperor and Empress, Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna were coronated at the Moscow Kremlin. For the celebrations in honor of the event which were held at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre three days later, Petipa presented a one-act ballet to Drigo's music - The Pearl, which proved to be the greatest success on the bill.
On January 7, 1898 the now eighty year old Petipa presented one of his greatest masterworks - Raymonda, set in Hungary during the middle ages to the music of Alexander Glazunov, which premiered to great success. Petipa's Grand Pas Hongrois (AKA Raymonda Pas de Dix) from the last act of the ballet would go on to be one of his most celebrated and enduring excerpts, with the intricate choreography he lavished onto Legnani (who danced the title role) becoming one of the ultimate tests of the Classical Ballerina.
Petipa presented what would be his last masterpiece on February 10, 1900 at the Hermitage Theatre - Harlequin's Millions (known more popularly today as Harlequinade, based on George Balanchine's 1965 revival), a balletic Harlequinade set to Drigo's music, which was, in the words of a critic who saw the premiere - "a score filled with deliciously scintillating sounds".
Petipa's Final Years With the Imperial Ballet
In spite of his vast accomplishments, Petipa's last years with the Imperial Ballet were anything but easy. Telyakovsky made no effort in disguising his dislike of Petipa's art, as he felt that the ballet had become stagnant under him, and felt that other, more youthful Balletmasters should have a chance at the helm of the Imperial Ballet.
One example of Telyakovsky's efforts in his attempt to "de-throne" Petipa came in 1903 when he invited Alexander Gorsky, a former Premiere Danseur to the Imperial Ballet, to stage his own version of Petipa's 1869 ballet Don Quixote. Gorsky had been engaged as Balletmaster to the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, and in 1900 he mounted a complete revision of Don Quixote in a version radically different from Petipa's original, though it was still in many ways based on it with regard to the dances. Petipa was of course furious when he learned this new version would completely replace his own, as he had not even been consulted on the production of a ballet that was originally his creation. To add fuel to the fire the Imperial Ballet's newly appointed régisseur Nicholas Sergeyev was traveling throughout the Russian Empire and abroad mounting many of Petipa's works for various companies and being paid large sums with no regard given to the original creator of these works - Petipa.
Petipa made a poor attempt at being "innovative" with his 1902 one-act ballet The Heart of the Marquis, which aside from having the usual string of divertessments and various Pas and variations, boasted spoken passages where poetry was read by members of the St. Petersburg French Drama Troupe. The polite audience applauded Petipa's efforts, but the work was completely mocked in the press and by many members of the Imperial Ballet.
In late 1902 Petipa began work on a ballet adaptation of the tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - The Magic Mirror, to the music of the avant-garde composer Arsenii Koreshchenko, was given on February 9, 1903 at the Mariinsky Theatre to an audience comprised of the whole Imperial Family and many members of the St. Petersburg nobility. Not long afterward rumour began to circulate that Petipa was to be replaced, and Telyakovsky even made an announcement to the Stock Trade Bulletin, a St. Petersburg newspaper - "The Ballet Company will have to get used to a new Balletmaster, Alexander Gorsky. He has staged both ballets (for the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre) entirely differently and in a much more original manner." In the end Gorsky never succeeded Petipa as Maître de Ballet. In 1902 Telyakovsky set up a new committee made up of influential members of the Imperial Ballet that would in essence take away Petipa's powers with regard to casting, repertory, and the appointment of dancers, though much to Telyakovsky's chagrin the members of the committee appointed Petipa chairman. Soon after Telyakovsky began purposely not sending carriages to collect Petipa for a particular rehearsal, or not sending him lists of casting for various ballets, even not informing Petipa of various rehearsals taking place, which Petipa was legally required by contract to know about.
Despite the situation with Telyakovsky and the condition of his health, Petipa still managed to work - he was constantly sought out by the Ballerinas of the Imperial Ballet for coaching, new variations, and the like - for example the great Anna Pavlova, one of Petipa's favorite Ballerinas, asked him to revive the dances for Giselle especially for her. Aware of this the aged Petipa spent nearly every minute he could during his last years with the Imperial Ballet reworking dances for various ballets, and composing masterful variations and ensemble numbers. Such work prompted him to write in his diaries "I am amazing."
Petipa then set to work on what would prove to be his final ballet - The Romance of the Rosebud and the Butterfly to the music of Drigo was, according to the dancers involved, "a little masterpiece". For Petipa this was the final straw, and soon afterward he was rarely seen at the theatre or the Imperial Ballet School (where rehearsals were held).
In his diaries Petipa noted his final composition on January 17, 1905 - a variation for the Ballerina Olga Preobrajenskaya from his revival of Paul Taglioni's 1849 The Traveling Dancer to the music of Pugni. Petipa spent his remaining years in Gurzuf as a bitter and sad old man who constantly feared his own inevitable death, but more than anything he longed to create the tremendous spectacles for his beloved Imperial Ballet. In 1907 he wrote in his diary "I can state that I created a ballet company of which everyone said - St. Petersburg has the greatest ballet in all Europe." Petipa died on July 14, 1910 at the age of ninety-two, and was laid to rest in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg.
The Notation of Petipa's Work
It was in 1891 that many of Petipa's original ballets, revivals, and dances from operas began to be notated in the method of Dance Notation created by Vladimir Stepanov. The project began with a demonstration to the committee of the Imperial Ballet (consisting of Petipa, Lev Ivanov, the former Prima Ballerina Ekaterina Vazem, the Premiere Danseur Noble Pavel Gerdt, and the great teacher Christian Johannson) with Stepanov himself notating Lev Ivanov and Riccardo Drigo's 1893 ballet The Magic Flute, and not long afterward the project was set into motion. After Gorsky departed St. Petersburg in 1900 to take up the post of Balletmaster to the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, the project was taken over by Nicholas Sergeyev, former Danseur of the Imperial Ballet (and later régisseur) with his team of notators - Alexander Chekrygin joined the project in 1903, and Victor Rakhmanov in 1904. In 1921 Sergeyev took over the post of régisseur to the Latvian National Opera Ballet in Riga, and during his appointment there he added a substantial amount of the musical scores belonging to the notated ballets. In the 1930s, with the aid of the notation, Sergeyev went on to stage Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppelia (as danced by the Imperial Ballet), and The Nutcracker for the Vic-Wells Ballet of London (later the Royal Ballet) who still almost religiously perform the ballets with little changes from when they were first staged - as is well known, it was through these revivals by Sergeyev in London with aid of the notation that the great ballets of Petipa where first staged in the west, forming the nucleus of the Classical Ballet Reperotry for not only the ballet of England but for the world. The collection consists of choreographic notation documenting the compositions of Marius Petipa for his original ballets and revivals (the collection also includes two notations for ballets by Lev Ivanov and one by the brothers Legat), as well as Petipa's choreography for dances from operas, along with various Pas, incidental dances, etc.
The Original Works and Revivals of Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet of Russia
NOTE - The following chronology details both Petipa's original works mounted in Russia as well as his revivals of ballets originally produced by other choreographers.
NOTE - Except where noted, all premieres of original works and revivals produced prior to 1886 were given at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, principle theatre of the Imperial Ballet until 1886.
Paquita (Revival) - Ballet in 2 Acts-3 Scenes. Original premiere - April 1, 1846, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - for his 1881 revival Petipa added the famous Grand Pas Classique (AKA Paquita Grand Pas), the Children's Polonaise and Mazurka, and the Pas de Trois (AKA Minkus Pas de Trois) all to the music of Minkus. Le Diable Amouruex (Revival, presented as Satanella) - Pantomime Ballet in 3 Acts-7 Scenes. Original premiere - September 21, 1840, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - this ballet is based on the 1772 occult romance by Jacques Cazotte. Leda, the Swiss Milkmaid - Demi-Caractère Ballet in 2 Acts-2 Scenes. NOTE - It is not known for certain if this ballet was completely Petipa's own original work. Wolf of the Imperial Ballet's 1849-1850 season credits the work as "Jules Perrot's new production", while in the ballet historian Alexander Pleshcheyev's book Our Ballet, the work is attributed to Petipa's father Jean Petipa, with Perrot having contributed one of the ballet's dances. In the biography Jules Perrot: Master of the Romantic Ballet by the ballet historian Ivor Guest, the ballet's choreography is credited to Jean Petipa, except for the Scène Dansante and a Pas de Trois, which are credited to Perrot. In his memoirs, Petipa refers to the work as "a new ballet of my own." Giselle (Revival) - Fantastic Ballet in 2 Acts. Original premiere - June 28, 1841, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - Although Petipa only presented two official revivals of Giselle during his career with the Imperial Ballet, he nonetheless reworked the ballet's dances on many occasions, and in a few instances added new material. In Russia most companies (particularly the Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov/Mariinksy Ballet) still perform Adam's score as re-orchestrated by Minkus in 1884. In 1978 the choreographer Gerard Arpino used the rarely heard 1884 Pas de Deux for Giselle and Albrecht Minkus composed for Mariia Gorshenkova for his ballet L'air d'spirit staged for the Joffrey Ballet. NOTE - Petipa did not receive credit for the production of this ballet in the theatre program. NOTE - when this ballet was given on October 20, 1857, the work was credited to Jules Perrot in the theatre program. A Pas de Deux from this ballet was interpolated by Petipa for the Ballerina Lyubov Radina into his and Perrot's 1856 revival of Le Corsaire. Le Corsaire (Revival) - Grand Ballet in 4 Acts-5 Scenes. Original premiere - January 23, 1856, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - for his and Perrot's revival of 1858 (being the first production of the work mounted in Russia) Petipa added the famous Pas d'Esclave to the music of Grand Duke Peter II of Oldenburg taken from the 1857 ballet The Rose the Violet and the Butterfly; for his revival of 1863 Petipa added the Corsaire's Mazurka to Pugni's music and expanded the Pas des Odalisques into the Grand Pas de Trois des Odalisques - adding two new variations and a coda to Pugni's music, as well as a variation by Adam from another scene in the ballet; for his revival of 1868 Petipa added the scene Le Jardin Animé to the music of Delibes for the Ballerina Adèle Grantzow (this scene was originally added to the ballet by Mazilier for his 1867 revival in Paris); for his revival of 1885 Petipa added new variations to the ballet to the music of Minkus; A Marriage During the Regency (AKA The Regency Marriage) - Ballet in 2 Acts. NOTE - this Pas de Deux was originally created by Petipa for his wife, the Prima Ballerina Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa, to be added to her performance in a work titled The Carnival in Venice, and though the work did not last but a few performances in the repertory of the Imperial Theatres the Pas de Deux nevertheless survived in an independent form. In 1870 Petipa interpolated the piece into his production of the ballet Le Diable Amoureux (AKA Satanella as it was known in Russia), where it acquired the title The Fascination Pas de Deux. The Parisian Market - Comic Ballet in 1 Act. NOTE - Petipa staged this ballet for the Ballet of the Théâtre Académie Royale de Musique in Paris, a production which premiered on May 29, 1861 under the title Les Marché des Innocents. The Blue Dahlia (AKA Le Dahlia Bleu) - Fantastic Ballet in 2 Acts. NOTE - Pavel Gerdt, Premiere Danseur to the Imperial Ballet for many years, presented a revival of this ballet on March 5, 1905. Terpsichore - Ballet in 1 Act. The Pharaoh's Daughter (AKA The Daughter of the Pharoah, La Fille du Pharaon, or Doch Faraona) - Grand Ballet in 3 Acts-9 Scenes with Prologue and Epilogue. NOTE - the success of this ballet earned Petipa the rank of Second Balletmaster to the Imperial Ballet, a position he held until 1869, when he was named Maître de Ballet (First Balletmaster/Chief Choreographer). Although Lacotte choreographed the entire ballet afresh "in the style of the epoch", there were dances interpolated that derived from Petipa's original productions, having been reconstructed from the Stepanov Choreographic Notation of the Sergeyev Collection - two variations for female soloists, and a Waltz for Choryphées, all of which were added to the Grand Pas d'action of the ballet's second Act; The Beauty of Lebanon or The Mountain Spirit - Fantastic Ballet in 3 Acts-7 Scenes. Original Premiere - June 14, 1849, presented by the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, London. NOTE - this ballet was revived by Lev Ivanov for a performance for the Imperial court at Krasnoe Selo premiering July 26, 1893. A variation from this ballet, composed by Petipa in 1905 for the Ballerina Olga Preobrajenskaya, was the last choreography Petipa ever created (as noted in his Diaries). La Esmeralda (Revival) - Ballet in 4 Acts-5 Scenes. Original premiere - March 9, 1844, presented by the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, London. NOTE - this ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on December 21, 1848 in a staging by Perrot. Although the revivals of 1886 and 1898 are considered to be Petipa's definitive revisions of this ballet, Petipa had previously reworked the choreography and added new dances on many occasions, specifically - in 1871 Petipa arranged a Pas de Dix to the music of Yuli Gerber for the Ballerina Eugeniia Sokolova; for his revival of 1898 Petipa expanded the Pas de Six from Act II with new dances to the music of Drigo - the Danse Pour Quatre Danseuses and a Coda, as well as the famous La Esmeralda Pas de Deux to the music of Drigo (partially based on music by Pugni) for the Ballerina Mathilde Kschessinskaya. What is today known as the Diane and Actéon Pas de Deux is often miscredited as having been added by Petipa to his 1886 revival of La Esmeralda - this Pas d'action was fashioned by Agrippina Vaganova from the Pas de Diane from Petipa's 1868 Tsar Candavl (AKA Le Roi Candaule) to Drigo's music (based in part on Pugni's original music for the Pas de Diane) for her 1935 revival of La Esmeralda at the Mariinsky Theatre. Florida - Ballet in 3 Acts-5 Scenes. Tatiana - Ballet in 1 Act. Faust (Revival) - Fantsatic Ballet in 3 Acts-7 Scenes. Original premiere - February 12, 1848, presented by the Ballet of La Scala, Milan, Italy. NOTE - this ballet was first presented in St. Petersburg on February 2, 1854 in a staging by Perrot. By January 1869 the ballet had been performed 100 times, and Petipa sent a letter of congratulations to Perrot, who was in Paris at that time. The Benevolent Cupid - Ballet in 1 Act. Premiere - March 6, 1868, presented by students of the Imperial Ballet School, on the stage of the school's theatre. Tsar Candavl (AKA Le Roi Candaule or King Candaules) - Grand Ballet in 4 Acts-6 Scenes. NOTE - this ballet was based on events described by Plutarch and Herodotis in the history of Gyges, King of Lydia, Turkey. For his revival of 1903 Petipa added several new dances to the music of Drigo - for the Act 2-Scene 1 Grand Pas de Venus, a new Adagio and dances for the Nymphs, Satyrs, and Cupid; Don Quixote - Grand Ballet in 4 Acts-8 Scenes. Premiere - December 14, 1869, presented by the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. Revivals - November 9, 1871 for the Imperial Ballet, with Minkus revising his original score. NOTE - Alexander Gorsky, once Premiere Danseur to the Imperial Ballet, staged a new version of this work for the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in 1900, with additional music composed by Anton Simon, including the Variation of the Dryad Queen from the scene of Don Quixote's Dream (AKA The Garden of Dulcinea or The Kingdom of the Dryads) that is still retained as part of the ballet's performance tradition (later added by Rudolf Nureyev to be danced by Margot Fonteyn in the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux in 1961). For the premiere the role of Kitri was danced by Mathilde Kschessinskaya, and for her performance Riccardo Drigo composed two new variations - the famous Variation of Kitri with the Fan for the ballet's Grand Pas de Deux, and a variation for Kitri for the scene of Don Quixote's dream (sometimes referred to as The Garden of Dulcinea or the Kingdom of the Drayds). Trilby - Fantastic Ballet in 2 Acts-3 Scenes. Premiere - January 25, 1870, presented by the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. Revival - January 17, 1871 for the Imperial Ballet. Catarina (Revival) - Ballet in 3 Acts-4 Scenes. Original premiere - March 3, 1846, presented by the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, London. NOTE - this ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on February 4, 1849 in a staging by Perrot. The Two Stars (AKA The Stars or The Two Little Stars) - Anacreontic Ballet in 1 Act. Revival - February 25, 1878, presented by the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre as The Two Little Stars. NOTE - this was not only the final work of the composer Cesare Pugni before he died on January 26, 1870, but also his 312th score for the ballet, making him the most prolific composer of ballet music that has ever lived. Camargo (AKA La Camargo) - Ballet in 3 Acts-9 Scenes. NOTE - this ballet is based on an incident in the life of the famous 18th century dancer Marie Camargo, when her and her sister where abducted by the Comte de Melun and taken to his mansion in May of 1728. Petipa's Second Balletmaster Lev Ivanov presented a revival of this ballet in January 28, 1901, which was mounted especially for the farewell benefit performance in honor of the Imperial Ballet's Prima Balerina Assoluta Pierina Legnani, who left for her native Italy shortly there after. Le Papillon (AKA The Butterfly) (Revival) - Fantastic Ballet in 4 Acts. Original premiere - November 26, 1861, presented by the Ballet of the Théâtre Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - Petipa added a variation to this ballet known as the Dance of the Butterfly to a waltz by Luigi Venzano especially for the Prima Ballerina Ekaterina Vazem - this variation became quite celebrated among the St. Petersburg balletmomanes and became known as the Pas Vazem. One of Petipa's additions to this ballet was a variation composed by Minkus known as the Variation of Prince Djalma. When Petipa revived La Bayadère in 1900 the Premiere Danseur Nikolai Legat interpolated the variation into the Grand Pas d'action of the ballet's last scene. Ondine (AKA The Naiad and the Fisherman or La Naiade) (Revival, presented as The Naiad and the Fisherman) - Fantastic Ballet in 3 Acts-5 Scenes. Original premiere - June 22, 1843, presented by the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, London. NOTE - this ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on January 30, 1851 in a staging by Perrot, with Pugni revising and expanding on his original score. In 2000 Pierre Lacotte presented a revival of this ballet for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet based on Perrot's original 1843 production, with Pugni's score restored from a violin reduction. The Bandits - Ballet in 2 Acts-5 Scenes with Prologue. NOTE - this ballet was based on the novel La Gitanilla by Miguel Cervantes. The ballet's Grand Pas, known as The Allegory of the Continents, was a famous excerpt often performed independently throughout the late 19th/early 20th century by the Imperial Ballet. The Adventures of Peleus (AKA Thetis and Peleus or The Wedding of Thetis and Peleus or Les Noces de Thétis et Pélée) - Mythological Ballet in 3 Acts-5 Scenes. A Midsummer Night's Dream - Fantastic Ballet in 1 Act. La Bayadère - Grand Ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes with apotheosis. NOTE - in the original production of 1877, Petipa had the famous scene The Kingdom of the Shades danced in a castle on a fully lighted stage, but for his revival of 1900, Petipa set the scene in the mountains of the Himalayas on a darkened stage, a tradition which is retained in every modern staging of the work. In 2001, the Balletmaster Sergei Vikharev staged a reconstruction of Petipa's 1900 revival for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet, and restored Minkus' original hand-written score. Roxana, the Beauty of Montenegro (AKA Roxana) - Fantastic Ballet in 4 Acts. NOTE - the ballet historian Konstantin Skalkovsky tells in his study In the Theatre World of how Minkus' Grand Marché from this ballet's third Act "was the favorite piece of Tsar Alexander II, who in general did not love music. Several units of our troops (the Russian Army) stormed the Plevna (during the liberation of Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War) to the music of this march". The Daughter of the Snows (AKA Snegurochka) - Fantastic Ballet in 3 Acts-5 Scenes. NOTE - this ballet was based on the Russian Fairy-tale Snegurochka, which also served as the subject for the play The Snow Madien by Alexander Ostrovsky with music by Tchaikovsky in 1873. Frizak, the Barber (AKA Frizak or The Double Wedding) - Comic Ballet in 1 Act. NOTE - this ballet was perhaps a new version of a work of the same title originally produced by Petipa's father Jean Petipa for the Ballet du Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium, which premiered on February 19, 1822. Mlada - Fantastic Ballet in 4 Acts-9 Scenes. NOTE - in 1870 the composers César Cui, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin, known as "The Mighty Handful", had intended to produce an opera based on the same libretto and under the same title for premiere in 1872, with Minkus scoring the music for the ballet sections. When scoring the music for Petipa's 1879 ballet adaptation, Minkus utilized the music he scored for the aborted project. Rimsky-Korsakov later composed his own complete score for an opera based on the same libretto in 1889-1890, and when Petipa presented his revival of his ballet adaptation in 1896 he utilized the same décor as was used in the opera. La Fille du Danube (AKA The Daughter of the Danube) (Revival) - Ballet in 2 Acts-4 Scenes. Original premiere - September 21, 1836, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - this ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on January 29, 1838 in a staging by Marie Taglioni and Filippo Taglioni. In 1999, the Balletmaster Paul Chalmers revived Taglioni's original version of this ballet for the Verona Ballet of Verona, Italy. Zoraiya, the Moorish Girl in Spain (AKA Zoraiya) - Ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes. NOTE - the Grand Pas des Toréadores from this ballet - set for the Matador Espada (male soloist), a Street Dancer (female soloist), and eight bull-fighters - was interpolated by Alexander Gorsky into his 1900 revival of Petipa's Don Quixote for the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. La Vivandière (Revival, presented as Markitenka) - Ballet in 1 Act. Original premiere - May 23, 1844, presented by the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, London. NOTE - this ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on December 15, 1855 in a staging by Jules Perrot after Saint-Léon, with Pugni revising his original score. In 1975 the Pas de Six was reconstructed, along with Pugni's original music, by the dance notation expert Ann Hutchinson-Guest and Pierre Lacotte for the Joffrey Ballet. The Pas de Six has since been staged by many ballet companies all over the world, and is known as either the La Vivandière Pas de Six or the Markitenka Pas de Six. Pâquerette (Revival) - Ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes. Original music by Francois Benoist, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - this ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on January 28, 1860 with new music by Cesare Pugni in a staging by Saint-Léon. Night and Day (AKA La Nuit et le Jour or The Night and the Day) - Fantastic Ballet in 1 Act. Premiere - May 18, 1883, danced by the Imperial Ballet at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. NOTE - this ballet was produced for the festivities held at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in honor of the coronation of Tsar Alexander III and Empress Mariia Feodorovna, who were coronated at the Kremlin three days prior to the ballet's premiere. Pygmalion (AKA The Cyprus Statue) - Ballet in 4 Acts-6 Scenes. NOTE - in 1899, a variation from this ballet was chosen by Pierina Legnani to be added to the scene Le Jardin Animé from Le Corsaire as a solo for the character Medora. This variation is still retained for Medora in the scene Le Jardin Animé in most productions of the ballet, particularly in the version danced by the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. Coppelia (Revival) - Ballet in 3 Acts. Original premiere - May 25, 1870, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - This ballet was first presented in Russia on Jauary 24, 1882 by the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in a staging by Joseph Hansen after Saint-Léon. Original premiere - August 11, 1845, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - originally this ballet was presented in 2 Acts-3 Scenes. The first production of the work for the Imperial Ballet was presented on November 14, 1851 with new music by Cesare Pugni in a staging by Jules Perrot, who expanded the ballet to 4 Acts-5 Scenes. A variation from this ballet, to music by Adam, is also part of the famous Paquita Pas de Trois (or Minkus Pas de Trois), and is almost always danced by the lead male soloist. La Fille Mal Gardée (Revival, presented as Vain Precautions) - Ballet in 3 Acts-4 Scenes. NOTE - this ballet was originally presented by the Ballet of the Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux, France on July 1, 1789 to a pastiche score. The work was later given a new staging by Jean Pierre Aumer to a new score based on the original music composed by Ferdinand Hérold, presented on November 17, 1828 by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. This version of the ballet was staged by Jules Perrot for the Imperial Ballet in 1854, a staging which was retained in the Imperial Ballet's repertory until Petipa, Ivanov, and Zucchi presented a new version of the work in 1884 - a staging derived from Paul Taglioni's compeltely new version mounted for the Court Opera Ballet in Berlin to the music of Hertel in 1864. Lev Ivanov revived this ballet on two different occasions in stagings based on his and Petipa's 1885 revival, the first staged especially for the German Ballerina Hedwige Hantenbürg premiering September 25, 1894; NOTE - this ballet has the distinction of being the first new ballet ever to be produced at the Mariinsky Theatre for the Imperial Ballet. The King's Command (AKA L'Ordre du Roi) - Ballet in 4 Acts-6 Scenes. NOTE - this was the last ballet to be given at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre before it was torn down in 1886. NOTE - this ballet was presented in a revival by Lev Ivanov on September 26, 1893. This was the last ballet to be scored by Minkus as First Imperial Ballet Composer before the post was abolished by the director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky. Fiametta or the Devil in Love (Revival, presented as Fiametta) - Fantastic Ballet in 4 Acts. Original premiere - November 22, 1863, presented by the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. NOTE - this ballet was first produced by Saint-Léon for the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre under the title The Flame of Love or the Salamander, premiering on November 12, 1863. Saint-Léon then staged the work for the Imperial Ballet under the title Fiametta or the Devil in Love, premiering on February 14, 1864, with Minkus revising his original score. Saint-Léon also staged the work for the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris under the title Néméa, ou l'Amour Vengé (Nemea or Avenged Love), premiering on July 11, 1864, again with Minkus revising his original score. The change in titles of this ballet has caused much confusion among historians, as many of them have come to the conclusion that each restaging of the ballet was a completely different work. The Haarlem Tulip (AKA The Tulip of Haarlem, or The Tulip Field) - Fantastic ballet in 3 Acts-4 Scenes. NOTE - Most historical essays of the Imperial Ballet that mention this work credit both Petipa and Ivanov as choreographer (one exception is the Yearbook of the Imperial Theatres 1902-1903), as do contemporary press accounts of the premiere and subsequent revivals. The exhaustive research conducted by Roland John Wiley for his book The Life and Ballets of Lev Ivanov tell that it was in fact Ivanov who staged the entire work, and if Petipa did contribute in any way to the production it is not known. A revival of the work was presented by students in the theatre of the Imperial Ballet School in a version mounted by Claudia Kulichevskaya and Pavel Gerdt on April 3, 1902. The Vestal - Grand Ballet in 3 Acts-4 Scenes. The Talisman - Fantastic Ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes. NOTE - Nikolai Legat presented a revival of this ballet on November 29, 1909, for which Drigo completely re-orchestrated his original score. The ballet was revived in 1997 by the Balletmaster Paul Chalmers for the Arena Ballet of Padua, Italy (hometown of Riccardo Drigo) in honor of the 150 anniversary of Drigo's birth. The Whims of the Butterfly (AKA The Caprices of a Butterfly, or Les Caprices du Papillon) - Ballet in 1 Act. NOTE - this ballet was produced for the celebrations at Peterhof in honor of the wedding of the Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich (son of Tsar Alexander II and Empress Mariia Alexandrovna, and brother of Tsar Alexander III) to the Princess Alexandra of Greece. In 1999 the Balletmaster Sergei Vikharev staged a reconstruction of Petipa's original production of 1890 for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet. Kalkabrino - Fantastic Ballet in 3 Acts. NOTE - this was Minkus' last ballet for the Imperial Theatres, as well as his last known composition - he retired to Vienna in late 1891. A Fairy Tale (AKA A Magic Tale) - Fantastic Ballet in 1 Act. Premiere - April 4, 1891, presented by students of the Imperial Ballet School, on the stage of the school's theatre. NOTE - Anna Pavlova participated in this ballet as a young girl during her first year as a student at the Imperial Ballet School, being the very first ballet she ever performed in. La Sylphide (Revival) - Fantastic Ballet in 2 Acts. Original premiere - March 12, 1832, presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris. NOTE - this ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on May 28, 1835 in a staging by Antoine Titus. NOTE - it is not known for certain what Petipa's true contribution was to the staging of this ballet. According to the ballet historian Sergei Khudekov "the production of the ballet The Nutcracker...has been attributed to L. This ballet was mounted by Marius Petipa. Cinderella (AKA Zolushka) - Fantastic Ballet in 3 Acts. NOTE - for this ballet, Cecchetti staged Acts I and III, while Ivanov staged Act II, all under the supervision of Petipa. It is likely that Petipa staged some of the ballet's dances. The premiere of this work in 1893 has the distinction of being the first performance of a ballet to ever have a Ballerina perform 32 fouettés en tournant - performed by the Italian Ballerina Pierina Legnani who danced the title role. The Awakening of Flora (AKA Flora's Awakening, or Le Réveil de Floré) - Anacreontic Ballet in 1 Act. NOTE - this ballet was produced especially for the celebrations at Peterhof in honor of the wedding of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (daughter of Tsar Alexander III and Empress Mariia Feodorovna) to the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. Swan Lake (Revival) - Fantastic Ballet in 3 Acts-4 Scenes. Original premiere - February 20, 1877, presented by the Ballet of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. NOTE - for their revival of 1895, Petipa and Ivanov changed Act 2 to Act 1-Scene 2, thus changing Act 3 to Act 2, and Act 4 to Act 3. Both Petipa and Ivanov staged the ballet - Petipa staged Act 1-Scene 1 and Act 2, while Ivanov staged Act Act 1-Scene 2 and Act 3. The Little Humpbacked Horse (AKA Konyok Gorbunyok or Tsar-Devitsa or The Hunch-back Horse) (Revival, presented as The Tsar Maiden) - Magic Ballet in 4 Acts-8 Scenes with apotheosis. Original premiere - December 3, 1866, presented by the Imperial Ballet. The Pearl - Ballet in 1 Act. Premiere - May 17, 1896, danced by the Imperial Ballet at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. NOTE - this ballet was produced for the festivities held at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in honor of the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who were coronated at the Kremlin three days prior to the ballet's premiere. NOTE - this ballet was revived by Nikolai Legat in 1910 for the Imperial Ballet. Raymonda - Grand Ballet in 3 Acts-4 Scenes with apotheosis. The Trial of Damis (AKA Les Ruses d'Amour or The Pranks of Love or Lady Soubrette) - Ballet in 1 Act. The Seasons - Allegorical Ballet in 1 Act-4 Scenes. NOTE - this ballet was revived by Nikolai Legat in 1907 for the Imperial Ballet. NOTE - this ballet was revived in 1965 by George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet. NOTE - all of the verse presented in this ballet were read by members of the St. Petersburg French Drama Troupe. The Magic Mirror - Fantastic Ballet in 4 Acts-7 Scenes. The Romance of the Rosebud and the Butterfly - Ballet in 1 Act-3 Scenes. NOTE - this ballet was completely staged and ready for its premiere at the Hermitage Theatre, scheduled for January 23, 1904. Letters from a Ballet Master - The Correspondence of Arthur Saint-Léon. Memuary Mariusa Petipa solista ego imperatorskogo velichestva i baletmeistera imperatorskikh teatrov (The Memoirs of Marius Petipa, Soloist of His Imperial Majesty and Ballet Master of the Imperial Theatres).
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