Marius Petipa.
On the 200th anniversary of his birth

Marius Petipa is a Frenchman who dedicated his life to the Russian ballet, not to mention his name sounds like an element of classical dance: little steps.

Marius Petipa was born in Marseilles in 1818. His first dance teacher and choreographer was Jean Antoine Petipa’s father. “When I was seven years old, I began to learn to dance in my father’s class, breaking many bars to make sure I learnt the steps and positions and secrets of choreography perfectly.” recalled Marius Petipa. Initially, the young dancer from the ballet was not seemingly talented, to put it mildly, but in just 9 years he became the premier at the Nantes Theater. He began to come up with dance numbers and divertissements. Together with his father, they toured all over France, America, Spain. Refusing to join the troupe of the Paris Opera, the dancer went to study Spanish dances in order to apply all the knowledge he gained in both France and Spain  – in Russia.

In Russia – for plastic.

Petipa was already known and successful, but was not only interested not only in making a profit. The ballet-master did not like the attitude to ballet in Europe. “Ballet is a serious art, in which plastic and beauty should dominate,” he later said.

The Russian premiere of Marius Petipa took place on the stage of the Bolshoi (Stone) Theater in St. Petersburg, and the first big ballet directed by Petipa “Daughter of the Pharaoh” was staged only in 1862. In this performance, critics noted a skillful mastery of the art of working with soloists and corps de ballet, but – at the expense of the plot. Petersburg took the change favourably, which can not be said of the Moscow audience.

Only in 1887 was Petipa-ballet master able to show his bright talent in the ballet “La Bayadere” to the music of Ludwig Minkus. At the premiere, Ekaterina Vasem performed in the main party, and in 1902 Anna Pavlova was the star. “La Bayadere” was a harmonious synthesis of music, dance and drama, which was subsequently developed by Petipa in his further productions. The final picture of the ballet, The Shadows, is still an unrivaled example of classical dance.

“The Age of Petipa”.

Marius Petipa became the main legislator in the world of ballet, defining the development of this art for many decades to come. His best choreography was for the director of the Imperial Theaters, Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky. The ballet-extravaganza was his childhood dream. Based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale “The Sleeping Beauty”, a script was written. Vsevolozhsky offered Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to write the music. The composer demanded a detailed ballet plan with the director’s special wishes. The choreographer cut out figures of the dancers from cardboard and, moving them, sketched the compositions of the future performance. Hearing the finished product, the director changed the drawing of the dance, for example, for the fairy Lilac. The result of this co-creation was the ballet, which has not disappeared from the stage in two centuries since  the classical production of Marius Petipa. During the lifetime of the choreographer the ballet was performed 200 times.

At the age of 76, the French choreographer received Russian citizenship, and a year later, together with his disciple-choreographer Lev Ivanov, he staged Swan Lake. The play, which had already bee seen in 1877, was revived 17 years later. The stage settings of the ball in the palace was enhanced by Polish, Spanish and Hungarian dance. For the delicate Odile, Petipa contrasted the pas de deux with Odette’s passionate dance. The performance became a permanent symbol of Russian ballet.

During half a century of work in Russia, Petipa brought to the scene more than 60 ballet performances. “Recalling my career in Russia, I can say that this was the happiest time of my life … God keep my second home, which I love with all my heart” – this is how the choreographer’s memoirs end, but even if the “Petipa epoch” ends, he lives on in ballet choreographies around the world.

For the 200th anniversary of the Grand Choreographer, his world famous ballets Sleeping Beauty and Giselle, The Nutcracker and Raymonda, Swan Lake and Don Quixote will be performed in March at the Mariinsky theatre. 

Playbill:

March 8, 9 – Sleeping Beauty

March 14, 16, 21 – Swan Lake

March 15, 17 – Don Quixote

March 18 – Giselle

We will happily book you the best seats and organize a program that will complement your spring stay in St. Petersburg!

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