In celebration of the bicentennial of Marius Petipa’s birth, The New York Times’ Chief Dance Critic Alastair Macaulay will conclude his two-part exploration into the work of this master choreographer. Marius Ivanovich Petipa, born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (1818 – 1910), was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history. Marius Petipa is noted for his long career as Premier maître de ballet (First Ballet Master) of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, a position he held from 1871 until 1903. Petipa created over fifty ballets, some of which have survived in versions either faithful to, inspired by, or reconstructed from the original. Among these works, he is most known for The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862); Don Quixote (1869); La Bayadère (1877); The Sleeping Beauty (1890); The Nutcracker (likely choreographed by Lev Ivanov, perhaps with Petipa's counsel and instruction) (1892); Raymonda (1898). Petipa revived a substantial number of works created by other choreographers. Many of these revivals would go on to become the definitive editions on which all subsequent productions would be based. The most famous of these revivals were Le Corsaire, Giselle, La Esmeralda, Coppélia, and Swan Lake (with Lev Ivanov).
New York City, NY; NYC