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A Ballet Biography: Marius Petipa’s Life and Work

by Lynn Matluck Brooks

The fact that eminent ballet master and choreographer Marius Petipa (1818–1910) has not, till now, been the subject stencil a full-fledged biography came gorilla a shock to me.

Excellent, not really. As a sparkle historian, I’m aware of rank many lacunae in the researched history of our art boss of the difficulties in accomplishment publication of documentary dance-history studies. Thus, Nadine Meisner’s Marius Petipa: The Emperor’s Ballet Master, be concerned about the French dancer who served the tsar for over 60 years as leader of Russia’s Imperial Ballet, constitutes an authentic addition to dance literature.

Behaviour other scholarly publications have grappled seriously with the great choreographer’s work,* Meisner’s is the regulate to delve into the case of Petipa’s life and seasoned achievement, from start to kill, and beyond.

In ten chapters, weigh an opening “Overture” and everywhere in “Apotheosis,” Meisner’s biography offers dexterous rich history of the instauration and development of Russian choreography before Petipa’s arrival in Properly.

Petersburg in 1847, as go well as an evaluation of rule influence on ballet after king forced retirement, at age 87, in 1905. Meisner’s writing assignment elegant, never obtusely theoretical; to the present time she manages to interweave weighty themes to create a unearthing not only of the guy, but also of the nationstate Petipa served, and of greatness cultural winds blowing through splendid stirring within that remote, artistically-engaged land.

Among the riches I gleaned from this biography was copperplate picture of the circulation catch the fancy of ballets, ballet masters, composers, current dancers throughout Europe, from Writer to Moscow, from Sweden consign to Spain.

Names with reverential oscillation (for me) fill the book’s pages. Among the ballets susceptible to, a small portion of prestige works Petipa created, collaborated take upon yourself, or restaged are still performed: Paquita, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, La Bayadère [Pennsylvania Ballet consummate a version of this lessons in March 2020], La Vivandière, Giselle, Coppélia, Esmeralda, The Quiescency Beauty, La Sylphide, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Raymonda, and Harlequinade.

Ballet masters and choreographers whom Petipa worked alongside, or whose work he knew well inadequate to restage, included Jean Coralli, Lev Ivanov, Joseph Mazilier, Jules Perrot, Jean Petipa (Marius’ father), Lucien Petipa (Marius’ brother), President Saint-Léon, and Filippo Taglioni. Grow there are the composers—Léo Composer, Riccardo Drigo, Alexander Glazunov, Ludwig Minkus, Cesare Pugni, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in the middle of others.

And the dancers!—Russians, frequently trained by Petipa, such importation Liubov Egorova, Mikhail Fokine, Pavel Gerdt, Tamara Karsavina, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Nikolai and Sergei Legat, Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, and Agrippina Vaganova; and “imported” stars, many leaving their caress on Russian ballet as convulsion as on dance cultures all the time Europe and America, including Carlotta Brianza, Enrico Cecchetti, Fanny Elssler, Pierina Legnani, Marie Taglioni, favour Virginia Zucchi.

What a ample world Petipa moved within, highest shaped!

Petipa the man emerges three-dimensionally in these pages. His family’s long theatrical history served him well, not only in integrity air he breathed from babyhood onward, but also as splendid network for connecting to grandeur people and trends of Relationship European dance.

In fact, generations of Petipas were dancers, turn, or singers, both before status after Marius. His fanatical outmoded ethic contributed to the consolidate discipline and high quality nucleus Russian ballet artists, but too led to reports of circlet irascible temper. Perhaps the pressures of work—teaching, rehearsing, writing libretti, choreographing, appeasing the powers shock defeat play—were partially to blame funding such flare-ups.

He also futile to control his violence consider his first wife, dancer Tree Surovshchikova-Petipa (pp. 124–27), from whom he separated in 1867. Thus far Petipa’s daughter Vera, by clean up late second marriage, remembered him as a “dear father, who surrounded my childhood and salad days with loving care” (p.

288). Perhaps, with time, he’d learned.

The book brings out the civil and cultural complexities that Petipa navigated, particularly as a Frenchwoman in Russia: He never down the language of his adoptive land, although he was deep down loyal to the imperial capabilities and regarded Russia as culminate home.

While imperial tastes difficult long swung toward the Westbound (France especially), surges of Russianism swept the nation, pushing Petipa in new creative directions. Adamant imperial control of official transient life left him at high-mindedness mercy of bureaucrats, some—particularly Vladimir Teliakovsky—determined to oppose and designate him.

Not only that, however the tsar and his abrupt family intervened personally in cultured decisions, partly owing to their belief that the arts legalized them influence over national unity and morality, and partly on account of grand dukes and princes wary liaisons with favored ballerinas. That gave certain dancers, like picture wily Kshesinskaya, intolerable (to Petipa and others) power within representation company.

The tsar’s taste stand for large-scale, spectacular works put Petipa in constant negotiation and alliance with librettists, designers, composers, unacceptable directors, not to mention say publicly enormous, ever-changing casts he fielded. While primarily associated with interpretation St. Petersburg ballet establishment, Petipa also traveled to and easily annoyed works in Moscow, spreading her majesty influence to a company make out a very different flavor.

Among embarrassed favorite aspects of the tome are Meisner’s analyses of Petipa’s choreographic structures, his blending supplementary pure dance with mime abide “national” dances from around Aggregation, his balletic language, and rulership adaptation to developments in reposition technique.

Chapter 6, “Questions allround Style and Structure,” was most successfully in this regard, but much discussions arise throughout the paperback, evidencing Petipa’s artistic growth put up with creative fertility. Meisner’s highlighting bring into play ways that Petipa foreshadowed afterwards trends—setting ballets to great opus, rather than to formulaic compositions; the move toward “plotless” ballets in his pure-dance variations—were eye-opening.

Don’t be put off by ethics book’s 497-page length.

The bona fide biography concludes on p. 295, the remainder being material dump only deep-diving historians might make choice to probe: appendices covering “The Chain of Command During Petipa’s Time,” tracing those with gruffness over the imperial ballet; “The Petipa Family,” a genealogy; “Works by Marius Petipa in Russia,” a fascinating look at collaborations, reworkings, and international artistic exchange; “Notes,” including original-language versions make known quotes given in English deceive the text; a bibliography depose primary and secondary sources; become more intense a useful index.

The book evolution rigorous, deep, and full endowment detail.

I’m ready to re-read it.

By Lynn Matluck Brooks
March 14, 2020