Marius Ivanovich Petipa, born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa, was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history.
Carlotta Grisi was an Italian ballet dancer. Born in Visinada, Istria. Although her parents were not involved in the theatre, she was brought up in an opera family. She was trained at the ballet school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and later with dancer/balletmaster Jules Perrot. She was especially noted for her performance in the classic role of Giselle.
Cesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. He studied composition with Bonifazio Asioli and violin with Alessandro Rolla. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed for Her Majesty's Theatre in London (1843–1850), and for the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg, Russia (1850–1870). The majority of his ballet music was composed for the works of the ballet master Jules Perrot, who mounted nearly every one of his ballets to scores by Pugni. In 1850 Perrot departed London for Russia, having accepted the position of Premier maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres at the behest of Carlotta Grisi, who was engaged as Prima ballerina. Cesare Pugni followed Perrot and Grisi to Russia, and remained in the imperial capital even after Grisi's departure in 1853 and Perrot's departure in 1858. Pugni went on to compose for Perrot's successors Arthur Saint-Léon and Marius Petipa, serving as the Imperial Theatre's official composer of ballet music until his death in 1870. He was also the grandfather of Russian painter Ivan Puni, also known as Iwan Puni and Jean Pougny.
Jules-Joseph Perrot was a French dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including Pas de Quatre, La Esmeralda, Ondine, and Giselle with Jean Coralli.
Ondine, ou La naïade is a ballet in three acts and six scenes with choreography by Jules Perrot, music by Cesare Pugni, and a libretto inspired by the novel Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. Pugni dedicated his score to Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge, a long-time balletomane and patron of the arts in London. Whilst the original London production used the title Ondine, ou La naïade, Perrot staged a revival of the ballet under the title, La naïade et le pêcheur, a title which was used for all subsequent productions of the ballet.
La Esmeralda is a ballet in three acts and five scenes, inspired by the 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo, originally choreographed by Jules Perrot to music by Cesare Pugni, with sets by William Grieve and costumes by Mme. Copère.
Fiametta or Fiammetta, is a ballet in four acts and four scenes, choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to music by Ludwig Minkus, first presented by the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre on November 12–24, 1863 at the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia, with Anna Sobeshchanskaya as Fiametta.
Arthur Saint-Léon was the Maître de Ballet of St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1859 until 1869 and is famous for creating the choreography of the ballet Coppélia.
Lydia, the Swiss Milkmaid is a Demi-Caractère ballet in 2 acts, with choreography by Filippo Taglioni and music by Adalbert Gyrowetz.
A Marriage During the Regency is a ballet in 2 acts, with libretto and choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Cesare Pugni.
The Parisian Market is a comic ballet in one act, with libretto and choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Cesare Pugni.
The Blue Dahlia is a ballet in two acts, with libretto and choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Cesare Pugni, first presented by the Imperial Ballet on May 12 [O.S. April 30] 1860 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, with Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa and Timofei Stukolkin.
La Prima Ballerina, ou L'embuscade or The Traveling Dancer is a ballet in one act, with choreography by Marius Petipa, music by Cesare Pugni and libretto by Paul Taglioni. It was based on a ballet created by Paul Taglioni for the Ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre, London first presented on June 14, 1849.
The Two Stars or The Stars or The Two Little Stars is an Anacreontic ballet in 1 act, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Cesare Pugni. Libretto by Marius Petipa, based on an ancient Greek myth.
La Vivandière is a ballet in one act with choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon and Fanny Cerrito, and music by Cesare Pugni.
Pâquerette is a ballet in three acts, with choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon and music by François Benoist.
Le Diable à quatre is a ballet in two acts and three scenes, with choreography by Joseph Mazilier, music by Adolphe Adam, and libretto by Adolphe de Leuven, first presented by the Ballet of the Académie Royale de Musique on 11 August 1845, with Carlotta Grisi and Lucien Petipa.
Le Diable amoureux is a ballet-pantomime in three acts and eight scenes, originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Napoléon Henri Reber and François Benoist. The libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges is based on Jacques Cazotte's 1772 occult romance The Devil in Love. The work was first presented by the Ballet of the Royal Academy of Music in Paris on 23 September 1840, with Pauline Leroux, Mazilier, and Louise Fitz-James.
Faust ballets are a set of ballets, choreographed between the 18th and 20th centuries, based on the legend of Faust. As early as 1723, London-based John Rich put on a Faust-inspired ballet pantomime called The Necromancer at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. In the 19th century several productions took Faust as their subject matter including August Bournonville's 1832 production Faust for the Royal Danish Ballet.
Louis-François Gosselin was a French ballet dancer who performed as a premier danseur at the Opéra de Paris and Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.
