History of Ballet in Russia (1613 - 1881) | Beaumont Cyril W. Beaumont

This is a detailed history of ballet in Russia (with particularreference to St. Petersburg) from its origin to the thirdquarter of the 19th century. The groundwork of historicaldata is enlivened with notes on the different dancers, extractsfrom contemporary accounts of their appearances, the castsof important first performances, the stories of many of theballets produced, and so on. We learn of the birth of interest in the Theatre early in the17th century, during the reign of Tsar Alexis, of the PublicBalls or Assemblies organised by Peter the Great, and of theestablishment during the reign of the Empress Anne of aballet company – recruited from the children of poor parents– directed by a French master called Landé. With each newreign the company increases in size, importance and talentunder the successive influence of famous maîtres de ballet suchas Didelot, Perrot, St. -Léon and Marius Petipa, and celebratedballerine such as Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, Caroline Rosati, Amalia Ferraris, Salvioni, Henriette d’Or and so forth. With such forces at work a lineof illustrious Russian Stars is formed – Istomina, Kolosova, Zubova, Andreyanova, Petipa, Prikhunova, Bogdanova, Muravieva, Grantsova, Vazem, Sokolova and many others. The book is prefaced by a most interesting introduction byM. André Levinson, whose reputation as an historian andcritic of dancing is world-wide, which presents an admirablesurvey of the development of Ballet in Russia from the "ageof Petipa to the conquering of both the Old World and theNew by that glorious company – composed of hand-pickedartists from the Imperial Ballet – directed by Serge Diaghilev.