This is a detailed history of ballet in Russia (with particular
reference to St. Petersburg) from its origin to the third
quarter of the 19th century. The groundwork of historical
data is enlivened with notes on the different dancers, extracts
from contemporary accounts of their appearances, the casts
of important first performances, the stories of many of the
ballets produced, and so on.
We learn of the birth of interest in the Theatre early in the
17th century, during the reign of Tsar Alexis, of the Public
Balls or Assemblies organised by Peter the Great, and of the
establishment during the reign of the Empress Anne of a
ballet company - recruited from the children of poor parents
- directed by a French master called Landé. With each new
reign the company increases in size, importance and talent
under the successive influence of famous maîtres de ballet such
as Didelot, Perrot, St.-Léon and Marius Petipa, and celebrated
ballerine 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 line
of 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 by
M. André Levinson, whose reputation as an historian and
critic of dancing is world-wide, which presents an admirable
survey of the development of Ballet in Russia from the "age
of Petipa" to the conquering of both the Old World and the
New by that glorious company - composed of hand-picked
artists from the Imperial Ballet - directed by Serge Diaghilev.