Modern day dance and choreography is a manifestation of the efforts pioneered by earlier artists. In fact, a large section of modern day choreography can be said to be mere modifications and improvements on the earliest choreography. Numerous names often come up whenever dance and choreography are mentioned and among them is Marius Petipa, who was even crowned and later named “Father of Russian Choreography ”. This essay focuses on the history of Merius Petipa, his choreography, and various pieces that he presented during his lifetime.
Victor Marius Ivanovic Petipa was born on 11th March 1818 in Marseille, France. Petipa is often regarded in the modern era as the one of the most influential dance and choreographer in ballet history. However, he spent most of his youthful days in Brussels, where his parents had moved to. In fact, Petipa attended Grand College in Brussels before moving back to Nantes, France when he was almost thirty years of age. He later died in the year 1910 after close to sixty years of service at St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres where he served in the capacity of Premier maître de balle (Leshkov, and Cyril 23). At his death, Petina had directed numerous artist in Russian ballet and Russian dance repertoire and created over fifty ballets. He is remembered for a number of his outstanding works among them, The Pharaoh's Daughter done in 1862, Don Quixote choreographed in 1869 and Les Millions d’Arlequin (a.k.a. Harlequined) which he choreographed in 1900. This is however not an exhaustive list of all his works as he was survived by over fifty ballets.
The Petipa was slowly drawn towards choreography and dancing by his father. It is believed that both Petina and his brother Lucien, started receiving their training at a tender age of seven years from their father, who was an active ballet master in Brussels. Initially, Petipa disliked dancing and choreography. However, his interest started slowly building up as he began appearing in his father’s La Dansomanie in the year 1831. He later went on to become a principle and a seasoned dancer at the theatre in Nantes France. During this time, Petipa, staged opera dances at the same theatre (Petipa 14). For quite some time, Petipa was greatly overshadowed by his brother, a situation he greatly disliked and which later on became his driving force that saw him strike out his own shadow.
There was very stiff competition in Brussels for upcoming choreographers and the established ones took more time cement their position at the peak. The Petipa was quick to realize this and quickly made the decision to seek residence in places that could offer him the best chance to develop his career in dance and choreography. He moved from Brussels to Bordeaux where he stayed for one year between 1841 and 1842. Petipa then went to Madrid where he spent four years (Ludwig 17). It was during his four year stay in Madrid he was introduced to and learnt Petipa learned about Spanish dance. In fact, the Spanish ballet influence was largely evident in his Spanish dances, especially those he choreographed for ballets in Russia.
Besides dance, Petipa subsequently received training in pantomime artistry. He made his maiden appearance at the St. Petersburg Mariinksy Theatre in 1847. Similarly, his first original ballet entitles UN Mariage sous la régence (“A Regency Marriage”), was staged at the same theatre in the year 1858. Petipa made subsequent strides in his choreography training and in the year 1862, he became a choreographer and later a chief choreographer in 1869. On the other end, Petipa's first choreography in Russia came in the year 1949, the Alessandro Stradella which was staged in Moscow. In the year 1854, he married, Marie Scurvshikova, a dancer at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg and was subsequently elevated to become an instructor at the same school. During this time he worked under Jules Perrot and Arthur Saint-Leon, who were undoubtedly more famous in choreography than Petipa (Leshkov, and Cyril 27). Petipa never gave a stop to choreographing and a father almost four years, he invented La fille du patron, which was undoubtedly his first outstanding success. In fact, due to the success of La fille du patron, Petina was made Choreographer-in-Chief of the Imperial Theatre and later the Premier Ballet Master of the Imperial Theatre in 1869.
Petipa choreographed several classics. A number of his choreographic works have survived the threat of time up to the current modern era as they are considered the pillars of classical ballet. Petipa invented the ballet Don Quixote to music, an original creation by Minkus in 1869. He also brought the La Bayadère in 1877. One of his outstanding attributes is that greatly excelled at stylized dances for operas. Almost all of Petipa's ballets had a choreographic counterpart in the dances he created for operas. This has greatly characterized the modern day choreography as most modern day choreographers have opted to creation of counter choreographic counterparts as compared to working on sole creations (Petipa 17). Petipa is also largely remembered as the person who brought the French and Italian traditions to Russia and as a result, emphasized more on giving dance over pantomime. This gave him the title “Father of Russian Choregraphy”
Petipa drew inspiration from a number of people who happened to so close to him during his career. The initial mentor to Petina was his father, Jean, who also worked as a ballet master of his time. Jean, did not only mentor Petina, but also gave him numerous opportunities to feature in some of his choreography, gestures which awakened Petina’s the urge to pursue choreography and dance. During his stint at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, Petipa also got an opportunity to work alongside two established, famous and great choreographers, Jules Perrot and Arthur Saint-Leon (Ludwig 21). Working alongside these great men in choreography further challenged Petina to take after them since he was the most suited heir to their great talent choreographic styles given the his proximity to them. During his lifetime, Petipa also married to dancer Mariya Surovshchikova and Lubova Leonidovna, whom, besides being a husband, he also doubled up as their dance trainer. As a trainer, Petipa always strived to have an edge over fellow trainers. This propelled him too to work harder. In fact, being a trainer eventually became a source of inspiration for choreography.
In conclusion, dance and choreography has undergone tremendous changes and modifications. However, the fundamental concepts of dance and choreography can still be traced back in the 18th century. The tremendous contribution made by Petina as a chief choreographer and an influential dancer in the ballet history has gone a long way to define some aspects of modern day choreography. For instance, the issue of choreographic counterparts, which has largely dominated print day choreography was first introduced by Petipa. It is thus a noble idea to always appreciate such great artists and give them worth credit as they lay the foundation of dance and choreography.
Works Cited
Leshkov, D, I, and Cyril W. Beaumont. Marius Petipa. London: C.W. Beaumont, 1971. Print.
Letellier, Robert I. Paquita, Ballet-Pantomime in Two Acts, Grand Pas Classique by Marius Petipa; and Nuit Et Jour, Allegorical Ballet in One Act, by Marius Petpa; Piano Score, by Ludwig Minkus. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Pub, 2010. Print.
Petipa, Marius. Russian Ballet Master: The Memoirs of Marius Petipa. London: Chameleon Press, 1973. Print.
