- The Little Humpbacked Horse (ballet)
"The Little Humpbacked Horse, or The Tsar Maiden" (aka "Konyok Gorbunok ili Tsar-Devitsa", or "Le Petit cheval bossu, ou La Tsar-Demoiselle") "Magic
Ballet " in 4 Acts-8 Scenes with apotheosis. Choreography byArthur Saint-Léon , and music byCesare Pugni . Libretto by Arthur Saint-Léon, based on thefairy tale "The Little Humpbacked Horse " by Pyotr Yershov. First presented by theImperial Ballet on December 3/15 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates),1864 at theImperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre inSt. Petersburg, Russia . "Principal Dancers -"Marfa Muravieva (as the Tsar Maiden) and Timofei Stukolkin (as Ivanushka).Revivals/Restagings/Alternate versions
*Restaging by Arthur Saint-Léon for the
Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre , with Cesare Pugni revising his original score. First presented on November 26, 1866 at theMoscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre inMoscow ,Russia . "Principle Dancers -"Marfa Muravieva (as the Tsar Maiden) and Timofei Stukolkin (as Ivanushka).*Revival by José Mendez for the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre. First presented at the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre on December 26, 1893 in Moscow, Russia.
*Revival under the title "The Tsar Maiden" by
Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet, with musical additions and revisions to Pugni's score byRiccardo Drigo . First presented on December 6/18, 1895 at theImperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. "Principal Dancers -"Pierina Legnani (as the Tsar Maiden),Alexander Shirayev (as Ivanushka) andFelix Kschessinsky (as the Khan).*Revival by
Alexander Gorsky for the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre, with additional music by Anton Simon,Boris Asafiev ,Pyotr Tchaikovsy ,Antonín Dvořák ,Alexander Glazunov ,Brahms andFranz Liszt . First presented at the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre on November 25, 1901 inMoscow, Russia . "Principal Dancers -"Natalia Roslavleva (as the Tsar Maiden) and Alexander Gorsky (as Ivansuchka).*Restaging by Alexander Gorsky of his 1901 revival for the Imperial Ballet, with musical additions and revisions to Pugni's score by Riccardo Drigo. First presented at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on December 16, 1912. "Principal Dancers -"
Tamara Karsavina (as the Tsar Maiden) andNikolai Legat (as Ivanushka).*Revival of Gorsky's 1912 production by
Feodor Lopukhov for theKirov Ballet . First presented at the Kirov State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet on 1945.Notes
*In an effort to appeal to the tastes of his Imperial Russian audience, Saint-Léon concluded the ballet with a "Grand divertissement" celebrating all the different nations of Russia, beginning with a "Grand cortège" to a march by the composer titled "The Peoples of Russia". The "Grand divertissement" included the choreographer's own balletic version of "Russian national dance".
*Petipa's 1895 revival included a new prologue and apotheosis, as well as additional variations for the Ballerina Legnani written by Riccardo Drigo.
*
Alexander Radunsky choreographed his own version to a score byRodion Shchedrin for the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow, in 1960. The choregrapherIgor Belsky utilized Schedrin's score in his staging for theMaly Theatre in Leningrad in 1963. The Radunsky—Shchedrin version was filmed in 1961 withMaya Plisetskaya as the Tsar Maiden andVladimir Vasiliev as Ivanushka.
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