Here is a slightly abridged version of
Marius Petipa's rarely seen 1896 demi-character ballet "Le Halte de cavalerie" («Привал кавалерии»), performed by the Maly/
Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet of
St. Petersburg. This performance was filmed in 1978 by the
BBC as part of the television special "
An Evening With the
Russian Ballet: 3
Ballets by Marius Petipa".
For some reason this program gives the ballet the title of "
The Cavalry Bivouac".
Choreography - Marius Petipa (staging by
Pyotr Gusev,
1968)
Music - Johann Armsheimer
Décor -
Gennady Sotnikov
Costumes -
Tatiana Ratner
Cast -
Theresa -
Svetlana Vasilyeva
Marie -
Tanya Borushina
Pierre -
Andrei Yevdokimov
Colonel of Hussars -
Vladimir Dolgallo
Captain of Hussars - Grigory Zamyal
Cornet of Lancers- Valery
Pechersky
Résumé of dances/scenes --
--01.
Introduction et scène
--02. Pas de ruban
--03. Scène de
Thérèse, Marie et Pierre
--04. Arrivée du cavalerie
--05. Le Cornet des Lanciers
--06. Le Captaine des Hussards
--07. Le
Colonel des Hussards
--08. Rétour du cavalerie
--09. Valse, scène
--10.
Pas de deux (aka "The Cavalry Halt Pas de deux" / Па-де-де из балета «Привал кавалерии») -
--a. Adage
--b. Variation de Pierre
--c. Variation de
Thérèse
--d.
Coda
--11. Csárdás
--12. Galop final**
History -
Marius Petipa created "Le Halte de cavalerie" for the benefit performance of
Pierina Legnani, who created the principal role of Theresa, while Petipa's daughter
Marie Petipa created the character role of Marie. The original cast also included
Pavel Gerdt as Pierre,
Sergei Legat as the Cornet of Lancers,
Alfred Bekefi as the Captain of Hussars, & Sergei Lukianov as the Colonel of Hussars. The role of Theresa was popular with many ballerinas at the turn-of-the-20th century, among them
Olga Preobrajenskaya &
Vera Trefilova.
The music for "Le Halte de cavalerie" was composed by the German-Russian composer Johann (or
Ivan) Armsheimer (1860-1933), who served as trumpeter & cornetist in the orchestra of the
Mariinsky Theatre at the turn-of-the-20th century. For many years Armsheimer also served as band-master to
His Imperial Majesty's Horse-Gaurd's Regiment. Such experience made him a natural choice to compose the music for Petipa's "The Cavalry Halt".
In 1898 "Le Halte de cavalerie" was staged for the
Bolshoi Theatre in
Moscow by the company's ballet master Ivan Clustine, with
Ekaterina Geltser as
Theresa & Vassily Tikhomirov as Pierre.
The ballet master
Alexander Shiryaev revived "Le Halte de cavalerie" in
1919 at the former Mariinsky Theatre, but by the end of the
1920's it was all but forgotten. The ballet was not performed again until 1968 when Pyotr Gusev staged it for his newly formed company the
Chamber Ballet (today the
St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre). In
1975 Gusev staged his version for the
Maly Theatre Ballet of
Leningrad, & the company has been performing it consistently ever since. Gusev's version of the ballet has been staged for many companies & schools in
Russia & has been staged occasionally throughout the world.
It is significant to note that the
Sergeyev Collection, held in the
Harvard University Library's
Theatre Collection, contains Petipa's original choreography among the choreographic notation.
**
Dancers & balletomanes might notice that the music that accompanies the final "Galop final" is also used for the coda of the so-called "
La Fille mal gardée pas de deux" from the old Petipa/
Ivanov/Gorsky version of the ballet. The version of "La Fille mal gardée pas de deux" that is traditionally danced today at galas & ballet competitions is actually the creation of
Alexander Gorsky from the early
20th century.
- published: 10 Jul 2013
- views: 11559