''Kalkabrino'' is a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

in three acts and three scenes, with choreography by

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...

and music by

Léon Minkus Ludwig Minkus (russian: link=no, Людвиг Минкус), also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus (23 March 1826, Vienna – 7 December 1917, Vienna), was a Jewish-Austrian composer of ballet music, a violin virtuoso and teacher. Minkus is no ...

Première performance

The ballet was first presented by the Imperial Russian Ballet on 13 February 1891, on the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...

(25 February 1891 in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years d ...

) at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Original cast

The principal dancers at the première were: *

Carlotta Brianza Carlotta Brianza (1867–1930) was an Italian prima ballerina, dancing with La Scala in Milan and later with the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. Biography Born in Milan, Brianza studied at the ballet school of La Scala under Carlo ...

— as Marietta/Draginiatza *

Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the ''Teatro Tordinona'' in ...

— as Reuben * Pavel Gerdt — as Kalkabrino * Felix Kschessinsky — as René, Marietta's father *

Nikolai Legat Nikolai Gustavovich Legat (russian: Никола́й Густа́вович Лега́т) (30 December 1869, Moscow – 24 January 1937, London) was a Premier danseur, premier dancer with the Russian Imperial Ballet from 1888 to 1914, and also ...

— as Olivier *

Marie Petipa Marie Mariusovna Petipa (russian: Мари́я Ма́риусовна Петипа́; 17 (29) October 1857 – 16 January 1930) was a noted Russian ballerina. She was born in St. Petersburg, the daughter of Marius Petipa (under whom she st ...

— as Cigala.

Production notes

*This work was not produced with the participation of Minkus, who had already retired to Vienna in 1886. Instead, the score was a pastiche of airs extracted from several ballets.

References

Ballets by Marius Petipa Ballets by Ludwig Minkus 1891 ballet premieres Ballets premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre {{russia-stub

Première performance

Original cast

Production notes

See also

References