''Roxana, the Beauty of Montenegro'' (', also known as ''Roxana'') is a fantastic

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 of ...

in four acts, 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

Ludwig 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 ...

. Libretto by Sergei Khudekov and Marius Petipa. The ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on January 29/February 11 (

Julian Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (give ...

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 dif ...

dates), 1878 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, with Eugeniia Sokolova as Roxana, shortly after Montenegro was liberated by the Russian army from the Ottoman Empire. The ballet historian

Konstantin Skalkovsky The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name ''Constantinus'' (Constantine) in some European languages, such as Russian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. ...

gives an account in his study of late 19th century ballet in St. Petersburg of how Minkus' "Grand Marche" from the third act of this ballet "was the favorite piece of Tsar Alexander II, who in general did not love music. Several units of our troops (the Russian Army) stormed the Plevna to the music of this march."

References

{{Ballets of Marius Petipa Ballets by Marius Petipa Ballets by Ludwig Minkus Ballets by Sergei Khudekov 1878 ballet premieres Ballets premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre, Saint Petersburg