''The Blue Dahlia'' (french: Le Dahlia bleu) 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 two acts, with libretto and choreography by Marius Petipa and music by

Cesare Pugni Cesare Pugni (; russian: Цезарь Пуни, Cezar' Puni; 31 May 1802 in Genoa – ) was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orches ...

, first presented by the

Imperial Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...

on at the

Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg. It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...

St. Petersburg, Russia 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 ...

, with Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa (as the Blue Dahlia) and

Timofei Stukolkin Timofei Alekseyevich Stukolkin (russian: Тимофей Алексеевич Стуколкин; , the village Kozmino of Simbirsk province - , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian ballet dancer. ''Oxford Dictionary of Dance'' called him "one of the gr ...

(as Beausoleil). Marius Petipa renewed the first act of this ballet in 1875 for a debut of his daughter, Marie Petipa.

Revivals

The ballet was revived by

Pavel Gerdt Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt (russian: Па́вел Андре́евич Ге́рдт), also known as Paul Gerdt (near Saint Petersburg, Russia, 22 November 1844 – Vamaloki, Finland, 12 August 1917), was the ''Premier Danseur Noble'' of the Imperial ...

for the Imperial Ballet and presented at the

Imperial Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

, St. Petersburg on March 5–18, 1905 with

Lubov Egorova Lubov Nikolayevna Yegorova (Любовь Николаевна Егорова; 8 August 1880 – 18 August 1972) was a Russian Empire ballerina who danced with the Imperial Ballet and the Ballets Russes. Life and career Lubov Yegorova was born in ...

(as the Blue Dahlia). Petipa disliked Gerdt's 1905 revival to such a degree that he requested his name be removed from the program.

Revivals

See also