Cinderella (ru. «Золушка», Zolushka) (fr. Cendrillon) is a ballet-féerie in three acts, with the choreography of Enrico Cecchetti (Acts I and III) and Lev Ivanov (Act II) supervised by Marius Petipa. Music is by Baron Boris Fitinhoff-Schell; the libretto is by Lidia Pashkova (ru: Лидия Александровна Пашкова) and Ivan Vsevolozhsky. It was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire.
Roles and original cast
History
The libretto of Cinderella was criticized for putting more emphasis on spectacle than on drama and story-telling. Nevertheless, the production was an enormous success due to the ovation given to the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani in the title role. On opening night she caused a sensation in the Mariinsky Theatre, and was universally praised by the St. Petersburg critics, with a critic of the Peterbugskaya gazeta reporting that her dancing reached a level of "...unprecedented perfection." The theatre critic for the Peterburgskii lpistok reported that Legnani executed "...the most dizzying difficulties of ballet technique with absolute ease, without the least tension or fatigue...", and that she "...revealed such perfection of technique and such strength as are difficult to imagine." He went on to state that Legnani "...must unquestionably be counted among the greatest virtuosas of choreography which Petersburg had ever seen."
The most celebrated scene of Cinderella was the ball in the throne room of the castle in the second act, which included an elaborate Grand Pas d'action for the characters Cinderella, the Prince, soloists and the corps de ballet. Also successful was the spectacular Night tableaux of Act III, representing the Nile, Granada and Paris with each number beginning by the dancers and scenery rising out of a lake at the back of the stage with the wave of the Good Fairy's wand.
The premiere of Cinderella has the distinction of being the first performance of a ballet in Russia to feature a ballerina performing 32 consecutive fouettés en tournant, which was executed by Pierina Legnani in the title role. The ballet historian Konstantin Skalkovsky, who served as dance critic for the Peterburgskaya gazeta at the turn of the 20th century, reported on Legnani's feat: "...in the last act Legnani positively outdid herself. When Emma Bessone danced the lead in "The Haarlem Tulip" she did 14 fouettés. In her variation Legnani performed 32 of them without stopping, and without traveling one inch! The public delightedly applauded the Ballerina and compelled her to repeat this variation as well. On the repetition she nevertheless did 28 fouettés. To count them became the favorite occupation of the public."
Cinderella was later staged for the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow by Lev Ivanov, with the first performance given on . Ivanov supervised a revival of the second act for the farewell benefit performance of Pierina Legnani on . This would prove to be the last performance of any part of the ballet.
Fitinhof-Schell's score for Cinderella was never published in any form. The only part of the score that is still heard is the female variation in polka rhythm danced in the Mariinsky Theatre's version of the so-called "Le Corsaire Pas de Deux".
Résumé of scenes and dances
Taken from the original theatrical poster of 1893 and the book "Nash balet (1673-1896)" by Aleksander Plescheyev.