''Les Aventures de Pélée'' (''The Adventures of Peleus''; ) 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 of ...

in three acts and five scenes with choreography by

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (; born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa; 11 March 1818) was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. He is considered one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history ...

and music by

Ludwig Minkus Ludwig Minkus (), also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus (23 March 1826, Vienna – 7 December 1917, Vienna), was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violinist and teacher of music. Minkus is noted for the music he composed during his caree ...

, with additional music adapted from works by

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...

. The libretto by Marius Petipa is derived from the

Greek Myth Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancien ...

concerning the Goddess

Thetis Thetis ( , or ; ) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as a Nereid in Cl ...

and the circumstances surrounding her marriage, arranged by

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

(or Zeus), to the mortal

Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC. Biogra ...

. It was first presented by the

Imperial Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet () 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 Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's ...

on at the

Imperial Bolshoi Kammeny Theatre The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, ) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg. It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical design as the Kamenny (i.e., Stone) Theatre; Giovann ...

in St. Petersburg, Russia, with Eugeniia Sokolova (as the Goddess Thetis),

Pavel Gerdt Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt (), also known as Paul Gerdt (22 November 1844, near Saint Petersburg, Russia – 12 August 1917, in Vamaloki, Finland, Russian Republic), was the ''Premier Danseur Noble'' of the Mariinsky Ballet, Imperial Ballet, the Bol ...

(as Peleus), Lyubov Savitskaya (as Cupid),

Mariia Gorshenkova Mariia (, ) is a given name. It is cognate to the given name Maria in English and other languages. The Russian and Ukrainian given names have the spelling variants Maria, Marija, and Mariya. People with the name Finnish * Mariia Posa Russi ...

(as Venus),

Christian Johansson Pehr Christian Johansson (1 June 1817 – 12 December 1903) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer and balletmaster for the Russian Imperial Ballet. He was engaged at the Royal Swedish Ballet from 1829 to 1841, and at the ...

(as Jupiter),

Lev Ivanov Lev Ivanovich Ivanov (; 2 March 1834, Moscow – 24 December 1901, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Mariinsky Ballet, Imperial Ballet. As a performer with the Mariinsky Ballet, ...

(as Adonis), and

Platon Karsavin Platon Konstantinovich Karsavin (; 17 November 1854, Saint Petersburg – 1922, Saint Petersburg) was a dancer with the Russian Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg, and afterwards a teacher of dance. Biography Platon Constantinovich Karsavin was bor ...

(as Triton).

Revivals

The ballet was revived by Marius Petipa as ''Les Noces de Thétis et Pélée'' in one act/3 scenes for the Imperial Ballet, with

Riccardo Drigo Riccardo Eugenio Drigo (; 30 June 1846 – 1 October 1930) was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian opera, a theatrical Conducting, conductor, and a pianist. Drigo is most noted for his long career as kapellmeister and Director of Mu ...

making additions and revising the Minkus/Delibes score, and presented for the Imperial court outdoor at Olga Island in the parc of Peterhof on , for a gala performance in honour of a state visit from

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

. Principal Dancers:

Mathilde Kschessinskaya Mathilde-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinska ( – 6 December 1971), also known as Princess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya upon her marriage, was a Polish-Russian ballerina from the noble Krzesiński family. Her father, Felix Kschessinsky, her brother and ...

(as the Goddess Thetis),

(as Peleus),

Olga Preobrajenskaya Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska (; born Preobrazhenskaya; – 27 December 1962) was a Russian ballerina of the Mariinsky Ballet, Russian Imperial Ballet and a ballet instructor. Biography She was born in Saint Petersburg as Olga Preobrazhensk ...

(as Cupid),

Olga Leonova Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...

(as Venus),

Lyubov Roslavleva Lyubov Andreyevna Roslavleva (; 1874–1904) was a Russian ballet dancer. Biography Lyubov Roslavleva was born on July 7, 1874. She graduated from the Moscow Theatre School, where she studied with . In 1892, the ballerina was accepted into the B ...

(as Flora),

Alexei Bulgakov Alexey ( ; ), is a Russian and Bulgarian male given name derived from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius. Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олек� ...

(as Jupiter), and

Sergei Legat Sergei Gustavovich Legat (; 27 September 1875 – 1 November 1905) was a Russian ballet dancer. Background Sergei Gustavovich Legat was born on 27 September 1875, in Moscow. The younger brother of Nikolai Legat, he studied at the imperial bal ...

(as Adonis). There was only one full resumption of this ballet by choreographer Alexey Bogdanov.

References

Ballets by Marius Petipa Ballets by Ludwig Minkus Ballets to the music of Léo Delibes 1870s ballets 1876 works Ballets premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre, Saint Petersburg {{ballet-stub