Jules Perrot's "La Naïade et le pêcheur" clips

[cubanmiamiboy]

Borrowed from the Youtube OP, here's another set of his rare clips. The info below also belongs to him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYeAHewsoSU...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4juVodrA_E...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL1pgb7qv8c...feature=related

Enjoy!

"Here is Pyotr Gusev's staging of extracts from Jules Perrot's "La Naïade et le pêcheur" ("The Naiad & the Fisherman"), a.k.a. "Ondine, ou la Naïade".

This performance was filmed at the Kremlin Palace of the Congresses in 1989, with Nina Speranskaya as the Naiad Ondine, Maria Bylova as Giannina, & Stanislav Chazov as the Fisherman Mattéo."

HISTORY

"The celebrated 19th century ballet "La Naïade et le pêcheur" began life under the title "Ondine, ou La Naïade" in a staging by the Balletmaster Jules Perrot for Her Majesty's Theatre in London during the heyday of the Romantic Ballet, premiering on June 22, 1843. The ballet featured Fanny Cerrito in the role of the naiad Ondine with Perrot himself as the fisherman Mattéo. The music was composed by Perrot's favorite collaborator, the prolific Cesare Pugni. When the London music publisher Ollivier brought out Pugni's full-length score for "Ondine, ou La Naïade" in piano reduction, the composer dedicated his score to The Duchess of Cambridge Princess Augusta, grandmother of Queen Mary.

Perrot utilized Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's 1811 "Ondine" as the basis for his subject. Frederick Ashton would later create his own ballet adapatation of "Ondine" for the Royal Ballet.

During his engagement as Balletmaster in St. Petersburg Perrot staged "Ondine, ou La Naïade" for the Imperial Ballet. Together, Perrot & Pugni (who had accompanied Perrot to Russia) staged the work in an elaborately expanded edition under the title "La Naïade et le pêcheur" ("The Naiad & the Fisherman"), which premiered on February 11/January 30, 1851 with Cerrito appearing in her role of the naiad Ondine. From then on, Perrot's "La Naïade et le pêcheur" would remain in the repertory of the Imperial Ballet at regular intervals via several revivals mounted years later by Marius Petipa.

The last notable revival of the ballet during the Imperial era in Russia was staged by Cesare Pugni's grandson, the legendary character dancer & Balletmaster Alexander Shiryaev for the great Anna Pavlova. This revival premiered on December 7/20, 1903.

For the excerpts shown in this performance, Pyotr Gusev used his vast knowledge of the Imperial Ballet's repertory at the turn of the 20th century. This performance gives us an extremely rare glimpse of the ballets of old with regard to choreography. How much of it is "authentic" I cannot say, but it certainly seems to be, for the most part, the real thing".

[Helene]

Thank you so much for posting this, Cristian!

I especially loved the entire second part.

I wish the PNB school would use this ballet for a graduation performance. I kept casting recent school standouts in it while I watched.