La Sylphide

H.Levenshold

Ballet

November 13, Wed 19:00–20:25

November 13 / Wed

19:00–20:25

Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre

1 hour 25 minutes

1 intermission

Romantic ballet in two acts

Libretto by Adolphe Nourrit and Filippo Taglioni Choreography by August Bournonville in the version by Elsa-Marianne von Rosen Reconstructed by Ksenia Ter-Stepanova

The ballet was written in 1836. This version was first performed in Perm in 1994. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes including 1 interval

The plot is taken from Trilby, a novella written in the fairy-tale genre by Charles Nodier in 1822. On the night before his wedding to Effie, a spirit of the air in the form of a beautiful girl appears to the young peasant James. James is enchanted by the vision and dreams of touching it, but any touch is fatal to the sylph.

Theatre historians trace the beginning of dancing en pointe to Italian Filippo Taglioni’s production of the ballet at the Paris Opera in 1832, but the 1836 version by Dane August Bournonville is considered to be the definitive one. In Perm, Bournonville’s choreography was reconstructed by Ksenia Ter-Stepanova, the former Mariinsky Theatre soloist and coach at the Berlin Staatsoper.