Marius Ivanovich Petipa, born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa, was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history.
Maestro Marius Ivanovich Petipa, premier maître de ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres. St. Petersburg, 1887.
Portrait of Marius Petipa around the time of his arrival in Russia. St. Petersburg, c. 1855.
The stage of the Mariinsky Theatre with cast in act I of Petipa's final revival of The Pharaoh's Daughter, St. Petersburg, 1898. In the center is Mathilde Kschessinskaya as the Princess Aspicia (right), and Anna Johannson as the slave Ramzé (left).
The stage of the Mariinsky Theatre with the cast of act I/scene 1 of the original production of Petipa's Raymonda. In the center is Pierina Legnani, creator of the title role. On the right of the stage is (right to left) Claudia Kulichevskaya as Clémence, Olga Preobrajenska Henriette, Pavel Gerdt as Abderakhman, and Nikolai Legat as Béranger. St. Petersburg, 1898.
A ballet master is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In modern times, ballet masters are generally charged with teaching the daily company ballet class and rehearsing the dancers for both new and established ballets in the company's repertoire. The artistic director of a ballet company, whether a male or female, may also be called its ballet master. Historic use of gender marking in job titles in ballet is being supplanted by gender-neutral language job titles regardless of an employee's gender.
Edgar Degas' painting of the ballet master Jules Perrot conducting rehearsal in the Foyer de la Danse of the Palais Garnier, Paris, 1875
Filippo Taglioni, circa 1820
Jules Perrot, circa 1850
Marius Ivanovich Petipa