Marius Petipa

Marius Ivanovich Petipa, born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818 to 14 July 1910), was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer, regarded as one of the most influential ballet masters in the history of the art. He was First Ballet Master of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres and principal choreographer of the Imperial Ballet, today the Mariinsky Ballet, from 1871 until 1903. He created over fifty ballets, among them The Pharaoh's Daughter, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker with Lev Ivanov, Raymonda and Harlequinade. He also revived works by other choreographers, including Le Corsaire, Giselle, Coppelia and Swan Lake, and many of his revivals are the basis of later productions.