Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine to music by Frédéric Chopin. It premiered on in 1908 the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg as Rêverie Romantique: Ballet sur la musique de Chopin or Chopiniana. As Les Sylphides, the ballet was first shown on June 2, 1909 at Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris(4), where La Sylphide had just been shown(4). Jump to: navigation, search The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. ... Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... Michel Fokine or Mikhail Mikhailovich Fokin (Михаил Михайлович Фокин) (April 23, 1880 (OS: April 11) – August 22, 1942) was a Russian choreographer and dancer. ... Jump to: navigation, search Frédéric-François Chopin (IPA: ) (March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849) was a Polish composer and pianist of Polish and French parentage who wrote almost exclusively for the piano. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Maryinsky (or Mariinsky) Theatre (or Theater), is the St Petersburg theatre where the Mariinsky Ballet is located. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... Jump to: navigation, search 2 June is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... 1909 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... La Sylphide is one of the worlds best-known ballets. ...

Les Sylphies was originally performed by the Ballets Russes, with principal dancers Tamara Karsavina, Vaslaw Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, and Alexandra Baldina. In 1940, American Ballet Theatre took up production, and opened it January 11 of that year at the Center Theatre in Rockefeller Center. The ballet company Ballets Russes created a sensation in Western Europe in the early years of the 20th century, due to the great vitality of Russian ballet, as compared with what was current in France at the time. ... Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (March 10, 1885 – May 26, 1978) was a Russian ballerina who settled in England. ... Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky (Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Polish language: Wacław Niżyński) (March 12, 1890 – April 8, 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreographer, born in Kiev, Ukraine, of Polish descent. ... Jump to: navigation, search Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlova (portrait by Jean Thomassen) Anna Pavlova is also the name of an Olympic gymnast. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The American Ballet Theatre is one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century, and a leading company in America. ... Jump to: navigation, search January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Lower Plaza at Rockefeller Center. ...

The ballet, often described as a "romantic reverie"(2,3), was indeed the first ballet ever to be simply that(2). Les Sylphides has no plot, but instead consists of many sylphs dancing in the moonlight with the poet or young man. Sylph is a faux-mythological creature in the Western tradition. ...

Original title and Performances

Under the title Chopiniana, still staged by Fokine, the ballet had a slightly different musical composition. This version included only five Chopin pieces:

1. Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, no. 1,
2. Nocturne in F major, Op. 15, no. 1,
3. Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op. 50, no. 3,
4. Valse in C Sharp minor, Op. 64, no. 2,
5. Tarantella in A flat major, Op. 43.

Final Version

The final version of this ballet, performed under the name Les Sylphides included several more pieces.

1. Polonaise in A major (some companies substitute Prelude in A Major instead)
2. Nocturne in A flat major (Op. 32, no. 2),
3. Valse in G Flat major (Op. 70, no. 1),
4. Mazurka in D major (Op. 33, no. 2),
5. Mazurka in C major (Op. 67, no. 3),
6. Prelude in A major (Op. 28, no. 7),
7. Valse in C sharp minor (Op. 64, no. 2),
8. Grande Valse in E flat major (Op. 18, no. 1)

References

• ExploreDance.com
• National Ballet of Canada
• The Ballet Encyclopedia
• ThinkQuest

External links

• Margot Fonteyn performing in Les Sylphides