Raymonda

Abstract Marius Petipa’s 1898 Raymonda was the choreographer’s last evening-length ballet to achieve longevity. The ballet’s genesis involved the development of its libretto, which featured exoticism and reflected nineteenth-century Crusades narratives. The structure of the ballet emphasized spectacle and dance over mime and action, a trend in Petipa’s later works. The score by Glazunov, rich with recurring motifs, demonstrated an attempt to continue the Imperial Ballet’s collaboration with major Russian composers following the death of Tchaikovsky. A brief chronicle of Raymonda’s St. Petersburg performance history between 1898 and 1903 leads to an examination of source material, including published music scores and a choreographic notation made circa 1903 in the Stepanov method by Nikolai Sergeyev, and a description of the ballet’s action, choreography, and mime. The chapter also includes a short survey of selected Raymonda productions in twentieth-century Russia and in the West.