Lev Ivanov

Russian dancer, choreographer and teacher, 1834 – 1901.

A graduate of the St Petersburg Theatre School, character dancer with the Mariinsky (the Russian ballet company attached St Petersburg’s principal opera house) from 1852 to 1893, he performed many mimed roles, including Phoebus in “Esmeralda” and Conrad in “le Corsaire”.

As Marius Petipa’s assistant at the St Petersburg Imperial Theatre, he devised around twenty ballets, some of them in collaboration. With Marius Petipa he co-wrote “Swan Lake” (acts II and IV) in 1895 and “Cinderella” (act II) with Cecchetti (1893). Alone, he choreographed a first version of “The Polovtsian Dances” (1980) from “Prince Igor” and “The Nutcracker” in 1892.

His choreography is characterised first and foremost by a profound understanding of the music. His success opened the way for choreography to use the symphonic or instrumental music that developed in the twentieth century.

Source: Dictionnaire de la Danse, Philippe Le Moal, Larousse, 1999

More information: larousse.fr