The Pharaoh's Daughter
"The Pharaoh's Daughter" or "La Fille du pharaon", was Marius Petipa's first substantial success amongst all of the great ballets he was to create as a choreographer for the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. He created it while under the tutelage of Arthur Saint-Léon, the Balletmaster for the Imperial Theaters at that time in 1862. Carolina Rosati danced the lead of Aspicia. A leading ballerina for the Imperial Theater, she was close to retirement at the time of the performance. She danced opposite Marius Petipa himself, who portrayed Aspicia's hero and lover, Lord Wilson/Ta-Hor. Marius Petipa was to be appointed second balletmaster to Saint-Leon after this production. "The Pharaoh's Daughter" had been widely unseen since its premier until Pierre Lacotte's restaging for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2000. He found old staging notes and ballet notation from Petipa's original production and deciphered them to bring the ballet back to life. It has since become a regular part of the Bolshoi's repertory.