paragraph_text: Willam Farr Christensen (August 27, 1902 – October 14, 2001) was an American ballet dancer, choreographer and founder of the San Francisco Ballet and Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is known for bringing the complete version of the Russian ballet "The Nutcracker" to the United States, as well as staging the first American performances of "Swan Lake" and "Coppélia". Christensen's "Nutcracker" was first staged in 1944 in San Francisco, where the ballet remains an annual tradition, though the production now staged there is not necessarily the Christensen version. Christensen is often credited with helping to rejuvenate American dance.

paragraph_text: The Firebird (French: L'Oiseau de feu; Russian: Жар - птица, translit. Zhar - ptitsa) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with a scenario by Alexandre Benois and Fokine based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner. When first performed at the Opéra de Paris on 25 June 1910, the work was an instant success with both audience and critics.

paragraph_text: Rogneda () is an opera in five acts, composed by Alexander Serov between 1863 and 1865. The scenario, by the composer, was based on the novel "Askold's Grave" ("Аскольдова могила", 1833) by Mikhail Zagoskin and the poem "Rogneda" (ca. 1825) by Kondraty Ryleyev. The actual Russian libretto was created by Dmitry Averkiev in the same manner as with the composer's previous opera, "Judith", with the words written to fit the vocal lines "after" the music had been composed.

paragraph_text: Valery Lantratov (Valeri Lantratov, Walerij Lantratov, Valeriy Lantratov, ; born 24 April 1958 in Moscow) is a former principal ballet dancer with the Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet and Kremlin Ballet and general director of the Russian National Ballet Foundation.

paragraph_text: Instruments like the duduk, the dhol, the zurna, and the kanun are commonly found in Armenian folk music. Artists such as Sayat Nova are famous due to their influence in the development of Armenian folk music. One of the oldest types of Armenian music is the Armenian chant which is the most common kind of religious music in Armenia. Many of these chants are ancient in origin, extending to pre-Christian times, while others are relatively modern, including several composed by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. Whilst under Soviet rule, Armenian classical music composer Aram Khatchaturian became internationally well known for his music, for various ballets and the Sabre Dance from his composition for the ballet Gayane.

paragraph_text: Violette Verdy (born Nelly Armande Guillerm; 1 December 1933 – 8 February 2016) was a French ballerina, choreographer, teacher, and writer who worked as a dance company director with the Paris Opera Ballet in France and the Boston Ballet in the United States. From 1958 to 1977 she was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet where she performed in the world premieres of several works created specifically for her by choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She was Distinguished Professor of Music (Ballet) at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, in Bloomington, and the recipient of two medals from the French government.

paragraph_text: Alexander Plisetski () (20 October 1931 — 29 October 1985) was a Russian ballet master and choreographer and a younger brother of the famous Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya.

paragraph_text: The Prince of the Pagodas is a ballet created for The Royal Ballet in 1957, by choreographer John Cranko, with music commissioned from Benjamin Britten. The ballet was later revived in a new production by Kenneth MacMillan in 1989, achieving widespread acclaim for Darcey Bussell's premiere in a principal role. The world premiere of Cranko's original production took place on 1 January 1957 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, conducted by the composer. MacMillan's production premiering at the same venue on 7 December 1989. A recording of a slightly cut version of the score was produced with Britten conducting the orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

paragraph_text: Les Rendezvous is a plotless one-act ballet created in 1933, with choreography by Frederick Ashton to the music of Daniel Auber (the ballet music from his opera "L'enfant prodigue") arranged by Constant Lambert and with designs by William Chappell. It was the first major ballet created by Ashton for the Vic-Wells company.

paragraph_text: Anna Pavlovna (Matveyevna) Pavlova (Russian: Анна Павловна (Матвеевна) Павлова; February 12 (O.S. January 31) 1881 -- January 23, 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev. Pavlova is most recognized for the creation of the role The Dying Swan and, with her own company, became the first ballerina to tour ballet around the world.

paragraph_text: Andrey Reinhardtovich Sigle (; born 15 May 1964, Gorky, USSR) is a Russian film producer, film music composer, and musician.

paragraph_text: Marius Ivanovich Petipa (Russian: Ма́риус Ива́нович Петипа́), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818 -- 14 July (O.S. 1 July) 1910) was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer in ballet history.

paragraph_text: Baron Herman Severin Løvenskiold (30 July 1815 – 5 December 1870) was a Norwegian composer, most noted for his score for August Bournonville's 1836 version of the ballet "La Sylphide" for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen.

paragraph_text: The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (Russian: Бахчисарайский фонтан) is a full-length ballet in four acts, choreographed by Rostislav Zakharov to music by Boris Asafyev. The libretto by Nikolai Volkov is based on the 1823 poem of the same title by Alexander Pushkin. The ballet premiered on 28 September 1934 at the Kirov Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, with Galina Ulanova as Maria, Olga Iordan as Zarema, Mikhail Dudko as Khan Girey, and Konstantin Sergeyev as Vaslav.

paragraph_text: The Maid of Orleans (, "Orleanskaja deva") is an opera in 4 acts, 6 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was composed during 1878–1879 to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on several sources: Friedrich Schiller’s "The Maid of Orleans" as translated by Vasily Zhukovsky; Jules Barbier’s "Jeanne d’Arc" ("Joan of Arc"); Auguste Mermet’s libretto for his own opera; and Henri Wallon’s biography of Joan of Arc. Dedicated to conductor Eduard Nápravník, this work represents the composer's closest approach to French grand opera, albeit in the Russian language, notably with its inclusion of a ballet in Act 2.

paragraph_text: Gaîté Parisienne (literally, "Parisian Gaiety") is a ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine to music by Jacques Offenbach orchestrated by Manuel Rosenthal in collaboration with Jacques Brindejonc-Offenbach, the composer's nephew. With a libretto and décor by Comte Étienne de Beaumont and costumes executed by Barbara Karinska, it was first presented by the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo at the Théâtre de Monte Carlo on 5 April 1938.

paragraph_text: Tower Bawher is a 2005 constructivist-style abstract animated short by Theodore Ushev, set to the musical composition "Time, Forward!" by Russian composer Georgy Sviridov.

paragraph_text: Instruments like the duduk, the dhol, the zurna and the kanun are commonly found in Armenian folk music. Artists such as Sayat Nova are famous due to their influence in the development of Armenian folk music. One of the oldest types of Armenian music is the Armenian chant which is the most common kind of religious music in Armenia. Many of these chants are ancient in origin, extending to pre-Christian times, while others are relatively modern, including several composed by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. Whilst under Soviet rule, Armenian classical music composer Aram Khatchaturian became internationally well known for his music, for various ballets and the Sabre Dance from his composition for the ballet Gayane.

paragraph_text: Wenzel Gährich (16 September 1794 in Cerhovice, Bohemia – 15 September 1864 in Berlin) was a German violinist and composer. Gährich composed numerous ballets, especially for Michel François Hoguet and Paul Taglioni. He was the Royal Ballet-music conductor in Berlin.

paragraph_text: Vera de Bosset Stravinsky (January 7, 1889 – September 17, 1982) was a Russian-born American dancer and artist. She is better known as the mistress and, ultimately, second wife of the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who married her in 1940.

Question: Who is the spouse of the Russian composer that created the music for the ballet the firebird?
Answer: Vera de Bosset