Tchaikovsky
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Lev Ivanov (1834–1901)

Lev Ivanov

Russian dancer, ballet-master, choreographer, and teacher (b. 18 February/2 March 1834 in Moscow; d. 11/24 December 1901 in Saint Petersburg), born Lev Ivanovich Ivanov (Лев Иванович Иванов, Lev Ivanovič Ivanov).

Ivanov was trained at the Saint Petersburg Theatre College and joined the corps de ballet of the Mariinskii Theatre in 1850, though not graduating until 1852. As a character dancer he was much admired by the great Danish choreographer August Bournonville (1805–1879). Ivanov was appointed régisseur at the Mariinskii Theatre in 1882, and second ballet-master in 1885 under Marius Petipa. He choreographed the dances for the posthumous première of Aleksandr Borodin's opera Prince Igor (1890) and for Nikolai Rimskii-Korsakov's opera Mlada (1892). In 1892, Ivanov also staged the first production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker when Petipa was taken ill.

For a Tchaikovsky Memorial Matinée at the Mariinskii Theatre on 17 February/1 March 1894 Ivanov choreographed Act II of Swan Lake, and this was such a success that Petipa decided to stage the whole ballet, which had been dropped from the repertory of the Imperial Theatres after its first two productions (at the Moscow Bol'shoi Theatre in 1877 and 1882). The famous Petipa-Ivanov production of Swan Lake was given at the Mariinskii Theatre on 15/27 January 1895, with Acts I and III choreographed by Petipa, and the two "white acts", Acts II and IV, by Ivanov. This was Ivanov's supreme achievement in ballet, and subsequent productions of Swan Lake in Russia have always sought to be faithful to the incredible lyrical beauty of his choreography for the white acts. As a ballet-master of great musical sensitivity, Ivanov's work was in high demand at the Mariinskii Theatre, and he collaborated with Petipa again in the 1894 production of The Awakening of Flora (with music by Drigo). However, he always felt that his talents had not been duly recognized, and he eventually even died in poverty.