Les Aventures de Pélée

Les Aventures de Pélée (The Adventures of Peleus) (a.k.a. Les Noces de Thétis et Pélée) is a ballet in three acts and five scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus, with additional music adapted from the airs of works by Léo Delibes. Libretto by Marius Petipa, derived from the Greek Myth concerning the Goddess Thetis and the circumstances surrounding her marriage, arranged by Jupiter (or Zeus), to the mortal Peleus.

First presented by the Imperial Ballet on January 30 [O.S. January 18] 1876 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kammeny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Principal Dancers - Eugeniia Sokolova (as the Goddess Thetis), Pavel Gerdt (as Peleus), Lyubov Savitskaya (as Cupid), Mariia Gorshenkova (as Venus), Christian Johansson (as Jupiter), and Lev Ivanov (as Adonis).

Revivals/Restagings

• The ballet was revived by Marius Petipa as Les Noces de Thétis et Pélée in 1 act/3 scenes by Petipa for the Imperial Ballet, with Riccardo Drigo making additions and revising the Minkus/Delibes score. It was first presented for the Imperial court at the Theatre of Peterhof, 9 August [O.S. 28 July] 1897. Principal Dancers - Mathilde Kschessinskaya (as the Goddess Thetis), Pavel Gerdt (as Peleus), Olga Preobrajenskaya (as Cupid), Olga Leonova (as Venus), Lyubov Roslavleva (as Flora), Alexei Bulgakov (as Jupiter), and Sergei Legat (as Adonis)

Notes

• Petipa's 1897 revival was mounted for a gala performance at Peterhof in honor of a state visit from Kaiser Wilhelm II.