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Ballets Russes: Petrouchka: Carnaval: Aurora’s Wedding (c.1936)
Title:
Ballets Russes: Petrouchka: Carnaval: Aurora’s Wedding (c.1936)
NFSA ID
326127
Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe – shown here on tour in Australia during 1936-37 – revolutionised ballet by giving equal emphasis to dance, music, drama and design.
Three puppet figures – the Moor (Thadee Slavinsky), the Ballerina Doll (Helene Kirsova) and Petrouchka (Leon Woizikovsky) – suddenly come to life and dance onto the stage. They perform a Russian-style dance amongst the crowd at the fairground.
This famous Russian ballet, with music by Igor Stravinsky, takes place in a Russian fairground setting. This clip shows the opening scenes of the ballet and we witness a small but sprightly Helene Kirsova in a role for which she was much admired.
Curator
Poppy De Souza
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.