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Why Is Petipa Important

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In general, I don't look to classical era ballets for great swathes of dramatic consistency. I do look for technical innovation and development, because in my big book of ballet, that's what Petipa was all about. Everyone's favorite anecdote about Petipa is (or at least the dance historian types I hang out with love to remind you that) he would pick up whole variations and move them around (with their scores intact) from ballet to ballet depending on who was performing and what their special skills were. The element that he seems to have held onto from the original court ballet was the idea of physical virtuosity in the context of what would seem to us today like a variety show -- act after act of special skills, linked together mostly

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