Alina A. Tkacheva

The article deals with the nature of the choreographer's appeal to the themes of the 18th century, which rarely becomes the subject of scientific research, the features of his work with the material in the conditions of a recognizable (largely acquired the so-called "canonical" appearance in the course of his activity) stage embodiment of a ballet performance of the second half of the 19th century with its inherent features - the structure of the action, operating with complex choreographic forms, great diversity in the part of the main performer. In the course of studying the creative heritage of Petipa, a hypothesis is revealed about the choreographer as one of the creators of the theatrical myth of the 18th century, who shaped his stage image among the public, which later became generally accepted, develops the very principle of aesthetic perception of history in the auditorium. The problem of recognition, which is especially relevant for the ballet theater, is investigated, which allows the viewer to perceive what he sees, correlating the impression he received from the performance with the well-established image of the past era that exists in his mind, characteristic of a person in the second half of the 19th century, i.e. separated from the epoch under consideration by a sufficient temporal distance. For the choreographer, brought up in the French tradition, as well as for his Russian audience, a sense of historical authenticity is combined in one production with "variations on a rococo theme."

The author analyzes Petipa's productions, in one way or another correlated with the historical material of the 18th century, created over four decades from the early one-act ballet The Parisian Market (1859) to one of the last creations, the pantomime The Heart of the Marquise (1902).

The article studies the cases of a choreographer's appealing to the topics of the 18th century. This issue rarely becomes the subject of scientific research to cover the features of Petipa's work with the material that was widely recognizable and had its stage representation typical of the second half of the 19th century. These ballet performances included all the inherent features, such as the structure of the action, operating with complex choreographic forms, large diversity in the part of the main performer. Later the choreographer's activity resulted in elaborating the traditional 'canonical' representation. The analysis of Petipa's contribution to ballet theater led to proposing a hypothesis that the choreographer was one of the creators of the 18th-century theatrical myth and developed the very principle of aesthetic perception of history among the audience: the stage image he shaped later became generally accepted. The article studies the notion of recognition, which is especially relevant for the ballet theater. It allows the viewers to perceive what they see and to correlate the received impressions with the well-established images of the past typically evoked in a representative of the second half of the 19th century, i.e., isolated from the epoch by a sufficient temporal distance. For the choreographer brought up in the French tradition, as well as for their Russian audience, a sense of historical authenticity is combined in one production with 'variations on a rococo theme'. The authors analyse Petipa's performances created over four decades, which inevitably rely on historical materials of the 18th century, from the early one-act ballet "The Parisian Market" (1859) to one of the last creations, the pantomime "The Heart of the Marquise" (1902).