The Sleeping Beauty in the Art of Leon Bakst: Genesis of Biographical Myth

The present article focuses on analyzing of «Tchaikovsky at the Russian Ballet» essay by L. S. Bakst, which was published on the eve of the premiere of The Sleeping Princess ballet in 1921 at the Alhambra Theatre, London, and which was included into the souvenir programme for the said performance. The author’s research interest is concentrated on the first part of the essay – L. S. Bakst’s recollection of his being invited to the Mariinsky Theatre for the dress rehearsal of The Sleeping Beauty ballet in 1890, of his being acquainted with P. I. Tchaikovsky and I. A. Vsevolozhsky, and also of the providential influence of this performance onto determining the artist’s creative futurity. The author calls into question the indicated reminiscing by L. S. Bakst and comes to the conclusion that the artist constructed a compelling, but questionable, memory by mythologizing some details of the past. Within working on the research, the author identifies incorrect dating of two L. S. Bakst’s photographs. In the appendix to the article, the author offers a translation of the corresponding part of the essay from English.

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