The Awakening of Flora (a.k.a Flora's Awakening, or incorrectly as The Flower's Reawakening or The Reawakening of the Flowers) is an anacreonic

Anacreontics

Anacreontics are verses in a meter used by the Greek poet Anacreon in his poems dealing with love and wine. His later Greek imitators took up the same themes and used the Anacreontic meter...

 ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

in one act, with choreography by Marius Petipa

Marius Petipa

Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....

, music by Riccardo Drigo

Riccardo Drigo

Riccardo Eugenio Drigo , a.k.a. Richard Drigo was an Italian composer of ballet music and Italian Opera, a theatrical conductor, and a pianist....

, and a libretto written by Petipa and Lev Ivanov

Lev Ivanov

Lev Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet....

.

The ballet was first presented at a court performance at Petergof in honor of the wedding of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia

Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia was a daughter of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and the elder of Tsar Nicholas II two sisters. She married her cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikailovich of Russia, with whom she had seven children....

 to the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia

Grand Duke Alexander Mihailovich of Russia, Александр Михайлович Aleksandr Mihailovits was a dynast of the Russian Empire, a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in-law of Emperor Nicholas II, and an advisor of the said Emperor.-Biography: Alexander was born the son of Grand Duke...

 by the Imperial Ballet

Mariinsky Ballet

The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...

 on . The principal dancers were Mathilde Kschessinskaya as Flora, Anna Johansson as Aurora, Olga Leonova as Diana, Nikolai Legat as Zephyr, Pavel Gerdt

Pavel Gerdt

Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt, also known as Paul Gerdt , was the Premier Danseur Noble of the Imperial Ballet, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, and the Mariinsky Theatre for 56 years, making his debut in 1860, and retiring in 1916...

 as Apollo, Alexander Gorsky as Aquilon, Vera Trefilova

Vera Trefilova

Vera Trefilova was a Russian dancer and teacher.She studied at the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg with Ekaterina Vazem and graduated in 1894. She later studied with Evgenia Sokolova, Nikolai Legat, Catarina Beretta and Enrico Cecchetti...

 as Amour/Cupid, and Claudia Kulichevskaya as Hebé.

The work was given a second premiere for the general public on at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre with the same cast. This performance was a farewell benefit for the ballerina, Anna Johansson (daughter of the great teacher and dancer, Christian Johansson

Christian Johansson

Christian Johansson was a teacher, choreographer and coaching balletmaster for the Russian Imperial Ballet. Born Pehr Christian Johansson in Stockholm, Sweden, he moved to Russia as a dancer and stayed on as one of the most important teachers in Russian history...

}.

Revivals and restagings

This work was revived by Askhat Galiamov for the West Australian Ballet

West Australian Ballet

The West Australian Ballet is the premier ballet dance company of Western Australia and is based in Perth at His Majesty's Theatre, Western Australia. The company was founded in 1952 by Madame Kira Bousloff and is one of the oldest ballet companies in Australia. Artistic directors have included...

 under the title, Le Réveil de Flore. It was first presented at the Quarry Amphitheatre

Quarry amphitheatre

The Quarry Amphitheatre is an outdoor venue located close to the ocean in Floreat, Western Australia. It has a sprung wooden stage and changing facilities for around 80 performers. It was officially opened on 9 November 1986 and is operated by the Town of Cambridge.The amphitheatre is located in...

 during the festival called Ballet at the Quarry, on February 14, 2006, in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Louise Chalwell danced the role of Flora.

The Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet presented a complete reconstruction of the original 1894 production. The choreographic reconstruction was supervised by Sergei Vikharev, and the threesome of Pavel Bubelnikov, Lyudmila Sveshnikova, and Elena Belyaeva restored Drigo's score. Choreography was restored from the Stepanov Choreographic Notation of the Sergeyev Collection

Sergeyev Collection

The Sergeyev Collection is a collection of choreographic notation, music, photos, décor and costume designs, theatre programs and various other materials relating to the repertory of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia at the turn of the 20th century...

. This modern production was first presented by the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet during the VIIth International Ballet Festival on April 12, 2007, at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. The principals were Eugenia Obratzova as Flora, Xenia Ostreikovskaya as Aurora, Svetlana Ivanova as Diana, Vladimir Shkliarov as Zephyr, Maxim Chaschegorov as Apollo, Valeria Martynyuk as Cupid, and Daria Sukhorukova as Hebé.

Libretto

Tableau 1 — It is night. Flora, the goddess of Spring, is deep asleep with her nymphs; Diana, the goddess of Moon, guards their peace. With the approach of dawn, a freshness is felt in the air. Diana hides in the clouds.

Tableau 2 — Aquilon, the northern wind, rushes stormily over the locale; his cold breath of wind awakens Flora and forces her to seek refuge in the foliage. The appearance of chilling dew brings Flora to despair, and she implores Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, to help them.

Tableau 3 — Aurora consoles Flora with tender caresses and announces that Apollo, the god of day, who will end their sufferings, is following behind her. Aurora, Flora, and her nymphs perform a waltz.

Tableau 4 — With the appearance of resplendent Apollo, everything becomes animated. Smitten with the beauty of Flora, Apollo kisses her. At his call, Zephyr, the god of the gentle west wind, flies to his beloved Flora's embrace. He is followed by Cupid and her little amours. "You must be his helpmate," Apollo tells her, "It is the will of the gods." Everyone is delighted; Cupid, amours, and nymphs rejoice over the lover's happiness. A classical Pas d’action is performed.

Tableau 5 — Mercury, messenger of the gods, announces Hebé, the goddess of youth, and Ganymede, cupbearer to the gods. They present Flora and Zephyr a cup of nectar and proclaim that Jupiter has given them eternal youth.

Tableau 6 — A procession. The chariot of Bacchus and Ariadne is accompanied by bacchantes, satyrs, fauns, sylvans, and others. A Grand pas is performed by all assembled, followed by a rousing finale.

Apotheosis — Olympus is revealed; Jupiter appears, Juno, Neptune, Vulcan, Minerva, Ceres, Mars, Pluto, Proserpina, Venus, and others.

Dances and scenes

• №01 Introduction
• №02 L’apparition de Diane —nocturne
• №03 L’apparition d’Aquilon
• №04 La rosée — scherzo
• №05 L’apparition d’Aurore
• №06 Valse
• №07-a L’apparition d’Apollon
• №07-b Entrée de Zéphyr
• №07-c Entrée de Cupidon — pizzicato
• №08 Pas d’action

a. Adage

b. Variation de Zéphyr

c. Variation d’Hébé

d. Variation de Flore

e. Grande valse

• №09 L’arrivée de Mercure, Ganymède et Hébé
• №10 Grand cortège — bacchanale
• №11 Grand pas
• №12 Galop générale
• №13 Apothéose – La révélation d’Olympe

Sources

• St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres. Celebration at Peterhof, Ezhegodnik Imperatorskikh Teatrov 1893/1894, 426-9.

• Mariinsky Ballet. Souvenir program for the reconstruction of Petipa's The Awakening of Flora (from the VII International Ballet Festival) at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia.

• Petipa, Marius. The Diaries of Marius Petipa. Trans. and Ed. Lynn Garafola. Published in Studies in Dance History. 3.1 (Spring 1992).

• Petipa, Marius. Memuary Mariusa Petipa solista ego imperatorskogo velichestva i baletmeistera imperatorskikh teatrov (The Memoirs of Marius Petipa, Soloist of His Imperial Majesty and Ballet Master of the Imperial Theatres).

• Petipa, Marius. Lilian Moore, ed. and translator. Russian Ballet Master: The Memoirs of Marius Petipa.

• Wiley, Roland John. Dances from Russia: An Introduction to the Sergeyev Collection, Published in The Harvard Library Bulletin, 24.1 January 1976.

• Wiley, Roland John. The Life and Ballets of Lev Ivanov.