The Beauty of Lebanon, or The Mountain Spirit (aka La Belle du Liban, ou L'Esprit des montagnes or Livanskaya Krasavitsa, ili Gorni Dukh) is a Fantastic 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 3 Acts-7 Scenes, 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....

, and music by Cesare Pugni

Cesare Pugni

Cesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...

. Libretto by E. Rappoport and Marius Petipa.

First presented 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 December 12/24 (Julian

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...

/Gregorian calendar

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...

 dates), 1863 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Principal Dancers - Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa

Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa

Mariia Sergeyevna Surovshchikova-Petipa , was prima ballerina to the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres and wife of the noted choreographer Marius Petipa.- Life :...

 (as the Mountain Spirit), Timofei Stukolkin (as Beshir)