The Fairy Doll 01 by L.Bakst, 1903

Mperial ballet costume design by leon bakst for the french doll in the ballet 'the fairy doll. ' st petersburg, 1903. The only ballet produced by the legat brothers, both soloists with the imperial ballet, was a retake on the old viennese work of the same name. In structure it was akin to 2-act ballets like giselle, just shorter, with a realistic first scene (toyshop) and a fantastic second (dolls come alive). The action was fashionably shifted from vienna to petersburgs nevsky prospekt. Additional music was taken from cesare pugni (for the polka variation of the french doll) and, perhaps less obvious, from the american moreau-gottschalk for the negro duet. However, the piece that would prove most resilient to time was riccardo drigo's especially composed pas de trois for the eponymous doll and two pierrots. The legat brothers created this comical trio, in which the pierrots play suitor to the ballerina-doll, for themselves and matilda kschessinskaya. Date: 1903.