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The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia [think of it as The Royal Ballet Company, whose home is the Royal Opera House!)

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The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia [think of it as The Royal Ballet Company, whose home is the Royal Opera House!)

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Petipa, Marius (1819 - 1910) French dancer and choreographer.

from The Macmillan Encyclopedia

He exercised an important influence on the Russian imperial ballet in St Petersburg, where he worked from 1847 until 1903. He became its chief choreographer in 1862. His many ballets include Don Quixote (1869) and The Sleeping Beauty (1890), on which he collaborated with its composer, Tchaikovsky.

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from Philip's Encyclopaedia
Harvard reference:

Petipa, marius (2008). [Online]. In Philip's encyclopedia. London, UK: Philip's. Available from: https://login.ezproxy.bolton.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/philipency/petipa_marius/0 [Accessed 20 December 2016].

Russian dancer and choreographer. He rose to fame in 1847 as principal dancer at the Maryinski Theatre, St Petersburg, and was choreographer of the Imperial Russian Ballet (1862-1903). His Don Quixote (1869), Sleeping Beauty (1890), and Raymonda (1898) laid the foundations of classical ballet.

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1818-1910

French dancer, ballet-master and choreographer

He was born in Marseilles. After touring France, Spain and the USA as a dancer, he went to St Petersburg in 1847 to join the Imperial Theatre where his father Jean had been a teacher. In 1858 he became the company's second ballet-master, and four years later staged his first ballet, Pharaoh's Daughter, setting the style of ballet à grand spectacle which was to dominate Russian ballet for the rest of the century. In 1869 he became ballet-master, and in the 34 years until his retirement in 1903 he created 46 original ballets, the most famous being Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and Swan Lake (1895).

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Marius Petipa, a French ballet master and choreographer, moved to Russia and started to choreograph, what would become, the most iconic of all ballet repertoire, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker. Petipa created many ballets, but these are the most iconic and well-loved in the 21st century. They define everything that classical ballet is. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Marius Petipa, a French ballet master and choreographer, moved to Russia and started to choreograph, what would become, the most iconic of all ballet repertoire, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker. Petipa created many ballets, but these are the most iconic and well-loved in the 21st century. They define everything that classical ballet is. 

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Russian Ballet, gained its place as the 'world leader of dance', through the works of Marius Petipa. Petipa was a French ballet master and choreographer but moved to Russia to create his iconic works, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Russian Ballet, gained its place as the 'world leader of dance', through the works of Marius Petipa. Petipa was a French ballet master and choreographer but moved to Russia to create his iconic works, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. 

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Until the late 19th century Russia played the role of follower rather than leader in the world of dance. However, all of that changed between 1890 and 1910.
This time span marked the evolution of the 'classical ballet', as can be seen by the works of French born choreographer Marius Petipa (1818-1910).
In May 1847 Petipa arrived in St. Petersburg with his father and two months later made his debut as Principal dancer and ballet master of the Mariinsky ballet company, formerly known as The Imperial Ballet. (Relating to Imperial Rule).
His breakthrough as a choreographer came in 1859 with his production of La Fille du Pharaon (the Pharaoh's daughter).

Re-stagings and original works
Petipa created original works such as Don Quixote (1869) and La Bayadere (1877) and re-staged pre-existing works including Jean Corrali and Jules Perrot's Giselle (1884) and Arthur Saint Leon's Coppelia (1884).
He created Sleeping Beauty (1890), the Nutcracker (1892) and Swan Lake (1895), all with Lev Ivanov. His last great work was Raymonda before he retired in 1903.

Marius Petipa
Petipa moved from France to St. Petersburg, Russia in 1847 with his father who was a renowned ballet master and teacher and was invited to work in Russia.

Marius Petipa: dancer, ballet master and chief choreographer
Ballet Performances
Classical ballets followed a very clear sense of order by the clarity of the Grande Pas de Deux, which almost always has a well-defined structure in Petipa's ballets and consists of five parts: A Grande Pas de Deux characteristically has five parts which include the entrée (introduction), an adagio, two variations (a solo for each dancer) and a coda (conclusion).
The Grande Pas de Deux is seen as the highlight of a ballet.The Grande Pas de Deux allows both male and female dancers to showcase the extremes of their masculine and feminine expression and their virtuoso technique.

Classical Ballet
The term 'classical ballet', which is most often associated with ballets such as The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, place an emphasis on clarity, harmony, symmetry and order. You only have to look at the choreography of the corps de ballet in Swan Lake to see this.
Classical ballet called for the necessity of impeccable ballet technique. Although classical ballets are of course not devoid of emotional content, this aspect usually took second place.

...
At a time when ballet in Western Europe was about to die of exhaustion Marius Petipa was at the beginning of a very exciting choreographic career and is remembered as one of the most influential figures in classical ballet.
Now lets learn what we mean by 'Classical Ballet'.

...
These folk or national dances were 'balleticized'; they were performed with more softness and fluidity than the authentic originals as the feet are stretched and arms rounded as accordance with the rules of the academic ballet technique.

...
The ballerina is of course the focal point of the pas de deux, and the male dancer's job is to ensure he supports her and displays her beauty and grace.
Classical dancing in Petipa's ballets is often contrasted with character dance including folk or national dances which added colour and exoticism that had become popular in the Romantic era.

Petipa as the beginning of the age of Classical ballet ...
The decline of the popularity of Romantic ballet
Petipa Vs Fokine
PLEASE NOTE:
PLEASE NOTE MARIUS PETIPA REVIVED A NUMBER OF BALLET WORKS BY OTHER BALLET MASTERS. MANY OF THESE REVIVALS WOULD GO ON TO BE THE DEFINITIVE VERSIONS FROM WHICH ALL OTHER STAGINGS WOULD BE BASED ON.
Fokine was accepted into the Imperial Ballet School, now the Vaganova Ballet Academy, at the age of 9 (1889) and made his performing debut that same year at the Mariinsky Theatre in the ballet The Talisman under the direction of Marius Petipa. It wouldn't be until 1902 when Fokine was offered a job teaching job at the Mariinsky ballet company that Fokine had a chance to explore his own choreographic possibilities.
Michel Fokine could be described as a renaissance man.
Along with being one of the finest dancers of his generation, he was an accomplished painter, musician, philosopher, and intellectual. It was with this background that he set about creating a revolution in dance.
The radical reforms he attempted to introduce in 1904, and had succeeded in bringing about by 1914, are illustrated in his papers on the subject [see handouts].
The impact of the beginning of a new approach to choreography instigated by the Russian, Mikhail Fokine. (1880-1942)

Fokine as a student of Petipa: Fokine's rejection of Petipa's works and call for reform of ballet
Fokine's call for reform against classical ballet...
Fokine was a well know dancer but the success of his legacy is famed on his work as a choreographer and most notably with the Ballet Russes. Fokine furthermore was part of the 20th century ballet revolution, amongst others who had become disaffected with the conservative classical ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Fokine in particular felt that dancing should be a truly expressive medium and not mere gymnastics and that the corps de ballet should play an integral part of the ballet instead of just a decorative background.

16th + 17th centuries:
Royal Court ballet as a social form of entertainment which included spoken or sung verses to deliver the narrative.
18th century: Noverre called for the reform of ballet performances to tell a story spoken or sung verses and through movement alone. Mime and gesture was created and incorporated into ballet performances.
Early-mid 19th century:
Romantic ballet movement
Mid 19th - early 20th century:
the beginning of the age of the Classical ballet through the works of Marius Petipa. (Focus now shifts out of Europe to Russia. There was a myth that the British couldn't dance).
20th century:
Ballet revolution against the conservative, traditional ballets of Petipa (Ballet Russes: Fokine and his call for reform to discontinue the use of formal mime and gesture).

Recap so far...
1869 - Don Quixote [Petipa] [Classical ballet] [re-working] [Set n Spain]
1877 - La Bayadere [Petipa] [Classical ballet] [original] [Set in India] [Consider society's allure of the Orient]
1884 - Giselle [Petipa] [re-working] [Hybrid of Romantic and classical ballet] , Coppelia [Petipa] [Hybrid of Romantic and Classical ballet] [re-working]
1890 - Sleeping Beauty [Petipa] [Classical ballet] [original]
1892 - Nutcracker [Petipa] [Classical ballet] [original]
1895 - Swan Lake [Petipa] [Classical ballet] [original]
1903 - Raymonda [Petipa] [Classical ballet] [original]

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Until the late 19th century Russia played the role of follower rather than leader in the world of dance. However, all of that changed between 1890 and 1910. This time span marked the evolution of the 'classical ballet', as can be seen by the works of French born choreographer Marius Petipa (1818-1910).