Ballet
The Pharaoh's Daughter
This is one of those gloriously over-the-top Imperial spectacles that basically launched Petipa's career. Think opium dreams, ancient Egypt, and a cast of what feels like a thousand. It mostly vanished for decades until Pierre Lacotte brought it roaring back for the Bolshoi in 2000.
Fast facts
- Composer
- Cesare Pugni
- Choreographer
- Marius Petipa (1862); famously reconstructed and restaged by Pierre Lacotte for the Bolshoi in 2000
- Premiere
- 1862, St Petersburg
- Structure
- Three acts (with a prologue and epilogue)
- Running time
- About 2 hours 30 minutes
The story
An English traveler shelters from a storm in a pyramid, smokes opium, and dreams himself back into ancient Egypt as a nobleman named Taor. He falls for Aspicia, the Pharaoh's daughter, and the two flee a rival king through a wild series of adventures that even includes a journey to the bottom of the Nile. He wakes to find it was all a hallucination, but the romance and the sheer visual scale are the whole point.
What The Pharaoh's Daughter is famous for
- Petipa's first major full-length hit
- Enormous Imperial-era spectacle
- Pierre Lacotte's 2000 Bolshoi reconstruction
- The underwater Nile scene
Companies that perform The Pharaoh's Daughter
The Pharaoh's Daughter is in the repertoire of companies including Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet.
Good to know
Frequently Asked Questions
Why don't you see this one very often?
It fell out of the repertory for most of the 20th century and needs a huge cast and lavish production. The Lacotte reconstruction brought it back but it is still relatively rare.
Is the whole thing a dream?
Pretty much. The Egyptian romance is framed as an opium dream, which is a handy excuse for all the fantastical staging.
Who is it by?
The original is Marius Petipa to music by Cesare Pugni from 1862. The modern staging people know is Pierre Lacotte's reconstruction for the Bolshoi.
Who composed The Pharaoh's Daughter?
The Pharaoh's Daughter was composed by Cesare Pugni.
How long is The Pharaoh's Daughter?
The Pharaoh's Daughter runs about 2 hours 30 minutes.