Sergeyev Collection

At the end of the nineteenth century, the dancer Vladimir Stepanov developed his own method of choreographic notation, which he detailed in his book L'Alphabet des Mouvements du Corps Humain.

Stepanov staged Le Rêve du peintre from notations he prepared from consultations with Christian Johansson, who had danced the principal male role.

Based on the success of these demonstrations, the proposed notation project was approved and Stepanov soon set to work documenting the repertory of the Imperial Ballet.

After the revolution of 1917, Nicholas Sergeyev left Russia with all of the notations as well as a great deal of music and other materials relating to the documented works.

Sergeyev utilized the notation to mount Giselle for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1924, with the ballerina Olga Spessivtseva in the title role and Anton Dolin as Albrecht.

This was not only the first time that the Parisian ballet had danced Giselle since the 1860s, but also the first production outside of Russia to include the old choreographic text as preserved under Petipa and his predecessors in St. Petersburg.

Sergeyev also began staging works with the aid of the notations in 1942 for the International Ballet, a British touring company founded in 1941 by the ballerina Mona Inglesby.