778836 Marius Petipa, c.1855 (b/w photo) by Russian Photographer, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Marius Petipa (1818??910), for 50 years chief choreographer of the Imperial Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre where he trained all the dancers in the classical repertoire. He served under 3 Emperors and staged over 60 ballets. His productions were sumptuous, with enormous casts, consisting of virtuoso set pieces interrupted by large formal processions. He excelled at organising vast forces into an elegant and coherent sequence, but was considered outmoded by the end of his career.); Russian, out of copyright.