Petipa, Marius

(born March 11, 1818, Marseille, Fr.—died July 14, 1910, Gurzuf, Ukraine, Russian Empire) French-born Russian dancer and choreographer. He received his early training from his ballet-master father and was a principal dancer in France, Belgium, and Spain before joining the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1847. There he also created several ballets, including , which led to his appointment as chief choreographer in 1869. By his retirement in 1903, he had produced more than 60 ballets for the imperial theatres in St. Petersburg and Moscow—including (1869), (1872), (1890), (1895), and (1900)—which formed the core of the classical Russian repertoire.

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