The Magic Mirror (ballet) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Le Miroir Magique
Set design by Aleksandr Golovin
Choreographed by	Marius Petipa
Composed by	Arseny Koreshchenko
Based on	Grimm's Snow White Alexander Pushkin's The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights
Date of premiere	22 February [O.S. 9 February] 1903 Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
Designs by	Aleksandr Golovin (scenery) Guria Longuinovna Teliakovsky (costumes)
Type	Ballet-féerie

The Magic Mirror (French: Le Miroir Magique) is a special kind of ballet called a ballet-féerie. It has four acts and seven scenes. The famous choreographer Marius Petipa created the dances, and Arseny Koreshchenko wrote the music.

The story for the ballet comes from two well-known tales: Snow White by the Brothers Grimm and The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights by Alexander Pushkin. The ballet first opened on 22 February [O.S. 9 February] 1903 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Story Behind the Ballet

The Magic Mirror was the very last ballet that Marius Petipa ever staged. It was also one of his most talked-about works.

A Difficult Start

Prince Serge Volkonsky asked Petipa to create this ballet in 1902. But soon after, Prince Volkonsky had to leave his job as director. This happened after a problem with the main ballerina, Mathilde Kschessinskaya.

Because of this, The Magic Mirror was put on stage by Colonel Vladimir Teliakovsky. He was a big rival of Petipa. Petipa wrote in his memoirs that Teliakovsky wanted to remove him from his position as ballet master. Petipa believed Teliakovsky even tried to make his last ballet fail on purpose.

A Tricky Performance

The first performances of The Magic Mirror were not good. The stage designs were terrible, and the costumes were not even finished. People in the audience laughed at them.

The ballet was a complete disaster. People booed and shouted during the shows after the first night. Even though it was performed a couple more times in 1904, it never became a regular part of the Imperial Ballet's shows.

Success in Moscow

However, The Magic Mirror found a new home in Moscow. Alexander Gorsky brought it back to the stage there. It was performed 36 times between 1905 and 1911, which was a good run!

Even with all the bad reviews for the original show, no one ever criticized Petipa's choreography. People still thought his dances were amazing.

Petipa himself believed that the poor staging was part of a plan against him. He wrote that he felt something was being plotted against him and his ballet. He thought the ballerina Mathilde Kschessinskaya was involved because he hadn't given a speech at her father's benefit show.

Main Characters and Original Dancers

Here are some of the main dancers who performed in the first show of The Magic Mirror:

The Story of the Ballet

This is the story of The Magic Mirror, based on the original script.

ACT 1 – A Garden at the Palace

Scene 1

Gardeners are busy decorating the garden. They are making baskets and garlands of flowers for the Queen.

Scene 2

The King and Queen arrive with their court. The Queen is young and beautiful, but the King is old. He tries hard to please her. The gardeners bring the Queen her baskets and garlands.

Scene 3

The King calls for merchants who sell lace, crystal, and jewels. Among their items is a beautiful 'magic' mirror. This mirror can show the most beautiful woman in the whole kingdom. The Queen looks into it and sees herself. She is very happy, and the King buys the mirror for her. The Queen is so pleased that she invites everyone to dance.

After a dance called the Mazurka, the King orders the mirror to be taken to the Queen's room. The Queen looks into the mirror again and asks, "Am I the most beautiful of all?" But this time, the mirror shows the image of the Princess. The Queen is shocked and upset. Trumpets are heard in the distance.

Scene 4

The Princess and her fiancé, the Prince, arrive with their friends. The King is overjoyed to see them. The Queen secretly feels jealous because the Princess's face is the one the mirror showed. The Princess's beauty is greater than her own.

At the end of a dance, the Queen, very upset, asks the mirror again, "Who is the most beautiful of all?" Once more, the mirror shows the beautiful Princess. This time, the Queen faints from anger and jealousy. Everyone rushes to help her.

ACT 2

Scene 1 – A Park

The curtain rises, and the Queen is on stage, staring at the mirror. She thinks to herself, "As long as the Princess is here, I won't be the most beautiful. She must be removed!"

Scene 2

The Queen calls for the Princess's nurse. She tells the nurse, "Listen carefully: you must go into the forest with the Princess and get rid of her!" The nurse is horrified and begs, "Please have pity on the young Princess, whom I love so much!"

"No!" the Queen replies. "There will be no mercy. She must disappear, and you must obey me. If not, you will be punished." She gives the nurse a dagger.

Scene 3

The Princess arrives. She has come to invite the Queen to her wedding. The Queen hides her jealousy and acts kindly. She agrees to attend the wedding. Then, the Queen asks the Princess to go into the nearby forest with her nurse to pick forget-me-nots, which the Queen loves. The Princess is happy to please the Queen. She kisses the Queen's hand and leaves with the nurse.

Scene 4

As soon as the Princess leaves, the Queen goes to the mirror and thinks, "Now I will be the most beautiful of all."

Scene 5 – A Deep Forest

The Princess enters with her nurse. The nurse is trembling because she has to obey the Queen. The Princess looks around and says, "This forest frightens me. There are no forget-me-nots here. Why did you bring me so far from the castle?"

"The Queen commanded me," the nurse answers. "Why?" asks the Princess. "She told me to bring you to this forest and to harm you!" "Me? Why? What have I done?" "You are more beautiful than she is," the nurse sobs. "And you must harm me for that? No, that's not possible! You wouldn't do such a terrible thing!" "It must be so," the nurse replies, crying and holding the dagger. The Princess pleads on her knees, "Have pity on me, on my youth!" The nurse is deeply moved. She throws down the dagger, hugs the Princess, and kisses her. She says, "Stay here. Try to find your way out of this terrible forest." They pray together. Then the nurse kisses her again and says, "May the Lord protect you." She runs away like someone who has lost their mind.

Scene 6

The Princess calls for help, but it's no use. The nurse is too far away to hear her. Trembling, the Princess tries to find her way, walking through the trees, and disappears into the forest.

Scene 7

Slowly, the stage fills with dryads, who are forest spirits gathered to have fun.

Scene 8

After the dryads dance, a curtain rises at the back of the stage. The Queen's shadow appears, angrily threatening the Princess's nurse for not harming the Princess. The nurse falls at the Queen's feet and begs for forgiveness. The Queen roughly pushes her away. Then, the Queen orders her maid to dress her in peasant clothes. She plans to give the Princess a poisoned apple herself. The Princess's maid dresses her. The vision disappears.

Scene 9 – Huts and a Cave on Rocky Hills

Gnomes come out of a cave and down from the hills. Some carry bundles of wood, others dig paths in the rocks.

Scene 10

The Princess rushes in, scared, because she can't find her way out of the forest. Suddenly, gnomes surround her. They are fascinated by her and try to calm her. The Elder of the Gnomes leads her into his hut. There, she is dressed in a gown made of tree leaves.

Scene 11

The gnomes have a happy dance.

Scene 12

The Princess appears in her leaf dress, sparkling with dew-drops. The gnomes ask her to dance, and she agrees. The gnomes stand in groups and tap on their anvils, making music for the Princess's dance. After her dance, the Elder of the Gnomes takes the Princess into the hut. He tells her not to let anyone in while he is away. The gnomes leave for work with their tools.

Scene 13

The Queen, dressed as a peasant girl and carrying a basket of apples, quietly appears and knocks on the hut door.

Scene 14

The Princess comes out and feels sorry for the peasant girl. She gives her some bread. To show thanks, the Queen offers a poisoned apple. The Princess first refuses, then accepts it. She takes a bite and, stunned, falls down as if lifeless. The Queen is pleased with what she has done. She doesn't notice that she has dropped her handkerchief. Seeing the gnomes returning, she runs away.

Scene 15

The gnomes return happily, but they are horrified when they see the Princess. The Elder of the Gnomes finds the handkerchief and shows it to the others. It's proof that someone else was there.

ACT 3 – The Great Forest

Scene 1

The Prince appears, searching for the Princess. He is sad, sorrowful, and tired. He sits next to a large tree to rest and falls asleep.

Scene 2

The Prince dreams. Sunlight shines, and sunbeams dance.

Scene 3

The sun slowly sets, and the moon appears, surrounded by stars.

Scene 4

A grand dance of the Princess, joined by gentle breezes (zephyrs) and stars.

Scene 5

The Prince (or his dream-self) wants to hug the Princess. They rush towards each other, but they cannot touch. Just as they are about to embrace, darkness falls, and everything disappears.

Scene 6

The Prince wakes up, still thinking about his dream. He tries to figure out where he is in the forest. He looks around, asking himself, "Which way should I go to get back to the castle?"

He climbs the tree. As he does, a valley appears in the distance, and the sky is full of stars. From the top of the tree, the Prince sees the castle. He climbs down and leaves in the direction of the castle.

ACT 4

Scene 1

The gnomes carry the Princess in a glass coffin covered with flowers. They place the coffin deep inside a cave. The gnomes leave, praying. One gnome stays to guard, but then falls asleep.

Scene 2

A dance of everlasting flowers.

Scene 3

The Elder of the Gnomes comes forward. Behind him are the King, Queen, Prince, nurse, and the King's guards. The gnome shows them where the Princess is resting. The Queen hides her happiness. The King is sad. The nurse is crying. The Prince is heartbroken when he sees the lifeless Princess. He goes to the grating and breaks it, and then the coffin. At that moment, the apple rolls out in front of the Prince.

Scene 4

The Princess comes back to life! The Queen stands in shock, as if turned to stone. Everyone else shows great joy. The Princess stands up (she is wrapped in a gold cloth). She glides along like a ghost as the cloth falls away. She sees the Prince, who rushes to hug her.

The Queen is horrified. The King is excited. The Prince is delighted, and everyone is filled with joy.

The gnome hands the King the handkerchief. It is proof of who gave the Princess the poisoned apple. The King recognizes the Queen's handkerchief and shows it to her, asking, "Is this your handkerchief?"

"Yes," the Queen answers, trembling with anger and fear. "I don't understand how this gnome got it." "Was it you who gave her the poisoned apple?" "No... no..." In her fury, she cannot say another word.

The King asks his daughter who gave her the apple. The Prince also begs her to tell everything. The Princess answers, "A poor peasant girl who was carrying a basket of apples."

At that moment, the nurse, crying, can no longer keep the secret. She starts to tell everything that happened, but the Princess stops her and finishes the story. The King is terribly angry and threatens the Queen with prison. Suddenly, the Queen goes mad. In a fit of insanity, she confesses everything she ordered and then collapses.

Scene 5 – A Hall in the Castle

The Prince and Princess are engaged to be married. In this final scene, there are many different character dances and classical ballet dances.