Roxana, the Beauty of Montenegro
Roxana, the Beauty of Montenegro is a fantastic ballet in four acts, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Ludwig Minkus. Libretto by Sergei Khudekov and Marius Petipa.
First presented by the Imperial Ballet on January 29/February 11, 1878 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, with Eugeniia Sokolova as Roxana.
The ballet historian Konstantin Skalkovsky gives an account in his study of late 19th century ballet in St. Petersburg of how Minkus' "Grand Marche" from the third act of this ballet "was the favorite piece of Tsar Alexander II, who in general did not love music. Several units of our troops stormed the Plevna to the music of this march."
