Uploaded October 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
‘The Red Poppy’ was created in 1927 as the first Soviet ballet with a modern revolutionary theme. It is not titled a ‘red’ poppy for nothing. And there was even a Soviet stamp commemorating this politically correct ballet!
It is a ballet in three acts and eight tableaus with an apotheosis, having a score by Reinhold Glière and libretto by Mikhail Kurilko.
In 1957, Vasily Tikhomirov and Mikhail Kurilko staged an expanded version of the ballet, now called ‘The Red Flower’ to avoid the association with opium. The number of tableaux was increased to 13. It was first performed on 24 November 1957 in the Bolshoi Theatre.
Here we see Galina Ulanova in a pas de deux, and including the corps de ballet, in a small section of the work.
Enjoy!
‘The Red Poppy’ was created in 1927 as the first Soviet ballet with a modern revolutionary theme. It is not titled a ‘red’ poppy for nothing. And there was even a Soviet stamp commemorating this politically correct ballet!
It is a ballet in three acts and eight tableaus with an apotheosis, having a score by Reinhold Glière and libretto by Mikhail Kurilko.
In 1957, Vasily Tikhomirov and Mikhail Kurilko staged an expanded version of the ballet, now called ‘The Red Flower’ to avoid the association with opium. The number of tableaux was increased to 13. It was first performed on 24 November 1957 in the Bolshoi Theatre.
Here we see Galina Ulanova in a pas de deux, and including the corps de ballet, in a small section of the work.
Enjoy!
![Monica Mason as Carabosse in ‘The Sleeping Beauty [Royal Ballet, 1978]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Mg5VUS5Zn54/mqdefault.jpg "Monica Mason as Carabosse in ‘The Sleeping Beauty [Royal Ballet, 1978]
Monica Mason as Carabosse in ‘The Sleeping Beauty [Royal Ballet, 1978]")
