The Daughter of the Snows (AKA Snegurochka) or "La Fille des Neiges" is a "fantastic ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

" in 3 acts/5 scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa

Marius Petipa

Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....

 and music by Ludwig Minkus

Ludwig Minkus

Ludwig Minkus a.k.a. Léon Fyodorovich Minkus was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violin virtuoso and teacher.Minkus is most noted for the music he composed while serving as Ballet Composer of the St...

. Libretto by Marius Petipa, derived from the Russian fairy-tale Snegurochka

Snegurochka

Snegurochka , or The Snow Maiden, is a character in Russian fairy tales.In one story, she is the daughter of Spring and Frost, and yearns for the companionship of mortal humans. She grows to like a shepherd named Lel, but her heart is unable to know love...

by Alexander Ostrovsky, which the writer based on a Norwegian legend.

The ballet premiered on January 7, 1879, at the St. Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kammeny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia by the Imperial Ballet

Mariinsky Ballet

The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...

.

The story of the ballet was based on the Russian Fairy-tale Snegurochka

Snegurochka

Snegurochka , or The Snow Maiden, is a character in Russian fairy tales.In one story, she is the daughter of Spring and Frost, and yearns for the companionship of mortal humans. She grows to like a shepherd named Lel, but her heart is unable to know love...

, which also served as the subject for the play The Snow Maiden by Ostrovsky with music by Tchaikovsky in 1873. The subject was also used by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...

 for his opera of the same title in 1881.

Principal Dancers: Ekaterina Vazem

Ekaterina Vazem

Ekaterina Vazem was a Russian prima ballerina. She was made famous for first dancing the role of Nikiya in 1877 Marius Petipa's ballet, La Bayadère...

(as the Snow Maiden).