The FireBird

Ballet: The Firebird

Original Choreo: by Michel Fokine

Famously Choreographed: George Balanchine

Composer: Igor Stravinsky

The Firebird is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company. The original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who collaborated with Alexandre Benois on a scenario based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner. Its premiere at the Opéra de Paris on 25 June 1910 was an immediate success, catapulting Stravinsky to international fame.

The ballet was not only Stravinsky's professional breakthrough, but also the beginning of his partnership with Diaghilev, which would subsequently produce Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, Pulcinella, Mavra, and Les noces.