The Red Poppy
| The Red Poppy | |
|---|---|
Scene from The Red Poppy, a drawing on a Soviet postage stamp | |
| Native title | Красный мак |
| Choreographer | (Acts 1 and 3): Lev Laschiline (Act 2): Vasily Tikhomirov |
| Music | Reinhold Glière |
| Premiere | 14 June 1927 Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Original ballet company | Bolshoi Ballet |
| Characters | Taï-Choa Soviet Captain Li-Chan-Fou Chinese Conjurer Harbormaster of the Port Ma Lichen (1949 staging) Nüwa (2010 staging) |
| Design | Mikhail Kurilko |
| Setting | 1920s-era Republican China |
The Red Poppy (Russian: Красный мак, romanized: Krasniy mak) or sometimes The Red Flower (Russian: Красный цветок, romanized: Krasniy tsvetok) is a ballet in three acts and eight tableaux with an apotheosis, with a score written by Reinhold Glière and libretto by Mikhail Kurilko. This ballet was created in 1927 as the first Soviet ballet with a modern revolutionary theme. Possibly the most famous dance from this ballet is the Sailors Dance, sometimes referred to as the "Russian Sailors Dance" (although it is described as "Dance of the Sailors from the Soviet Ship" in the score and libretto). It is this musical selection for which Glière is perhaps best known. There have been four main versions of The Red Poppy.