SUMMARY:
The Little Slippers is originally based on Nikolai Gogol’s fairytale The Night Before Christmas. Published in the second volume of the author’s Evenings on a Farm Near Dykanka in 1832, the premier of the ballet, in 2022, serendipitously corresponded to celebrate the tale’s 190th anniversary. Gogol’s story is a masterpiece; indeed, all of his work is fantastic. He is a master of evoking an atmosphere, particularly this certain Ukrainian atmosphere.

In Russian and Ukrainian literature, Gogol holds an equivalent place as Edgar Allen Poe, specializing in the romantic gothic horror genre; however, unlike Poe the macabre elements are undercut by elements of humor. Gogol’s writing served as the subject for a variety of musical compositions including The Nose by Shostakovich, The Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky, Taras Bulba by Gliere and Christmas Eve by Rimsky-Korsakov; in this ballet I used Tchaikovsky’s orchestral music from his opera Cherevichki [Черевички] to present a one-act ballet version of The Little Slippers.

LIBRETTO (ABRIDGED):
Vakula, the black smith loves the prettiest girl in the village, Oksana, but she demands better quality shoes if their courtship should go any further. Vakula falls into despair and stumbles upon a witches’ sabbath happening in the forest. He tussles with the devil (in the form of a large black cat) and ends up landing in St. Petersburg. While in St. Petersburg, Vakula asks Catherine the Great for a pair of slippers and the bemused Tsarina fulfills his request. Vakula goes back to Oksana who greets him with an open heart; she wants him, not the slippers.