I am referring to Diaghilev's staging of Sleeping Beauty, called "The Sleeping Princess", in London, where Olga Spessitseva danced. I have a very big doubt: Did Diaghilev stage the complete Sleeping Beauty, or only the third act (i.e. "Aurora's Wedding")?

Also, does anyone know where the name "Aurora's Wedding" originated?

Thanks so much
Silvy

diaghilev famously presented the ballet, complete.
part of the reason the ballet set diaghilev back so much monetarily was due to the cost of the extravagant, multi-act, bakst-designed production, which failed to sell as well as the impresario hoped.
the reduction to 'aurora's wedding' happened subsequently.
i suppose buckle or various ballet russe co. historians might identify when and which individual so christened this 3rd act reduction - tho' it was often(?) staged to include act one's so-called 'rose adagio'.
i know nijinska, among others, had much to do w/ shaping the staging of 'aurora's wedding' but precisely when this came into being and under who's guidance etc. i cannot say right now.

Almost. I once catalogued the orchestral score for Diaghilev's production many years ago. Diaghilev made a few cuts in the score which were patched with specially composed bridges by Igor Stravinsky. The latter also reorchestrated two numbers and recomposed the Finale Apotheosis.

Although Petipa's choreography was reproduced by Nicholas Sergeyev some numbers were newly choreographed by Nijinska, namely "the action-scenes, hunting dances in Scene 3, Aurora's Variation in Scene 3, and tales of Bluebeard, Sheherazade, and Innocent Ivan."

I assume it was purely the caprice of Diaghilev to interpolate new choreography into Petipa's masterpiece since I would think Sergeyev would have been perfectly capable of reproducing Petipa's original choreography to these sections. Similarly, I think Stravinsky's 'reorchestrations' were merely Diaghilev's ploy to affix the cache of an avant-garde composer to a past classic with little audience interest at the time.

Le mariage d'Aurore or Aurora's Wedding was Diaghilev's title for the selection of numbers he chose to make up the condensed version premiered in Paris May 18, 1922 (the sets were from the 1909 production of Le Pavillon d'Armide since the original Bakst production had been impounded after the failure of the 1921 London production).

PHENBY

If I recall correctly, Stravinsky was called in to make adjustments to the orchestration of the affected sections to compensate for the reduced pit orchestra available to the production.

Bakst's FABULOUS costumes for "The Sleeping Princess" were exhibited in San Francisco -- unfortunately placed on Sears Roebuck mannequins, so the poses were all wrong, but she'd run out of money -- in 1989, in a show put together by the GREAT curator nancy Baer, of the Fine Arts Museums of SF, as only one part of an astonishing, huge exhibition of stagecraft associated with Diaghilev (including Matisses's hand made costumes for -- what was it, "Le Rossignol?").

The catalogue for the Exhibition was called "The Art of Enchantment: DIaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1909-1929," and it's well worth having with contributions from Joan Acocella, Lynn Garafola, Dale Harris, Simon Karlinsky, Richard Tarushkin, and others. Might turn up on Ebay