The Firebird: Emily Tucker

 The Firebird is a ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine to music by Stravinsky, that premiered in 1910. The storyline is based on a Russian Folktale 


The ballet begins at the edge of Kashchei's (a powerful, evil sorcerer) magical realm. Prince Ivan Tsarevich is a wanderer who happened upon this place, where he finds a magnificent creature with glowing flame-like feathers, the Firebird. Ivan captures the Firebird. She pleads with him to set her free, and out of compassion he does. As gratitude, she gifts him one of her magical feathers. Eventually Ivan discovers that he isn't alone. Thirteen beautiful princesses emerge from the palace in a round dance. Ivan watches them and falls in love with Princess Tsarevna. He reveals himself and finds out that they being held captive by the immortal Kashchei who turns any rescuers into stone. His love for Princess Tsarevna has Ivan vowing to save them all. At daylight, he follows the princesses to Kashchei's palace and is immediately faced with Kashchei's monsters. Right before Kashchei turns Ivan to stone, Ivan waves the magic feather and the Firebird appears. Her magic forces all of Kashchei's monsters to dance until they collapse from exhaustion. The Firebird reveals to Ivan that Kashchei's secret to immortality His souls is separated from his body and stored inside a giant egg. Ivan finds the egg and destroys it, which kills Kashchei in the process. With his death, the princesses are freed along with all of his other victims. The ballet ends with Prince Ivan and Princess Tsarevna declaring their love for one another and being crowned Tsar and Tsarina.


The storyline of the Firebird ballet has some similar themes to those we have discussed this semester when it comes to journeys and meaning making. The egg that holds Kashchei's soul is representative of the external soul and immortality, which was brought up by one of our guest speakers this semester. Additionally, Ivan begins the ballet as a wandering pilgrim in search of meaning. He faces hardship and trials but ends his journey having found the love of his life, which gives meaning to his life. The Firebird can be likened to "Trail Angels" who give resources and help aid hikers on their journeys. 

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