John Cranko resident choreographer for Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet's 1950–51 season. For the company's Festival of Britain season in 1951 Cranko choreographed the comic ballet "Pineapple Poll", to the music of Arthur Sullivan (newly out of copyright) arranged by the conductor Charles Mackerras. Another collaboration with Mackerras followed in 1954 with "The Lady and the Fool", to music by Verdi. In January 1954 Sadler's Wells Ballet announced that Cranko was collaborating with Benjamin Britten to create a ballet. Cranko devised a draft scenario for a work he originally called "The Green Serpent", fusing elements drawn from "King Lear", "Beauty and the Beast"
The Talisman (ballet) The Talisman (ballet) The Talisman (also known as "Le Talisman" or "Il Talismano") is a fantastic ballet in 4 Acts and 7 Scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Riccardo Drigo. Libretto by Konstantin Augustovich Tarnovsky and Marius Petipa. It was premièred on at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia This ballet gave rise to the so-called "Talisman Pas de Deux", which is today danced by many ballet companies. In 1955 the Balletmaster Pyotr Gusev of the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet (the former Imperial Ballet) compiled various pieces of music from Petipa's "The Talisman" and created what is