At the end of the nineteenth century, the dancer Vladimir Stepanov developed his own method of documenting choreography, which he later detailed in his book "L'Alphabet des Mouvements du Corps Humain". In 1893 Stepanov proposed a project to the ruling committee of the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet School and its parent company, the Imperial Ballet, that would record the choreography of the company's repertory for posterity. The committee, which made decisions on the appointment of dancers, repertory, etc., consisted of Marius Petipa ("Premier Maître de ballet" of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres); Lev Ivanov (second "Maître de Ballet"); Ekaterina Vazem (former "Prima ballerina" of the Imperial Theatres and teacher of the "classe de perfection"); Pavel Gerdt ("Premier danseur" of the Imperial Theatres); and Christian Johansson (former "Premier danseur" of the Imperial Theatres and teacher of the male students at the school). The committee required that Stepanov first present demonstrations, known as "certifications", of the effectiveness of his method before the project would be fully implemented with state funding.