What is Petrushka?
{{italictitle}} {{Infobox ballet | name = Petrushka | image = Nijinski Petrouchka 3.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Nijinsky as Petrushka | choreographer = [[Mikhail Fokine]] | composer = [[Igor Stravinsky]] | librettist = Igor Stravinsky<br/>[[Alexandre Benois]] | based_on = Russian folk material | premiere = 13 June 1911 | place = [[Théâtre du Chatelet]]<br/>[[Paris]] | ballet_company = [[Ballets Russes]] | characters = Petrushka<br/>The Ballerina<br/>The Moor<br/>The Charlatan | designer = Alexandre Benois | setting = Admiralty Square<br />[[St. Petersburg]]<br/>Shrovetide, 1830 | created_for = [[Nijinsky]] | genre = Ballet burlesque | type = }} '''''Petrushka''''' is a [[ballet]] [[burlesque]] in four scenes. [[Alexandre Benois]] and [[Igor Stravinsky]] wrote the story of the ballet. [[Igor Stravinsky]] wrote the music. [[Michel Fokine]] choreographed the work (designed the dances). Benois designed the sets and costumes. ''Petrushka'' was first performed by [[Diaghilev]]'s [[Ballets Russes]] in [[Paris]] on 13 June 1911. [[Nijinsky]] played Petrushka, and [[Tamara Karsavina]] played The Ballerina. Alexandre Orlov played The Moor, and Enrico Cecchetti played The Charlatan.{{sfn|Balachine|1975|p=305}} ''Petrushka'' tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets. The three are brought to life by The Charlatan during St. Petersburg's 1830 Shrovetide Fair. Petrushka is in love with The Ballerina. She rejects him because she likes The Moor. Petrushka is angry and hurt. He challenges The Moor. The Moor kills him with his [[scimitar]]. Petrushka's ghost rises above the puppet theatre as night falls. He shakes his fist at The Charlatan, then collapses in a second death. ''Petrushka'' brings music, dance, and design together in a unified whole. It is one of the most popular of the Ballets Russes productions. It is usually performed today using the original designs and dances. Grace Robert wrote