Music: Alexander Glazunov
Choreography: Elizabeth DiStasio-Waddell
Ballet Synopsis
Raymonda is the niece to the Countess Sybil De Daurice of France. Raymonda is engaged to Jean de Brienne, a knight. Jean must depart on a campaign with the King Andrei II of Hungary. He comes to the castle to bring his fiancée gifts and to bid her farewell. That night, Raymonda muses on her beloved, a statue of the White Lady, who is the patroness of the House of Daurice, appears in a vision. She beckons the girl to the Magic Garden of Dreams, where Jean awaits her. But the apparition suddenly disappears, and in Jean’s place an exotic Eastern knight appears. The knight makes a passionate declaration of love to the bewildered Raymonda. When she faints, the knight vanishes. As dawn breaks, Raymonda awakens in the belief that her dream has been a terrible omen of her destiny.
A celebration is underway at the castle. Among the guests is the Saracen knight, Abderakhman. Raymonda recognizes him as the mysterious stranger she saw in her dream. Although he promises to gives riches and power in return for her heart and hand, Raymonda rejects him. The knight tries to abduct her. Unexpectedly, Jean and the other knights return from their mission. To resolve the differences between Jean a and Abderakhman, King Andrei proposes a duel of honor.
Raymonda and Jean are married at the court of King Andrei. In honor of the monarch, Hungarian dances are performed during the wedding festivities.