bear story

[Natalie O. Kononenko]

> I do not know the ballet but its name is somewhat associated
with "Tri
> medvedja" (Three Bears") which is written by Count Leo
Tolstoy, and, I
> might guess, is based on a folk tale.

No, according to the standard biography of Lambert, the
(unpublished and
unperformed) ballet is about a series of animals who come on
stage one by
one (mouse, frog, cat, etc) and enter a rotten treetrunk. The
last animal
is a bear, who sits on the trunk, demolishing it and all the
previous
dancers, and bringing the whole ballet to a rapid end...

This last part sounds like Terem teremok, a typical cumulative
tale, somewhat like rukovichka.  If anyone wants more detail,
let me know.

Natalie Kononenko