question: The ballet whose act François Alu danced as a free variation at his first promotion competition was first presented in what city?
answer: St. Petersburg
context: Title: Raymonda
  Passage: Raymonda (Russian: Раймонда ) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov, his opus 57.  First presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on 19 January [O.S. 7 January] 1898 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  The ballet was created especially for the benefit performance of the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani, who created the title role.  Among the ballet's most celebrated passages is the "Pas classique hongrois" (a.k.a. "Raymonda Pas de dix") from the third act, which is often performed independently.
  Title: Don Quixote (ballet)
  Passage: Don Quixote is a ballet in four acts and eight scenes, based on episodes taken from the famous novel "Don Quixote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes.  It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and first presented by the Ballet of the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, Russia on 26 December [O.S. 14 December] 1869 .  Petipa and Minkus revised the ballet into a far more expanded and elaborated edition in five acts and eleven scenes for the Imperial Ballet, first presented on 21 November [O.S. 9 November] 1871 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre of St. Petersburg.
  Title: Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
  Passage: Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to a composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky originally intended for act 3 of "Swan Lake" (op. 20, 1875-1876).  With costumes by Barbara Karinska and lighting by Jack Owen Brown, it was first presented by New York City Ballet at the City Center of Music and Drama, New York, on 29 March 1960.  Robert Irving conducted the New York City Ballet Orchestra.  The dancers were Violette Verdy and Conrad Ludlow.
  Title: Le Diable amoureux (ballet)
  Passage: Le Diable amoureux (also known as Satanella or Love and Hell) is a "ballet pantomime" in three acts and eight scenes, originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Napoléon Henri Reber and François Benoist.  The libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges is based on Jacques Cazotte's 1772 occult romance "The Devil in Love".  The work was first presented by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 23 September 1840, with Pauline Leroux (as Uriel), Mazilier (as Alvaro, for ballet his name is Frederic), and Louise Fitz-James (as Lilia).
  Title: Serenade (ballet)
  Passage: Serenade is a ballet by George Balanchine to Tschaikovsky's 1880 "Serenade for Strings in C", Op. 48.  Students of the School of American Ballet gave the first performance on Sunday, 10 June 1934 on the Felix M. Warburg estate in White Plains, N.Y., where "Mozartiana" had been danced the previous day.  This was the first ballet that Balanchine choreographed in America.  It was then presented by the Producing Company of the School of American Ballet on 6 December at the Avery Memorial Theatre of the Wadsworth Atheneum with sets by the painter William Littlefield.  Balanchine presented the ballet as his response to the generous sponsorships he received during his immigration to America.  The official premiere took place on 1 March 1935 with the American Ballet at the Adelphi Theatre, New York, conducted by Sandor Harmati.
  Title: François Alu
  Passage: François Alu (born 1993 in Fussy, Cher, France) is a French "Premier Danseur" (first soloist), of the Paris Opera Ballet.  He entered the Paris Opera Ballet School in 2004, and the Paris Opera Ballet in 2010.  At his first promotion competition, he was promoted to Coryphée, dancing as a free variation the act II solo of Solor, from La Bayadère by Rudolf Nureyev.  The next year, he was promoted to "Sujet" (soloist), dancing as a free variation the act III solo of Solor, from La Bayadère by Rudolf Nureyev.
  Title: Irek Mukhamedov
  Passage: Irek Mukhamedov OBE (born March 8, 1960 in Kazan, USSR), is a Soviet-born ballet dancer of Tatar origin who has danced with the Bolshoi Ballet & the Royal Ballet He trained at the Moscow Choreographic Institute under the guidance of Alexander Prokofiev between 1970 and 1978.  Upon graduation he joined the Classical Ballet Company, where he spent three years touring around the world.  It was with this company that he first danced Romeo, a role that was to become one of his most acclaimed.  In 1981 he won the Grand Prix and Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow and was immediately invited to join the Bolshoi Ballet as a principal dancer, where he not only became Grigorovich's favourite danseur but went to become the youngest man ever to dance the leading role in "Spartacus".  After leaving the Soviet Union, he became a Senior Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet in London, remaining with the company for many years and dancing lead roles in the classic ballets as well as the English repertoire.
  Title: Swan Lake (1895)
  Passage: The 1917 Petipa/Ivanov/Drigo revival of Swan Lake is a famous version of the ballet "Swan Lake", (ru. " Лебединое Озеро"), (fr.  "Le Lac des Cygnes").  This is a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky based on an ancient German legend, presented in either four acts, four scenes (primarily outside Russia and Eastern Europe), three acts, four scenes (primarily in Russia and Eastern Europe) or, more rarely, in two acts, four scenes.  Originally choreographed by Julius Reisinger to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (opus 20), it was first presented as "The Lake of the Swans" by the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre on 20 February/4 March 1877 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates) in Moscow, Russia.  Although the ballet is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies today base their stagings both choreographically and musically on this revival by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, staged for the Imperial Ballet, first presented on 15 January/27 January 1895, at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia instead of the original version.
  Title: Daniel Meja
  Passage: Daniel Meja was born in Nice, France, educated at the École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower in Cannes and in Paris.  Danced with the London Festival Ballet and La Scala Ballet before coming to the United States, where he danced with the Cleveland Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet and Boston Ballet.  Guest artist with the Kirov Ballet on their 1992 tour of the United States, Canada and Mexico.  Frequent guest artist with other companies.  Winner of medals at the first New York International Ballet Competition and the Jackson International Ballet Competition.  Now teaching.
  Title: La Bayadère
  Passage: La Bayadère (en.  "The Temple Dancer") (ru.  «Баядерка», "Bayaderka") is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus.  The ballet was staged especially for the benefit performance of the "Prima ballerina" Ekaterina Vazem, who created the principal role of Nikiya.  "La Bayadère" was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 4 February [O.S. 23 January] 1877 .  A scene from the ballet, known as "The Kingdom of the Shades", is one of the most celebrated excerpts in all of classical ballet.
citations: La Bayadère François Alu