Ballets Russes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also: Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Category:Ballets Russes and descendants

The Ballets Russes (French for The Russian Ballets) was a ballet company established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. It performed until his death in 1929. It was initially resident in the Théâtre Mogador and Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and then moved to Monte Carlo. Its members originated from the Tsar's Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, where all its dancers were associated and trained. Younger dancers were trained in the Russian tradition in Paris, with the community of exiles after the Russian Revolution. The company used many of the works of the great choreographer Marius Petipa.

It created a sensation in Western Europe because of the great vitality of Russian ballet compared to French dance. The Ballets Russes became one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century, in part because of its ground-breaking artistic collaboration among contemporary choreographers, composers, artists, and dancers. Its works were part of the avant-garde culture in Paris and France. That influence, in one form or another, has lasted to this day.

After Diaghilev's death, the company's property was claimed by creditors. The dancers were scattered. Colonel Wassily de Basil and his associate René Blum revived the company under the name Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. George Balanchine and Leonide Massine worked with them as choreographers and Tamara Toumanova as a principal dancer. De Basil and Blum argued constantly, so Blum founded another company under the name Original Ballet Russe.

During World War II the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo toured extensively in the United States, giving Americans a strong impression of what was known as "Russian Ballet." When dancers retired and left the company, they often founded dance studios in the United States or South America, or taught at other dancers' studios. With Balanchine's founding of the New York City Ballet, many former Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo dancers went to New York to teach.

The Original Ballet Russe toured mostly in Europe. Its alumni were influential in teaching classical Russian ballet technique in European and British schools.

[edit] The ballet company and artistic collaboration

The company consisted of 13 members, all at a very high standard of dance. The dancers and choreographers associated with it included George Balanchine, Mathilde Kschessinska, Michel Fokine, Vera Karalli, Tamara Karsavina, Serge Lifar, Alicia Markova, Léonide Massine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Ida Rubinstein and Lydia Lopokova.

The company invited contemporary artists to design sets and costumes, including Bakst, Benois, Braque, Gontcharova, Picasso, Chanel, Matisse, Derain, Miro, de Chirico, Dalí, Bilibin, Tchelitchev, Utrillo and Nicholas Roerich.

In another collaboration, Diaghilev and his choregraphers worked with contemporary composers, who included Debussy, Milhaud, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Ravel, Satie, Respighi, and Richard Strauss. Perhaps the most notable was Igor Stravinsky, whom Diaghilev spotted when he was virtually unknown. By hiring Stravinsky, Diaghilev helped launch his career in Europe and later the United States. Stravinsky's scores for ballets The Firebird and Rite of Spring shocked Paris audiences and the latter caused a near riot.

[edit] Principal productions

See also: Category of Ballets Russes productions

Year	Title	Composer	Choreographer	Set and costume
1909	Le Pavillon d'Armide	Nikolai Tcherepnin	Michel Fokine	Alexandre Benois
1909	Prince Igor	Alexander Borodin	Michel Fokine	Nicholas Roerich
1909	Cléopatre	Anton Arensky	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1910	The Firebird	Igor Stravinsky	Michel Fokine	Alexandre Golovine, Léon Bakst
1910	Schéhérazade	Rimsky-Korsakov	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1910	Carnaval	Robert Schumann	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1911	Petrushka	Igor Stravinsky	Michel Fokine	Alexandre Benois
1911	Le Spectre de la Rose	Carl Maria von Weber	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1912	L'après-midi d'un faune	Claude Debussy	Michel Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky	Léon Bakst, Odilon Redon
1912	Daphnis et Chloé	Maurice Ravel	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1912	Le Dieu Bleu	Reynaldo Hahn	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1912	Thamar	Mily Balakirev	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1913	Jeux	Claude Debussy	Vaslav Nijinsky	Léon Bakst
1913	Le sacre du printemps	Igor Stravinsky	Vaslav Nijinsky	Nicholas Roerich
1913	Tragédie de Salomè	Florent Schmitt	Boris Romanov	Sergey Sudeykin
1914	La légende de Joseph	Richard Strauss	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1914	Le Coq d'Or	Rimsky-Korsakov	Michel Fokine	Natalia Goncharova
1915	Soleil de Nuit	Rimsky-Korsakov	Léonide Massine	Mikhail Larionov
1917	Parade	Erik Satie	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
1919	La boutique fantastique	Gioachino Rossini, Ottorino Respighi	Léonide Massine	André Derain
1919	El Sombrero de Tres Picos (aka Le Tricorne)	Manuel de Falla	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
1920	Le chant du rossignol	Igor Stravinsky	Léonide Massine	Henri Matisse
1920	Pulcinella	Igor Stravinsky	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
1921	Chout	Sergei Prokofiev	Mikhail Larionov	Mikhail Larionov
1921	Sleeping Princess	Pyotr Tchaikovsky	Marius Petipa	Léon Bakst
1922	Renard	Igor Stravinsky	Bronislava Nijinska	Mikhail Larionov
1923	Les Noces	Igor Stravinsky	Bronislava Nijinska	Natalia Goncharova
1924	Les Biches	Francis Poulenc	Bronislava Nijinska	Marie Laurencin
1924	Les Fâcheux	Georges Auric	Bronislava Nijinska	Georges Braque
1924	Le train bleu	Darius Milhaud	Bronislava Nijinska	Laurens (scene), Coco Chanel (costumi), Pablo Picasso (fondali)
1925	Les matelots	Georges Auric	Léonide Massine	Pruna
1926	Jack in the Box	Erik Satie	George Balanchine	André Derain
1927	La chatte	Henri Sauguet	George Balanchine	Naum Gabo
1927	Mercure	Erik Satie	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
1927	Pas d'acier	Sergei Prokofiev	Léonide Massine	George Jaculov
1928	Apollon musagète	Igor Stravinsky	George Balanchine	Bauschant (scene), Coco Chanel (costumi)
1929	Le fils prodigue	Sergei Prokofiev	George Balanchine	Georges Rouault

[edit] External links

• Danza Ballet: Especial The Ballet Russes
• Ballet Russes (2005), documentary covering the history of the Ballets Russes, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Original Ballet Russe from the former's inception through the latter's end, featuring many interviews with surviving dancers of the company - IMDB listing
• JM Barrie and the Russian Dancers – article by Robert Greenham about Barrie's play The Truth about the Russian Dancers and his friendships with the prima ballerinas of Ballets Russes, Lydia Lopokova and Tamara Karsavina.