In the history of 20th-century ballet, few companies have had so profound and far-reaching an influence as the Ballets Russes. It only existed from 1909 to 1929, but in that brief period it transformed ballet into a vital, modern art. The company created many of the 20th century's classic ballets - Les Sylphides, Firebird, Petrouchka, Les Biches and Apollo - and nurtured many of the century's greatest choreographers, such as Fokine, Nijinsky, Nijinska and Balanchine. Composers including Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel and ...
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In the history of 20th-century ballet, few companies have had so profound and far-reaching an influence as the Ballets Russes. It only existed from 1909 to 1929, but in that brief period it transformed ballet into a vital, modern art. The company created many of the 20th century's classic ballets - Les Sylphides, Firebird, Petrouchka, Les Biches and Apollo - and nurtured many of the century's greatest choreographers, such as Fokine, Nijinsky, Nijinska and Balanchine. Composers including Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel and Prokofiev, painters like Matisse and Picasso, and poets such as Hoffmansthal and Cocteau all collaborated on productions, while its dancers created a following for ballet that anticipated today's growing audiences. Taking a fresh look at familiar sources and incorporating archival material, this portrait of the Ballets Russes demonstrates how its art reflected its status as a complex economic enterprise, and reveals how Diaghilev created an audience that in turn shaped his company's changing identity.
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