2.7: Dance in the 20th Century- Diaghilev and The Ballet Russes

Diaghilev and 20th Century Dance

Figure 2.29 Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev

(https://nn.m.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Sergej_Diaghilev_(1872-1929)_ritratto_da_Valentin_Aleksandrovich_Serov.jpg)

Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) is the catalyst and springboard for collaborative ballet works of the 1900s. Another example of right place and right time; Diaghilev’s upbringing and passion for sharing Russian arts with Europe (and later, the world) coincides with the modernism movement. This confluence of time and place sees Diaghilev as impresario of the Russian dance troupe Ballets Russes.

Born in Russia and “raised in the cultivated world of the Imperial elite [Diaghilev’s family was] literary, musical, and politically progressive” (Homans, 2010, p. 295). Diaghilev straddles many worlds– born at the tail end of the 1800s and witnesses the end of Russian Imperialism coinciding with the modernism era; a country upbringing only to move one thousand miles to the second largest city in Russia, St. Petersburg; appreciation of the courtly arts of Imperial Russia while simultaneously drawn to Russian arts and crafts movement; and while his rank in society afford some protections, Diaghilev is a homosexual man living at the turn of the century.

In addition to his upbringing, the people, concepts, and art movements Diaghilev encounters (along with his failures) give rise to his influential Ballets Russes. Upon moving to St. Petersburg Diaghilev quickly falls into a close-knit friend group which include artists Alexander Benois and Léon Bakst. Many of this cohort figure heavily in the development of the Ballets Russes. German composer Richard Wagner’s application of Gesamtkunstwerk– total artwork, influences the who, what, and how of Diaghilev’s company. While Russian ballets are already performed to commissioned musical compositions, Diaghilev goes further by fostering collaboration between scenic design and costuming alongside music and choreography to create a completely new world on stage.

Diaghilev’s fundamental understanding of classical art puts him in the position of taking the core elements of (Russian) ballet and applying the lens of modernism– maintaining ballet’s relevance in art and society. Similar to the social reevaluation and changes in world views leading to the Renaissance, the questioning and challenging of classical art; and world events brings about a total rethinking in regard to realism, religion, color palette, and materials. The modern art movement explores individualism and absurdity; jumping with both feet into experimentation (Kuiper, 2023). A failed restaging of the French ballet Sylvia in 1901 sets Diaghilev into motion. The Sylvia faux pas precipitates Diaghilev’s dismissal from the Imperial Theaters, leaving Diaghilev to pivot– curating a successful Russian portrait exhibition in 1905, leading to an auspicious 1906 exhibition of Russian art and music in Paris. In 1909, with music and opera proving too expensive to produce in Paris, Diaghilev hastily assembles a ballet troupe comprised of Maryinsky Theater standouts. This assemblage of Russian ballet stars and Russian ballet is not only be the hit of the season in Paris but brings into focus Diaghilev’s dream of transmitting Russian art across Europe. With dancers Fokine, Pavlova, and Nijinsky having cut ties with the Maryinsky; artist friends Benois and Bakst onboard; and an enthusiastic audience in Paris; Ballets Russes comes to be in 1911 (Homans, 2010).

Definition: Gesamtkunstwerk

Total artwork. A German concept where different artforms are woven together to create a single work of art.

Definition: Impresario

An organizer and oftentimes financier of plays, operas, ballets, etcs.

Definition: Modernism

... refers to a global movement in society and culture that from the early decades of the twentieth century sought a new alignment with the experience and values of modern industrial life. Building on late nineteenth-century precedents, artists around the world used new imagery, materials, and techniques to create artworks that they felt better reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies. (tate.org, (n.d.))

Deep Dive #1: From Setback to Success

Diaghilev's first foray into ballet leaves him out of a job but sets him on a path to leave a lasting mark on the ballet world. Can you think of other artists or your own personal experience where a setback leads to a bigger opportunity?

Deep Dive #2: From France, to Russia, and Back Again

French dancer and choreographer Charles-Louis Didelot (1767-1837) facilitates the development of Russia's ballet pipeline of dancing school through professional dancer as well as cultivating distinctly Russian ballets. Less than 100 years later, Diaghilev brings a revitalized and expressly Russian ballet back to France.

Ballets Russes

Figure 2.30 Vaslav Nijinsky + Vera Fokina in Schéhérazade, 1914

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fokine.jpg&oldid=509958456.)

The Ballets Russes dance company is always moving, adapting, and evolving. With Sergei Diaghilev as impresario, the Ballets Russes pushes the boundaries of ballet and pushes the boundaries of modernist audiences.

Building off of the German concept of total artwork and filtering through a modernist prism, the Ballets Russes attracts a diverse following by offering a mixed bill program. Phasing out 3 and 4 Act ballets for one Act stories allows for the program to contain a variety of ballets– in one evening audiences can see an homage to romantic ballet with Fokine’s Les Sylphide followed by a completely modern ballet like Nijinsky’s L’après-midi d’un faune (1912). On top of appealing to a wider range of audiences, the mixed bill program cuts down on costs of costuming, sets, and props associated with larger productions. With the near constant threat of bankruptcy, the Ballets Russes needs to remain nimble to stay on tour and stay afloat.

And though the Ballets Russes never performs in Russia (to the point where Diaghilev is no longer welcome to return to Russia), the dancers, choreographers, source material, and distinctly Russian style of dancing remains faithfully fundamental to the company. Under Diaghilev’s stewardship, Russian dancers and choreographers circulate in and out of the company. Many noted dancers go on to leave their own choreographic mark in ballet history. Many of the ballets made famous at this time directly reflect Russian culture. For example: Fokine’s Petrushka (1911), is based off of a Russian version of commedia dell’arte’s Harlequin (D. Craine and J. Mackrell, 2004); and Nijinska’s Les Noces (1923) is an examination of a peasant matrimonial rite.

Deep Dive #1: Diaghilev- a Stateless Exile

Diaghilev is a complex person existing in many spheres. A privileged upbringing in the countryside contrasts his outsider status in metropolitan high society. An education in and appreciation of classical and Imperial arts (most notably ballet) provides Diaghilev entrée to the conservative Imperial court- with that conservatism coming in direct conflict with Diaghilev being openly gay. Luke Jennings writes,

Diaghilev was also homosexual, which by the early 20th century opened as many doors as it closed...
That Diaghilev didn't bother to conceal the affair [with Nijinsky] infuriated socially conservative elements in the city, and in 1911 led to the withdrawal of the tsar's financial support of the Ballets Russes, and Diaghilev's permanent departure from Russia. (2010)

Chart Insert #1: Snapshot of notable dancers/choreographers of the Ballets Russes and their pieces.

Not everything is smooth sailing for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. By 1913 adversarial feelings toward Russia, Diaghilev, and Nijinsky have infiltrated Paris. These sentiments coupled with Stravinsky’s dissonant score for Nijinsky’s primitive Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) leads a riotous response by the audience. Another problematic pattern is Diaghilev’s penchant for taking company members as lovers. Both Nijinsky and Massine cycle through the company as dancers; under Diaghilev’s mentorship are promoted to choreographer; and both ending their affairs with Diaghilev by marrying women. And in a misstep reminiscent of Diaghilev’s restaging of Sylvia twenty years previously– the 1921 remounting of Petipa’s The Sleeping Princess sees the Ballets Russes banned from performing in England for three years and precipitates the company’s move to Monte Carlo.

Figure 2.31 The Sleeping Princess

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lydia_Lopokova_as_Aurora_in_The_Sleeping_Beauty.jpg&oldid=589545984)

There are also hard times that are completely out of Diaghilev’s control. World War I and the subsequent fall of a number of European empires sends a pared down Ballet Russes to tour America. Diaghilev’s death in 1929 proves to be a profound blow to the company. Over the next couple of decades, the Ballets Russes change hands, change names, and divide into two companies. Though the two companies attempt to differentiate from one another, many of the dancers and choreographers switch back and forth between companies when frustrations run high.

Deep Dive #2: The Many Iterations of the Ballets Russes

Following Diaghilev's death in 1929, the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo re-form with Wassily de Basil and René Blum in the lead. Tensions lead to Blum, Massine, and a handful of dancers splintering off to form the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Legal battles between the two companies force de Basil's company to rebrand as Colonel de Basil's Ballets Russes and later the Original Ballet Russe.

Transnational Artform

Throughout this chapter we see dance masters, choreographers, and dancers tour across boarders as well as build lives in new countries. Each tour and relocation creates an opportunity for ballet to impact a new country/culture as well as have ballet be influenced by diverse ways of life. Here, we see the Ballet Russes introduce ballet to countries and continents by touring around the globe.

Within a generation America goes from a country of enthusiastic audiences without formal ballet schools or professional ballet companies to a country with schools and companies on both coasts, and a hunger for American ballet. Within a span of two years Adolph Bolm in San Francisco, CA, and George Balanchine in New York City (both with ties to Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes) establish ballet schools to feed into their professional ballet companies. Bolm’s San Francisco Ballet, established in 1933 has the distinction of being America’s first professional ballet company.

Figure 2.32 The many iterations of the Ballet Russes on tour: Europe, England, North America, South America, and Australia

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Diaghilev1.jpg&oldid=692452055)

Deep Dive #3: The Modern-day Pointe Shoe

Anna Pavlova's 1910 company tour to America sets into motion the production of the first international pointe show brand. Pavlova collaborates with the Metropolitan Opera shoemaker Salvatore Capezio (capezio.com, 2023). Does that name ring a bell?

Takeaways:

• Ballet falls out of fashion in Paris and other metropolitan cities. Working independently, artists and dancers from Russia and Denmark save ballet from disappearing to history.
• Collaboration between artistic departments (choreography, music, costuming, sets) transforms ballet into a more cohesive product.
• Touring companies, like the Ballets Russes, spread the seeds of ballet on an

Teaching Exercise

Select three ballets, each under 40 minutes to create your own mixed bill program. Be prepared to explain why your choices make for the perfect night at the theatre.