Ballets Russes facts for kids

Poster by Jean Cocteau for the 1911 Ballet Russe season showing Nijinsky in costume for Le Spectre de la rose, Paris

The Ballets Russes (pronounced "Bal-lay Rooss") was a famous ballet company that started in Paris, France. It performed from 1909 to 1929 across Europe and in North and South America. The company never performed in Russia because of the Russian Revolution happening there. After its first shows in Paris, it didn't have official ties to Russia.

This company was created by Sergei Diaghilev, a talented organizer. Many people think Ballets Russes was the most important ballet company of the 20th century. This is because it brought together amazing young artists. These included choreographers (who create dances), composers (who write music), designers (who make sets and costumes), and dancers. Diaghilev asked famous people like Igor Stravinsky (composer), Pablo Picasso (artist), and Coco Chanel (costume designer) to work with the company.

The Ballets Russes shows were a huge hit! They made dance exciting again and helped many visual artists become well-known. They also introduced European and American audiences to Russian stories, music, and art. The company's use of new, modern art styles even influenced the Art Deco movement in the early 1900s.

What Does "Ballets Russes" Mean?

The name Ballets Russes is French and means "Russian Ballets." It specifically refers to the company started by Sergei Diaghilev. Sometimes, in early advertisements, it was called "Les Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghileff." In English, people usually just say "the Ballets Russes." In the early 1900s, it was also sometimes called "The Russian Ballet."

Other companies, like the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo and the Original Ballet Russe, formed after Diaghilev passed away in 1929. These names use the singular "Ballet Russe."

The Story of Ballets Russes

Sergei Diaghilev, the founder of the Ballets Russes

Sergei Diaghilev: The Visionary Founder

Sergei Diaghilev was the main reason for the company's success. He was like the "artistic director" of the group. Diaghilev came from a wealthy Russian family. This helped him connect with rich people who could support the ballet company. A very important sponsor was Winnaretta Singer, whose generous money helped Ballets Russes succeed in Europe.

Diaghilev loved music from a young age. He wanted to be a composer, but a famous composer told him he wasn't talented enough. So, he focused on organizing art instead. In 1898, he helped start an art magazine called Mir iskusstva (World of Art). This magazine reviewed ballets and showed Russian art.

Bringing Russian Art to Paris

Diaghilev felt that the art world in Russia was too old-fashioned. So, in 1906, he organized a big art show in Paris called Exhibition of Russian Art. It was the first major show of Russian art in the West and was a huge success. Parisians became fascinated with everything Russian.

After that, Diaghilev brought Russian music to the Paris Opera in 1907. In 1908, he brought the Russian opera Boris Godunov to Paris. These shows were very popular, but putting on grand operas was very expensive.

The First Ballet Season

In 1909, Diaghilev decided to focus only on ballet for his Paris "Saison Russe" (Russian Season). Most of the dancers were from the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg. Diaghilev hired them to perform in Paris during their summer break. The first season included ballets like Le Pavillon d'Armide, the Polovtsian Dances, Les Sylphides, and Cléopâtre. These were mostly choreographed by Michel Fokine.

Famous Ballets and Productions

The Ballets Russes created many new and exciting ballets. Here are some of their most important productions:

Year	Title	Image	Composer(s)	Choreographer(s)	Sets and costumes
1909	Le Pavillon d'Armide		Nikolai Tcherepnin	Michel Fokine	Alexandre Benois
	Prince Igor		Alexander Borodin	Michel Fokine	Nicholas Roerich
	Le Festin		Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov		Konstantin Korovin Léon Bakst Alexandre Benois Ivan Bilibin
			Mikhail Glinka	Michel Fokine, Marius Petipa
			Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Marius Petipa
			Alexander Glazunov	Alexander Gorsky
			Modest Mussorgsky	Michel Fokine
			Mikhail Glinka	Nicolai Goltz, Felix Kchessinsky
			Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Michel Fokine
			Alexander Glazunov	Marius Petipa
			Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Michel Fokine
	Les Sylphides		Frédéric Chopin	Michel Fokine	Alexandre Benois
	Cléopâtre		Anton Arensky	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1910	Carnaval		Robert Schumann	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
	Schéhérazade		Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
	Giselle		Adolphe Adam	Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, Marius Petipa, Michel Fokine	Alexandre Benois
	Les Orientales		Christian Sinding, Edvard Grieg	Vaslav Nijinsky, Michel Fokine	Konstantin Korovin, Léon Bakst
	L'Oiseau de feu		Igor Stravinsky	Michel Fokine	Alexander Golovine, Léon Bakst
1911	Le Spectre de la rose		Carl Maria von Weber	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
	Narcisse		Nikolai Tcherepnin	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
	Sadko		Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Mikhail Fokine	Boris Anisfeld
	Petrushka		Igor Stravinsky	Michel Fokine	Alexandre Benois
	Swan Lake		Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky	Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, Michel Fokine	Konstantin Korovin, Alexander Golovin
1912	L'après-midi d'un faune		Claude Debussy	Vaslav Nijinsky	Léon Bakst
	Daphnis et Chloé		Maurice Ravel	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
	Le Dieu bleu		Reynaldo Hahn	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
	Thamar		Mily Balakirev	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
1913	Jeux		Claude Debussy	Vaslav Nijinsky	Léon Bakst
	Le sacre du printemps		Igor Stravinsky	Vaslav Nijinsky	Nicholas Roerich
	Tragédie de Salomé		Florent Schmitt	Boris Romanov	Sergey Sudeykin
1914	Les Papillons		Robert Schumann	Mikhail Fokine	Mstislav Doboujinsky
	La légende de Joseph		Richard Strauss	Michel Fokine	Léon Bakst
	Le coq d'or		Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Michel Fokine	Natalia Goncharova
	Le rossignol		Igor Stravinsky	Boris Romanov	Alexandre Benois
1915	Soleil de Nuit		Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Léonide Massine	Mikhail Larionov
1916	Las Meniñas		Louis Aubert, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Emmanuel Chabrier	Léonide Massine	Josep Maria Sert
	Kikimora		Anatoly Liadov	Léonide Massine	Mikhail Larionov
	Till Eulenspiegel		Richard Strauss	Vaslav Nijinsky	Robert Edmond Jones
1917	Feu d'Artifice		Igor Stravinsky		Giacomo Balla
	Les Femmes de Bonne Humeur		Domenico Scarlatti	Léonide Massine	Léon Bakst
	Parade		Erik Satie	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
1919	La Boutique fantasque		Gioachino Rossini	Léonide Massine	André Derain
	El sombrero de tres picos		Manuel de Falla	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
	Les jardins d'Aranjuez		Louis Aubert, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Emmanuel Chabrier	Léonide Massine	Josep Maria Sert
1920	Le chant du rossignol		Igor Stravinsky	Léonide Massine	Henri Matisse
	Pulcinella		Igor Stravinsky	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
	Ballet de l'astuce féminine		Domenico Cimarosa	Léonide Massine	Josep Maria Sert
	Le sacre du printemps (revival)		Igor Stravinsky	Léonide Massine	Nicholas Roerich
1921	Chout		Sergei Prokofiev	Léonide Massine	Mikhail Larionov
	Cuadro Flamenco		Traditional Andalusian music		Pablo Picasso
	The Sleeping Beauty		Pyotr Tchaikovsky	Marius Petipa	Léon Bakst
1922	Le Mariage de la Belle au Bois Dormant		Pyotr Tchaikovsky	Marius Petipa	Alexandre Benois, Natalia Goncharova
	Mavra		Igor Stravinsky	Bronislava Nijinska	Léopold Survage
	Renard		Igor Stravinsky	Bronislava Nijinska	Mikhail Larionov
1923	Les noces		Igor Stravinsky	Bronislava Nijinska	Natalia Goncharova
1924	Les Tentations de la Bergère		Michel de Montéclair	Bronislava Nijinska	Juan Gris
	Le Médecin malgré lui		Charles Gounod	Bronislava Nijinska	Alexandre Benois
	Les biches		Francis Poulenc	Bronislava Nijinska	Marie Laurencin
	Cimarosiana		Domenico Cimarosa	Léonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska	José-María Sert
	Les Fâcheux		Georges Auric	Bronislava Nijinska	Georges Braque
	Le train bleu		Darius Milhaud	Bronislava Nijinska	Henri Laurens, Gabrielle Chanel, Pablo Picasso
1925	Zephyr et Flore		Vladimir Dukelsky	Léonide Massine	Georges Braque
	Le chant du rossignol (revival)		Igor Stravinsky	George Balanchine	Henri Matisse
	Les matelots		Georges Auric	Léonide Massine	Pere Pruna
	Barabau		Vittorio Rieti	George Balanchine	Maurice Utrillo
1926	Roméo et Juliette		Constant Lambert	Bronislava Nijinska	Max Ernst, Joan Miró
	Pastorale		Georges Auric	George Balanchine	Pere Pruna
	Jack in the Box		Erik Satie	George Balanchine	André Derain
	The Triumph of Neptune		Lord Berners	George Balanchine	Pedro Pruna
1927	La chatte		Henri Sauguet	George Balanchine	Naum Gabo
	Mercure		Erik Satie	Léonide Massine	Pablo Picasso
	Le pas d'acier		Sergei Prokofiev	Léonide Massine	Georgy Yakulov
1928	Ode		Nikolai Nabokov	Léonide Massine	Pavel Tchelitchev
	Apollon musagète (Apollo)		Igor Stravinsky	George Balanchine	André Bauschant, Coco Chanel
	The Gods Go A-Begging		George Frederic Handel	George Balanchine	Léon Bakst, Juan Gris
1929	Le Bal		Vittorio Rieti	George Balanchine	Giorgio de Chirico
	Renard (revival)		Igor Stravinsky	Serge Lifar	Mikhail Larionov
	Le fils prodigue		Sergei Prokofiev	George Balanchine	Georges Rouault

What Happened After Diaghilev?

When Sergei Diaghilev passed away in 1929, the Ballets Russes owed a lot of money. The Great Depression was starting, so the company's things were taken by people they owed money to. The dancers went their separate ways.

Later, in 1931, two new companies were formed: the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo and the Original Ballet Russe. Many dancers and choreographers from Diaghilev's original company worked with these new groups. These successor companies helped keep the spirit of Ballets Russes alive.

After World War II started, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo toured a lot in the United States and South America. Many dancers from these companies later opened their own dance studios or taught at other schools. This helped spread the classical Russian ballet style around the world.

The Amazing Dancers

Scene from Apollon musagète, 1928. Dancers: Serge Lifar, Danilova, Chernysheva, Dubrovska, Petrova

The Ballets Russes was known for its incredibly skilled dancers. Most of them had trained at the best Imperial schools in Russia. Their high level of skill was a big reason for the company's success in Paris. Dance technique in Paris had not been as strong for a long time.

Famous female dancers included Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, and Bronislava Nijinska. Many became internationally famous with the company.

The Ballets Russes also made male dancers much more important. Before this, male dancers were often not as noticed. Some of the amazing male dancers were Michel Fokine, Serge Lifar, Léonide Massine, and the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky. Nijinsky is often seen as the most popular and talented dancer in the company's history.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, new dancers often came from Russian families living outside of Russia. Some dancers from America, like Ruth Page, also joined the group.

The Creative Choreographers

The Ballets Russes featured new and sometimes shocking works by great choreographers. These included Marius Petipa and Michel Fokine, as well as new talents like Vaslav Nijinsky, Bronislava Nijinska, Léonide Massine, and a young George Balanchine.

Michel Fokine: The First Innovator

Michel Fokine was very important to the early success of Ballets Russes. He trained at the Imperial Ballet School in Russia. In 1907, he created his first ballet, Le Pavillon d'Armide. He also created Chopiniana using music by Frédéric Chopin. This was new because he used existing music instead of music written just for the ballet.

Fokine became famous around the world for his work in the first four seasons (1909–1912) of Ballets Russes. His ballets included the Polovtsian Dances, Les Sylphides, The Firebird, Le Spectre de la Rose, Petrushka, and Daphnis and Chloé.

Vaslav Nijinsky: A Daring Artist

Vaslav Nijinsky in Scheherazade

Vaslav Nijinsky started at the Imperial Ballet School when he was eight. He joined the Imperial Ballet in 1907 and quickly became a star. Diaghilev invited him to join Ballets Russes for its first season.

In 1912, Diaghilev gave Nijinsky a chance to be a choreographer. He created L'Après-midi d'un faune. The next year, Nijinsky choreographed Jeux and then Igor Stravinsky's famous The Rite of Spring. The Rite of Spring caused a huge stir with the audience because it was so different.

Léonide Massine: Expanding Ballet Stories

Léonide Massine studied acting and dancing in Moscow. Diaghilev invited him to join Ballets Russes to replace Vaslav Nijinsky. Diaghilev encouraged Massine to create his own dances.

Massine's most famous ballets for the company were Parade, El sombrero de tres picos, and Pulcinella. For all of these, he worked with Pablo Picasso, who designed the sets and costumes.

Massine added new ideas to Fokine's choreography. He used folk dances and a style called demi-charactère dance, which mixes classical ballet with character dances. He also created interesting contrasts in his dances, like movements that were together but also individual.

Bronislava Nijinska: A Female Choreographer

Bronislava Nijinska in Petrushka

Bronislava Nijinska was Vaslav Nijinsky's younger sister. She also trained at the Imperial Ballet School. She joined Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1909.

During World War I, Nijinska went to Kiev, where she started a modern dance school. Later, in 1921, she rejoined Ballets Russes. In 1923, Diaghilev asked her to choreograph Stravinsky's Les Noces. This ballet combined her brother's style with more traditional ballet moves, like dancing en pointe (on the tips of the toes). The next year, she choreographed three more new works for the company.

George Balanchine: A Future Legend

George Balanchine was born in Saint Petersburg and trained at the Imperial School of Ballet. His studies were stopped by the Russian Revolution of 1917. After the school reopened, he also studied music. In 1924, Balanchine joined Ballets Russes as a choreographer. He would later become one of the most important choreographers in American ballet.

The Artistic Designers

Diaghilev asked many famous artists to design the sets and costumes for his ballets. These included Alexandre Benois, Léon Bakst, Pablo Picasso, Coco Chanel, and Henri Matisse.

Their designs made the company's shows incredibly exciting and new. For example, the costumes for Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring were so different that they helped cause a big stir at the first performance.

Even though they created amazing works, most of these designers were not trained for theater. They were usually studio painters.

Alexandre Benois: The Ballet Enthusiast

Alexandre Benois was one of the first people to help Diaghilev start the Mir iskusstva magazine. He loved ballet and greatly influenced Diaghilev's ideas. Benois also knew a lot about history and fashion. He designed sets and costumes for early Ballets Russes shows like Le Pavillon d'Armide and Giselle. He also helped create the story, sets, and costumes for Petrushka.

Léon Bakst: The Colorful Visionary

Léon Bakst was also an early member of the Mir iskusstva group. He designed for Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1921. He created sets and costumes for many famous ballets, including Scheherazade, The Firebird, Le Spectre de la rose, and Daphnis et Chloé.

Pablo Picasso: The Cubist Touch

In 1917, Pablo Picasso designed sets and costumes in his unique Cubist style for three Ballets Russes shows. All of these were choreographed by Léonide Massine: Parade, El sombrero de tres picos, and Pulcinella.

Natalia Goncharova: Inspired by Russian Folk Art

Natalia Goncharova was born in Russia in 1881. Her art was inspired by Russian folk art and modern art styles like Fauvism and Cubism. She started designing for Ballets Russes in 1921.

Composers and Conductors

Igor Stravinsky with Vaslav Nijinsky in costume for Petrushka

Diaghilev asked the best composers of the 20th century to write music for his new ballets. These included Debussy, Prokofiev, Ravel, Satie, and Stravinsky. He also hired famous conductors like Pierre Monteux and Ernest Ansermet.

Igor Stravinsky: A Rising Star

Diaghilev hired the young Igor Stravinsky when he was not well-known. Stravinsky wrote the music for The Firebird. This helped launch Stravinsky's career in Europe and America.

Stravinsky's early ballet music caused a lot of talk. The Firebird (1910) was seen as amazing for such a young composer. Many people found Petrushka (1911) to be too harsh and confusing. The Rite of Spring (1913) almost caused a riot in the audience because of its wild rhythms and strong sounds. Today, Stravinsky's early ballet music is considered masterpieces.

Rare Film of a Performance

Diaghilev always said that cameras could not capture the beauty of his dancers. For a long time, people thought there were no films of the Ballets Russes. However, in 2011, a 30-second newsreel film was found. It showed a performance of Les Sylphides in Switzerland in 1928. The main dancer was identified as Serge Lifar.

Celebrating the Ballets Russes

Russian stamp: Sergei Diaghilev

Over the years, there have been many exhibitions and celebrations of the Ballets Russes:

• Paris, 2008: An exhibition showed about 150 paintings, designs, costumes, and photos. It included works by André Derain, Henri Matisse, Léon Bakst, Pablo Picasso, and Jean Cocteau.
• Monte-Carlo, 2009: Two postage stamps were released to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ballets Russes.
• London, 2010–11: The Victoria and Albert Museum had a special exhibition called Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929.
• Canberra, 2010–11: The National Gallery of Australia showed 150 costumes and accessories from 34 Ballets Russes productions. Many of these had not been seen since they were worn on stage.
• Washington, DC, 2013: The National Gallery of Art hosted an exhibition called Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music.
• Stockholm, 2014–2015: The Dance Museum in Stockholm showed about fifty original costumes from the Ballets Russes.

Images for kids

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  Ballet Russes by August Macke, 1912

See also

• List of productions of Swan Lake derived from its 1895 revival