Serge Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes
Perhaps one of the greatest influences on Russian ballet was Serge Diaghilev, the impresario of the Ballets Russes from 1909 until his death in 1929. The Ballets Russes made an incredible impact on the world of ballet, spreading like wildfire from France to London, and later to America, and encompassing such legends as Nijinsky, Massine and Balanchine, as well as many other leading European composers and artists of the period. Thanks to Diaghiliv and his regisseur Serge Grigoriev, we now have the beauty of such ballets as Les Sylphides, The Firebird and Petrushka.
Serge Diaghilev was born of Russian nobility in Perm, Russia, on March 19, 1872. In 1890 his family moved to Saint Petersburg, and at the university there, Diaghilev was supposed to study law, but he soon became enamored with the arts and realized that was where his future lie. Shortly after entering the university, Diaghilev left school and became immersed in the world of art and dance in Saint Petersburg (Chochran). In 1899, together with some friends, Diaghilev founded an art journal called Mir Iskusstva (World of Art), which continued to be published until 1905. Also that year, Diaghilev joined the administration of the Imperial Theatres as artistic advisor and produced a number of ballets and operas (Fowler and Atkinson "A Tribute to Serge Diaghilev").
Prior to Diaghilev's advent onto the scene of ballet, dance in Russia tended to be very romantic. Marie Taglioni, though not from Russia, was very popular in La Sylphide (1832), as was Australian dancer Fanny Essler in Le Diable Boiteux (1836). During this time in Russia, a Frenchman named Marius Petipa was the chief choreographer of the Imperial Russian Ballet. Under his direction, the ballet became a full-length, evening-long story, combining mimed scenes...
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