Sergei Diaghilev
Who?
Born 31st March 1872, Segei Diaghilev, usually referred to outside Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.
What did he do?
Diaghilev was a pioneer of a massive ballet movement, he reinvented ballet as he said there should be ‘no boundaries’ within dance. This happened from 1909-1929 in Paris. He created innovative choreography that shocked audiences at the time as they were used to classical ballet. He brought together dancers, artists and choreographers and allowed them to collaborate together for the first time and create a production. This had never been done before, each of these artists would usually work completely separate. Sergei was originally a composer but he was told that his work was ‘observed’ and then he never created music again so turned to creating ballet work. He created the Ballet Russe. The set and costume were completely different to the usual set and costume seen at this time, they were much more theatrical, elaborate and detailed. This was due to the artists having more of an input in the creating of the Ballet Russe. Seen as though Diaghilev was a Russian man/artist, he never performed his work in Russia, this was because it was the home of classical ballet and the rules were very strict there. They couldn’t accept his idea of freedom within dance. Therefore, he performed all of his work in Paris as the community there accepted the movement. Next, he never allowed his work to be filmed, there is only images of his work. This encouraged more people to want to go and watch his work in the theatre. Finally, Sergei brought the male dancer to a more dominant position in ballet, this was unusual because the female dancer was always the principle in classical ballet productions. This changed the role of the male and female in ballet and made the two more equal.
The Ballet Russe
The work he created for his company was a reflection of his own life (full of scandal). He was the first homosexual who asserted himself and was accepted as such by society at the time, as he was very open about his sexuality. This reflected on his company and who he chose to be in it, most of his company were homosexual. The Ballet Russe started in 1909,it was the first ballet company not attached to an orchestra. It featured composers, dancers and artists including, George Balanchine, Anna Pavlova,Vaslav Nijinsky and Pablo Picasso. The dances created were more about telling a story than being technically impressive. The Ballet Russe ended in 1929. This information all features in the video – ‘’cubism the ballet Russe and mostly Diaghlev’’ by Judith Booth.
