History Original Ballet Russe

1 history

1.1 dissolution of ballets russes , formation of ballets russe de monte carlo
1.2 massine , balanchine join
1.3 blum leaves
1.4 company splits
1.5 during world war ii
1.6 disbandment

history
dissolution of ballets russes , formation of ballets russe de monte carlo

the company s name derived ballets russes of impresario sergei diaghilev. last season of diaghilev s ballets russes 1929, during toured , performed in both london, england, , paris, france. during final season, produced new ballets prodigal son , le bal. company performed final time in london @ covent garden theatre on july 26, 1929. diaghliev died of complications diabetes month later, on august 19, 1929.

in 1931, financier serge denham, rené blum , colonel wassily de basil formed ballet russe de monte carlo. 1 of new company s board members american businessman jim thompson.

massine , balanchine join

the company hired leonide massine , george balanchine choreographers. majority of works performed had been staged diaghilev s company, other new works commissioned, such jeux d enfants, music of george bizet , sets joan miró. featured dancers included david lichine (who began choreographing ballets company), , baby ballerinas irina baronova, tamara toumanova, , tatiana riabouchinska. company conductor efrem kurtz, stayed company until 1942, touring them extensively. company librettist boris kochno. ballet gave first performance in monte carlo in 1932.

without consulting blum, col. de basil dropped balanchine after 1 year — ostensibly because thought audiences preferred works choreographed massine. librettist kochno let go, while dancer toumanova left company when balanchine fired.

blum leaves

col. de basil , blum had acrimonious relationship, ended in 1934 blum breaking partnership. col. de basil renamed company ballets russes de colonel w. de basil.

the company struggled financially in wake of great depression, , on verge of bankruptcy. sol hurok, american, took on management of ballet russe , brought company united states.

the company splits

in 1937, massine left, joining blum form own company, recruiting several dancers previous group. however, ballets massine had choreographed while under contract col. de basil owned company. massine sued de basil in london regain intellectual property rights own works. sued claim ballet russe de monte carlo name. jury decided de basil owned massine s ballets created between 1932 , 1937, not created before 1932. ruled both successor companies use name ballet russe — massine , blum s company called ballet russe de monte carlo. col. de basil renamed company again, calling covent garden russian ballet , bringing on michel fokine resident choreographer.

sol hurok ended managing blum , massine s company well. ballet russe de monte carlo , original ballet russe performed near each other. under new name, company s first season, starting may 1938, @ royal opera house, covent garden. massine s ballet russe de monte carlo had season @ theatre royal, drury lane few hundred yards away, , season known london ballet wars .

after london, hurok booked both of companies perform in new york (with de basil s company playing hollywood theatre), total of fifteen weeks, making longest ballet season of new york. along management, 2 companies shared dancers. hurok continued have companies perform near each other; hoped reunite companies, unsuccessful. company spent weeks on whistle stop tour of america, sleeping on special train hired transport them.

in 1939, company spent six-week season @ covent garden. english ballerina mona inglesby danced company season.

finally, in 1939, col. de basil gave company final name, original ballet russe.

the company toured extensively throughout europe , australia, visiting australia in 1936–37, 1938–39, , 1939–40. during visit australia, de basil commissioned work australians, designers, included sidney nolan , kathleen , florence martin. instigated design competition original australian ballet, won donald friend designs ballet based on fictitious event in life of ned kelly.. number of dancers stayed in australia, including kira bousloff, went on found west australian ballet.

during world war ii

soon after returned united states in 1939, world war ii broke out. company suffered financially, able book entire cast of dancers on tour havana, cuba, in 1941. alberto alonso , first wife patricia denise danced principal roles on havana tour. company not pay dancers adequately, , took second jobs in nightclubs survive. principal dancers forced take roles not solos.

while in cuba, david lichine , tatiana leskova appeared in conga pantera @ cabaret tropicana. other dancers included tamara grigorieva, nina verchinina, anna leontieva, genevieve moulin, tatiana leskova, anna volkova, lazowski, dimitri romanoff, roman jasinski, paul petroff, , oleg tupin.

disbandment

in 1947, original ballet russe gave last season in london before disbanding. company revived in 1951 family members g. kirsta , grigrievs, after col. de basil died. company proved financially unstable, , folded while on tour in europe in 1952.