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Death of Serge Diaghilev : Ballet Russe
The impresario Serge Diaghilev revolutionized ballet under his company known as the Ballet Russe. Diaghilev died in 1929 leaving his dancers without work. -
Resurrection
Colonel Wassily de Basil and Rene Blum premiered the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1931 after the death of Serge Diaghilev. -
Baby ballerinas
George Balanchine and Leonide Massine were choreographers in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. They chose the best Russian ballerinas, Tamara Toumanova, Irina Baronova, and Tatiana Riabouchinska to star in the company. Their young age as well as their distinct dance styles earned their fame as the "baby ballerinas." -
Choreographer Tensions
Choreographers from Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe such as Balanchine returned to work with Basil and Blum. Basil and Blum secretly plotted to get rid of Balanchine and they replaced him with Leonide Massine, another choreographer from Diaghilev's Ballet Russe. -
The Massine Era
The Massine Era of ballet began at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in london. Massine created stronger lead roles for males. -
Tour time
The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo starts its American tour booked by Sol Hurok. -
Hiring American dancers
After the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo went on tour to America, they taught ballet Russsian traditions to Americans. Later the company began hiring American dancers, but their names were changed to sound Russian. -
"Monte Carlo" renamed
Strained tensions between the choreographers ended in Colonel Vassily de Basil taking rights to the "Monte Carlo" name, the hiring of Michel Fokine, and the changing the company name to Col. de Basil's Ballets Russes and later to the Original Ballet Russe. The many choreographers of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo continued to have their feuds. -
War Declared
Britain and France declared war on Germany in WWII. Many Russians did not have the papers to leave the country. Both companies went to America on boats. -
War aftermath
WWII left the country poor, and food was scarce. De Basil's Original Ballet company still found work on their exhausted international tour but it diminished by 1948. -
Go Balanchine!
George Balanchine became the company's resident choreographer in 1944 for the next 2 years creating 12 works. (ex:Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux). He left the company in 1946 and formed his own company. -
The end of Ballet Russe
René Blum remained in Europe from the war and died in a concentration camp. The Ballet Russe never performed in Europe again during its 25 years of existence. Massine also resigned.
