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Sergei Diaghilev dies
Diaghilev died from diabetes in 1929. As a result, his dancers were left without work. -
Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo is born
In 1931, Wasily de Basil and Rene Blum formed the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo -
Massine emerges into the spotlight
Basil and Blum secretly pushed Balanchine out as a choreographer and Leonide Massine was put in his place. 1933 began the Massine Era of Ballet at the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. -
Headed to America
The Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo booked their first American tour thanks to the efforts of Sol Hurok. Diaghilev's Ballet Russes had not performed in America in 20 years. In one year, they had performed for 3 million people. -
Tension Rises
Massine left Basil to form his company. However, the tension grew when Massine ran into trouble with de Basil as his choreography were all by de Basil. The jury ruled that de Basil owned Massine's choreography from 1932-1937. It also ruled that Massine was able to name his company Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo while de Basil renamed his company The Original Ballet Russe. Sol Hurok began managing both Basil and Blum's company and even booking them blocks away from each other. -
Serge Denham emerges
After the death of co-founder Rene Blum, Serge Denham took his place over as company director of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. -
Battle of the Ballets
The new Ballet Russes gave it's first performance. However, Massine now had to choreograph 3 massive ballets because he had lost the rights to his other choreography under de Basil's name. Basil hired David Lichine as a principle choreographer in place of Massine. -
World War ll
Most Russians did have the right papers to leave the country and as a result could not leave. However, both companies were able to travel America by boat. As soon as they landed in America, Massine had his company, Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo, perform the night that they arrived in America. This was after months of no rehearsal or practice. -
Hurok and Basil Break Up
After landing in America, both companies continued to tour together. However, Hurok and Basil started having conflicts and Hurok even remarked Basil as one of the most difficult to work people to work with. They attempted to reunite after the failed attempts to find work in other countries but once realizing that the dancers were exhausted from the extensive amounts of traveling, Hurok decided to officially abandon the company and the dancers seeked work elsewhere. -
Blum is deported
Rene Blum is arrested by French police after German Nazis occupied France during World War ll. On September 23, 1942, Blum was then taken to Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was killed by Nazis. -
Massine Enters the Film Industry
Massine left the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo in 1943 following the death of Rene Blum. As Massine grew to love the money and attention from the film industry, the quality of his choreographic works began depleting. He starred in two films by Michael Powell and Eric Pressburger: The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) -
The Original Ballet Russes' Last Show
After Hurok's tragic abandonment of the company and many of his dancers, Basil now had to hire new dancers. Unfortunately, these dancers were not as qualified or technically proficient which therefore left the company in an even worse shape and their last performance was in November of 1948. -
The End of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo
As the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo continued to deter away from their original quality of ballets, the company's popularity and profits declined until they eventually had to declare bankruptcy in 1968. The members of the company started their own studios or taught ballet in larger studios in New York and other major cities.
