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Marius Petipa is considered the Father of Ballet. He created over 50 new ballets including, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty.
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La Sylphide is a romantic ballet and is considered to be one of the first White Ballets. It was choreographed by Phillipe Taglioni and performed by his daughter Marie Taglioni.
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Four of the most famous ballerinas performed in this ballet. It was choreographed by Jules Perrot. The four ballerinas were Marie Taglioni, Carlotta Grisi, Lucile Grahn, and Fanny Cerito.
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Giselle is a romantic ballet choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The version most often seen today is based on the one produced by Marius Petipa. The role of Giselle was performed by Carlotta Grisi.
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Coppelia is a romantic ballet choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon.
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Diagilev died in 1929 and left his dancers without work.
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Wasily de Basil and Rene Blum resurrected the Ballet Russe and named it Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo.
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George Balanchine became the Ballet Master and the principle choreographer of this new company.
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Balanchine had the idea to take young ballerinas, about 13-14 years old, and make them the stars of the company.
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Tamara was a dramatic dancer. She was one of Balanchine's Baby Ballerinas.
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Tiana was as light as a feather and had lots of personality. She was one of Balanchine's Baby Ballerinas.
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Irina was girlish, passionate, and flirty. She was one of Balanchine's Baby Ballerinas.
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The Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo's first performance was in 1932 and critics said it was "the authentic air to Diaghilev's Ballet Russe".
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After the first season, Basil and Blum secretly pushed out Balanchine and replaced him with Leonide Massine.
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Massine introduced the symphonic orchestra to ballet and everyone loved it. He started giving stronger lead roles to male dancers. Sol Hurok (an impresario) helped the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo book an American tour. By 1935 they had performed in front of 3 million people. In the states they hired American dancers, but made their names sound Russian. For example, Marc Platt became Marc Plattoff.
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Everything became too much for Blum so he resigned. Then, Basil's ego caused Massine to also leave. There was then an argument over who got to keep the name and the choreography. Basil won the choreography and Massine won the name. Basil responded by naming his new company The Original Ballet Russe.
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Basil hired David Lichine to replace Massine. Massine and Lichine soon became rivals and they fought over dancers, forcing them to choose who to dance with. Hurok also needed a company to go on another American tour with, and he chose Massine's company. Basil then took his company on a tour in Australia. By 1939 both companies were back in London.
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War was declared and many Russians didn't have the right papers to be able to leave the country. Both companies were able to travel to America by boat. Hurok felt bad for both companies and took them on a train tour for 9 months to small towns that had never seen ballet before.
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Massine's Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo had an experience different from Basil. They were wrapped up in Hollywood glamour and started dancing for film. Massine started to produce flops because his mind was more concerned with money and fame rather that choreography.
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Since Massine was losing his choreographic touch, he took a chance and hired Agnes de Mille. She was the beginning of "true American ballet".
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Hurok and Basil severed ties in 1941 because Hurok said Basil was impossible to work with. Basil, needing work for his dancers, took them on a Latin American tour. This tour exhausted them. Finally Hurok and Basil started talking again and took them to America for a tour. The company was exhausted and weak and it was a disaster. Hurok then abandoned them again.
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In 1944 ballet crossed over into Broadway thanks to George Balanchine. For the past 12 years he had been bouncing around ballet, Broadway, and film.
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By now some of the dancers started leaving for better opportunities. Basil then hired less experienced and less technically proficient dancers. This put the company in the worst shape yet. The last performance was in November 1948.
