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Diaghlev died, leaving his dancers without work.
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Wasily de Basil and Rene Blum named their new company Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo.
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Balanchine, former choreographer for Diaghilev's Ballet Russe, became the Dance Master and principle choreographer.
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Balanchine has an idea to make very young dancers the stars of Ballet. At 12-13 years old, each having a different style from one another, these young dancers became known as the "baby ballerinas". Tamara Toumanova was more dramatic, Tania Riabounchinska was feather light with lots of personality, and Irina Boranova was more girlish, passionate and flirty.
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After the first season, Basil and Blum secretly push out Balanchine and replaced him with Leonide Massine. Massine introduced the symphonic orchestra to ballet and the public loved it. He also started creating stronger lead roles for male dancers.
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Ballet Russe set sails for America where Sol Horuk, an impresario, booked their first American Tour. Horuk was the most powerful theatrical promoter in the states.
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Wasily de Basil and Rene Blum no longer saw eye to eye, and Blum resigned from the company. After Blum left Basil's ego was way too much for Massine and he too soon left the company. A war erupted between Basil and Massine over everything connected to the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, including legal fights over the company name and choreography. They each fought over dancers making them choose a side. Massine won the rights to the company name, so Basil named his The Original Ballet Russe.
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Each company was now ready to make their debut; however, Massine had lost all rights to his choreography and found himself creating 3 new enormous ballets. Basil's problem was replacing Massine as principle choreographer, so he eventually hired David Lichine. Lichine and Massine soon became rivals, stealing each others work. Horuk needed another American Tour and chose Massine's Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo. At the same time, Basil took his company to Australia.
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Britain and France declared war on Germany. Panic struck as most Russians did not have the proper papers to leave the country. They were able to get on a oat and leave the country. Both companies were on this boat.
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Horuk publicly declared Basil as one of the hardest people to work with, causing Basil and his company to be out of work. Not being able to return to London, Basil took his company on a Latin American Tour. When Horuk and Basil started talking again, the dancers were so exhausted, they could not meet the demands of Horuk, Horuk left the company stranded and dancers also left for better opportunities. Basil was forced to hire less qualified dancers leaving the company in worse shape.
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This company was the toast of the town in Hollywood glamour. They crossed over into dance for film. However, Massine loving the money and attention seemed to lose his choreographic skill and started producing flops. Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo hired and American choreographer, Agnes de Mille, and so began the beginning of "true American Ballet". Agnes de Mille choreographed "Rodeo" a good old-fashioned American tradition.
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Ballet crossed over into Broadway, choreographed by George Balanchine.
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Last performance was November 1948.
