One hundred years ago, a
groundbreaking and profoundly influential ballet troupe was launched. When
Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes gave its first performance in Paris in May
1909, audiences were thrilled by the new, boldly dramatic choreography and by
the high level of artistic collaboration that included leading, innovative
composers and visual artists. Diaghilev brought ballet to a new level if
intellectual seriousness and made it a forward-looking art form, with original
works that defied expectations and at times even shocked.
Many ballet companies and
institutions are taking note of this significant centennial, but in New York
City there has not been a great deal of activity saluting Diaghilev’s
achievement by our major companies. American Ballet Theatre, which has
previously performed such landmark Ballets Russes ballets as Petrouchka, Les Sylphides and Le Spectre
de la Rose, did not include any of them in its 2009 repertory. George
Balanchine, the founder and artistic lynchpin of New York City Ballet, was the
final important choreographer nurtured by Diaghilev, and one of the seminal
works he created for the Ballets Russes, his 1929 Prodigal Son, was performed by NYCB this year. Both that work and Apollo, his other Ballets Russes ballet
that has remained in active repertory, remain remarkable, enduring
achievements: 80-year-old works of bracing vitality that are anything but
musty.
The upcoming Fall for Dance
Festival (Sept. 22 through Oct. 3) at City Center will include a focus on the
Diaghilev repertory, both reconstructions and contemporary versions of Ballets
Russes works. But the most comprehensive centennial event is the ongoing
exhibition, Diaghilev’s Theater of
Marvels: The Ballets Russes and Its Aftermath, currently on view at the New York Public Library for
the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center (through Sept. 12).
There
are indeed marvels to discover and re-visit here, from costume designs by
Picasso, Bakst and Roerich to musical scores with Stravinsky’s markings on them
and posters by Cocteau. The degree of color and fantasy on view are evidence of
the vibrant imagination of the A-list artists whom Diaghilev engaged. Many
familiar and some iconic images are included, but also much that is less well
known about the rich two decades of the Ballets Russes’ existence. (The company
folded when Diaghilev died in 1929, though various would-be successor troupes
surfaced during the ensuing decades.)
The
numerous glass cases contain precious, fascinating documents and offer much
that is worthy of perusal. You can almost sense the anticipation of the Parisian
audiences when you see the program for the 1909 dress rehearsal on the eve of
the troupe’s opening night. You can follow the details—the roster of dancers
and musicians, the scheduling—of the Ballets Russes’ 1916 season here at the
Metropolitan Opera. Souvenir programs from the various seasons chart the
continuous series of premieres by the company’s brilliant and innovative
choreographers Fokine, Massine, Nijinsky, Nijinska and Balanchine.
The
correspondence between various major players yields fascinating insight.
Balanchine writes to Diaghilev of his (ultimately futile) efforts to recruit
some of the Russians dancers with whom he had worked earlier for his
short-lived Young Ballet. One brief letter is from Cole Porter, inviting
Diaghilev to dinner. Several rare (and presumably extremely valuable) volumes
are on display, such as the 1899 Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters that
Diaghilev edited during his brief tenure at assistant to the director there.
The
video area includes six screens offering performances ranging from a grainy
1915 Anna Pavlova film through glossy 1980s Dance in America performances of
Ballets Russes repertory. Vintage Royal Ballet productions of Fokine and
Nijinska ballets are included, and in one clip Tamara Karsavina, one of Diaghilev’s great ballerinas (and Nijinsky’s partner in several works) gives
the vivid introduction to footage of Les Sylphides.
Many of the costumes on
display, and several video segments, are from the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, a
reminder that in its original incarnation as a terrific, feisty New York City
company, the Joffrey did more than any other to bring the Diaghilev repertory
to life for a new generation. Robert Joffrey was fascinated by the Ballets
Russes, and supervised meticulous revivals, often bringing in the original
creators when possible. Thanks to him, dance audiences of the 1970s and 1980s
had a living connection to this all-important era in ballet history. This
exhibition provides a comparable eye-opening experience for today.
Diaghilev’s
Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and Its Aftermath
Through
Sept. 12, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 111 Amsterdam Ave.
(at W. 65th St.), 212-870-1630; times vary, FREE
