The era of the Ballets Russes is probably the most chronicled in dance history, yet this book is the first to explain the company as a totality--its art, enterprise, and tudience. Taking a fresh look at familiar sources and incorporating fascinating archival material previously unexamined by Diaghilev scholars, Lynn Garafola paints an extraordinary portrait of the Ballets Russes, one that is bound to upset received opinion about the wellsprings and impact of early modernism.
"This book was published to coincide with the exhibition Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballet Russes 1909-1929 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 25 September 2010-9 January 2011"--Title page verso.
Beautifully illustrated and drawing on unpublished images and memorabilia, this book illuminates the ways in which innovations by the Ballets Russes in dance, music, sets and costume both mirrored and invigorated contemporary culture. --Book Jacket.
The dance, art, music, and cultural worlds of the Ballets Russes--a dance company which helped define the avant-garde in the early part of this century--are surveyed in this book, which begins with Serge Diaghilev's influence. 200+ illustrations.
The success of the Ballets Russes was legendary, but there is more to the legend than its name: the actual story, the adventure, conceived by one man and lived by a few, that lasted only eight seasons and three summers. From 1911 to 1914, Serge Diaghilev, driven by conviction and stubbornness, turned his vision into reality. He collaborated with the likes of Leon Bakst, Igor Stravinsky, and Picasso to create an explosion of creativity in Western Europe which had never before been seen in the world of art. Thanks to Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, the most glorious page in the history of ballet, one of the most magnificent moments in the adventure of Art, was written. To turn the pages of this stunning book, which offers rare documents from the legendary Ballets Russes from 1911 to 1914 (Monte Carlo years), is to follow Diaghilev on his creative quest--a journey that continues to influence art, theater, ballet, and fashion to this day.
"Drawing on letters, correspondence, oral histories, and interviews, Baronova's daughter, the actress Victoria Tennant, ... recounts Baronova's dramatic life, from her earliest aspirations to her grueling time on tour to her later years in Australia as a pioneer of the art"--Dust jacket flap.
Modernism on Stage restores the Ballets Russes to its central role in the Parisian art world of the 1910s and 1920s, and includes close readings of ballets designed by Picasso, Delaunay, Matisse, and de Chirico. Dance is brought to bear upon modernist art history as more than a source of imagery, but as part of the avant-garde's articulation of the idea of a total work of art.
René Blum and the Ballets Russes documents the life of the enigmatic and brilliant writer and producer who resurrected the Ballets Russes after Diaghilev died. Based on a treasure trove of previously undiscovered letters and documents, the book not only tells the poignant story of Blum's life, but also illustrates the central role Blum played in the development of dance in the United States. Indeed, Blum's efforts to save his ballet company eventually helped to bring many of the world's greatest dancers and choreographers--among them Fokine, Balanchine, and Nijinska--to American ballet stages.
"This edition is published to coincide with the exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: When Art Danced with Music, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 12 May-2 September 2013. The exhibition Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929 was originally conceived by and first shown at the V&A Museum, London, in 2010."
The Ballets Russes has engaged people for 100 years, ever since Russian-born Sergei Diaghilev created this dynamic avant-garde company. Diaghilev brought together some of the most important visual artists of the 20th century - Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Andr Derain, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Georges Braque, Giorgio de Chirico, Natalia Gonchorova and Mikhail Larionov and more - who worked as costume and stage designers with composers such as Igor Stravinky, choreographers such as Michel Fokine, and dancers such as Vaslav Nijinsky, infusing new life and creative energy into the performing arts of the time. Premiering in Paris, the Ballets Russes, for the brief period of its existence (1909 - 29), created exotic, extravagant, and charming theatrical spectacle but also critical discussion and technical innovation, as well as exuding glamour - and often creating scandal - wherever it appeared. The costumes featured in this book are drawn entirely from the National Gallery of Australia's world-renowned collection of Ballets Russes costumes and ephemera. Through the costumes, drawings, programs and posters, the visual spectacle of the Ballets Russes is brought back into view for a contemporary audience to appreciate the revolution it was and the ongoing influence it continues to have today. This book is a must for anyone interested in the performing arts, the intersection of art and design, and costume and fashion.
