Mark Nicholls
The Ballets Russes was one of the most influential performing arts companies of the twentieth century. In the years before the outbreak of World War I, the company produced works such as Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, which still engage and inspire music, dance, performance and visual artists to this day. This book is an analysis of the inner workings of this groundbreaking company. Drawing on firsthand accounts by company artists as well as more recent fiction and documentary film reconstructions, it recounts the story of the Sergei Diaghilev-helmed creative hothouse in its formative years. Dominated by artists, musicians and dancers such as Alexandre Benois, Igor Stravinsky, Michel Fokine, Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky, these were years of fusion, ensemble creativity and collaboration. The Ballets Russes defined modernism grounded in principles of artistic rediscovery, and aspired to excellence and the status of high culture without shunning the benefits of hype. Above all, the Ballets Russes created a new art form that transcended all its component parts to stand as a model of artistic fusion, the principles of which continue to inspire artists and audiences.
