Serge Grigoriev / Ballets Russes archive, 1909-2009

Biographical Note

The Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev (also known as Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes) was a creation of the great Russian impresario, Serge Diaghilev. In 1907 Diaghilev presented a festival of Russian music at the Paris Opera and, in 1908, he returned to offer six performances of Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov, which marked the first performance of the opera outside Russia. Upon his re-engagement in 1909, Diaghilev added four ballets to his operatic presentations. The enormous popularity of the ballets was such that in 1910 Diaghilev offered only “Ballets Russes.” Because many of the Russian dancers performing with Diaghilev were members of the Maryinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg, they were allowed to travel only when their season was over and Diaghilev soon realized the importance of creating a permanent dance company in the West.

From 1909 to 1912, the Russian choreographer Michel Fokine’s works dominated the repertory of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, but Fokine’s resignation allowed Diaghilev to re-conceptualize the company and to commission works that fulfilled his personal aesthetic. Vaslav Nijinsky was anointed as the choreographer who would open the door to Diaghilev’s principles of modernism in ballet. Thereafter, the succession of choreographers that continued Diaghilev’s ideals included Léonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska, and George Balanchine.

Between 1918 and 1922, Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes performed for long periods of time in London; however, by the mid-1920s, the company split its time between Paris and Monte Carlo. In Monte Carlo, Diaghilev enjoyed the support of the ruling Grimaldi family and was also providing dancers and choreographers for most of the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo’s operatic productions.

One of Diaghilev’s most significant legacies was his collaboration with other artists. For example, he commissioned scores from Debussy, Ravel, Richard Strauss, Satie, Poulenc, and Prokofiev, and is credited with establishing Stravinsky’s international career. Diaghilev also worked closely with the numerous painters and sculptors who created designs for his company, including Bakst, Benois, Matisse, Picasso, Rouault, Gris, Braque, Utrillo, and Miró. However, perhaps his greatest contribution to the world of ballet was his support of the choreographers Nijinsky, Massine, Nijinska, and Balanchine. Likewise, he launched the careers of many dancers, including names such as Adolph Bolm, Léonide Massine, Lydia Lopokova, Olga Spessivtseva, Anton Dolin, Alexandra Danilova, Alicia Markova, and Serge Lifar.

Throughout its existence, Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes set new standards for ballet technique and played an important role in creating a significant body of choreographic works—many of which continue to be performed in the repertories of ballet companies throughout the world.

After Serge Diaghilev’s death in 1929, René Blum was appointed director of ballet at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo. Blum was determined to establish a new Russian ballet company at the Théâtre and, in 1931 he met Colonel Wassily de Basil. De Basil had emigrated to Paris in 1919 and was the director of L’Opéra Russe à Paris. In late 1931, de Basil and Blum created Les Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo with George Balanchine as ballet master and Boris Kochno as artistic director. The company’s first season opened at the Théâtre de Monte-Carlo in 1932 and, at the end of the year, Balanchine left and was replaced by Léonide Massine. Massine remained with the company until 1937. After a disagreement with Blum in 1934, de Basil became the sole director and the company became known as the Ballets Russes de Colonel W. de Basil (later called the Original Ballet Russe).

When de Basil died in 1951, his associate George Kirsta organized a new company that opened four months later at the Wimbledon Theatre, England. Despite some local touring, the company performed for the last time in January 1952. Known variously throughout the years as the Ballets Russes de Colonel W. de Basil (1932-1938), Colonel W. de Basil’s Ballet Russe (1937, in New York), Educational Ballets Limited (1938), Covent Garden Russian Ballet (1938-1940), and the Original Ballet Russe (1940-1952), the company crisscrossed the globe and was instrumental in the popularization of ballet worldwide.

Serge Grigoriev studied ballet at the Imperial Theatre School in Saint Petersburg and, in 1909, Diaghilev appointed him as company régisseur (rehearsal director) for the first Paris season of his Ballets Russes. Grigoriev remained in this position until Diaghliev’s death in 1929. Upon the formation of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, Grigoriev served once again as régisseur, remaining with the company until its dissolution in 1952. During the 1950s, along with his wife, dancer Lubov Tchernicheva, he staged revivals of Fokine ballets for Sadler’s Wells Ballet (later known as the Royal Ballet), the London Festival Ballet, and La Scala, and oversaw rehearsals for Massine ballets. Grigoriev died on 28 June 1968.