Introduction Origins of Ballet Dance in the 18th Century  18th Century Satire Romantic Ballet  The Cult of the Ballerina The Pas de Quatre Marie Taglioni Classical Ballet 20th Century Revolution  Diaghilev Ballet Diaghilev Ballet after 1918 Nijinsky Anna Pavlova The Establishment of British Ballet  Ballet Rambert The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet post 1945

Diaghilev and Lifar

Diaghilev split with the Imperial theatres in 1911 and formed his own company, which toured extensively in Europe. Until 1911 all the ballets were choreographed by Michael Fokine. In 1911 Nijinsky was dismissed from the Maryinsky Theatre for a breach of discipline, which many believe Diaghilev (who was Nijinsky’s lover and mentor) deliberately engineered. Diaghilev formed the Diaghilev Ballet from dancers trained in Russian Imperial theatres, with Nijinsky as his star. They never returned to Russia and for the next 20 years the company was an itinerant group touring throughout Europe and, occasionally, America.

Les Sylphides

Margot Fonteyn as the Firebird

The company first visited London in June 1911 when they performed Fokine’s Le Pavilion d’Armide at Covent Garden.

Read the review of Nijinsky’s first performance in the UK.

Listen to review of Nijinsky's first performance in the UK. [Download]

Costumes for The Rite of Spring

Costume for Chout

Aware of the need to sustain public interest, and the need for constant change, Diaghilev dispensed with Fokine and began to train Nijinsky as a choreographer. On the first night of The Rite of Spring, in Paris, there was a full-scale riot by the audience. In 1914, whilst on tour in South America, Nijinsky married fellow dancer Romola de Pulsky. In a jealous rage, Diaghilev dismissed him from the company. Within months he had found a replacement for Nijinsky, a 16 year old student, Leonide Massine, and turned him into a major choreographer and a charismatic performer.

Maryinsky Ballet (Kirov)

The Kirov Ballet is the resident company of the Maryinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. It is a state subsidised company, regarded as one of the finest ballet companies in the world, noted for the purity of its classical style. It is also one of the oldest ballet companies in the world, it was founded in 1738 when Russia was ruled by the Czars and St Petersburg was the capital city. The present Maryinsky Theatre was opened in 1859.

Rite of Spring, The

The Rite of Spring is a ballet choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky with music by Igor Stravinsky performed by the Diaghilev Ballet in 1913. It shows a primitive ritual with the 'Chosen Maiden' dancing herself to death to ensure the fertility of the tribe. Shocked by Nijinsky's modern choreography and Stranvinsky's pulsating score the audience rioted. Many other choreographers have since used the score.