Serge Diaghilev

Serge (de) Diaghilev (1872-1929) was a Russian impresario and founder of the [Ballets Russes]?, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would later arise. In 1910 he organised the first of 20 ballet seasons in Paris. This period was of tremendous importance to the development of ballet as a performing art in theatre.

In 1910 Diaghilev started a series of ballet seasons in Paris with his Ballet Russes, with famous dancers like [Anna Pavlova]? and [Vaslav Nyinsky]?. Diagilev used ballet music which he commissioned from composers such as Debussy, Ravel?, Satie, [Richard Strauss]?, Prokofjev?, Poulenc? and others. His choreographer [Mikhail Fokine]? often adapted the music for ballet. Together they developed a more complicated form of ballet with show-elements intended to appeal to the general public, rather than solely the aristocracy.

The end of the nineteenth century brought a development in the handling of tonality, harmony, rhythm and meter towards more freedom. Until that time, rigid harmonic schemes had forced rhythmic patterns to stay fairly uncomplicated. Around the turn of the century, however, harmonic and metric devices became either more rigid, or much more unpredictable, and each approach had a liberating effect on rhythm, which also affected ballet. Diaghilev was a pioneer in adapting these new musical styles to modern ballet. When Ravel used a 5/4 time in the final part of his ballet Daphnis and Chloé (1912), dancers of the Ballet Russes sang Ser-ge-dia-ghi-lev during rehearsals to keep the correct rhythm.

Members of Diaghilev's Ballet Russe later went on to found ballet traditions in the United States ([Georges Balanchine]?) and England (Ninette de Valois and Marie Rambert). Ballet master Serge Lifar went on to revived the Paris Opera. Diaghilev died in Paris in 1929.