The Ballet Russe

Before Fokine, the ballet stage was divided into separate dancing areas for the corps de ballet, the soloists, and the ballerinas. The composer, Stravinsky, wanted to write a piece for piano and orchestra in which the piano would be attacked by the instruments. Using creative ideas and other artist’s visions and collaborations, ballet was made into something much more than pretty steps and enjoyable music. After supervising some productions with the Russian Imperial Theater, which he was dismissed from, Diaghilev finally found his niche, an impresario-producer of ballets.

Petrouchka was first performed by the Ballet Russe at the Theatre de Chatale in Paris, June 13, 1911. ” With this in mind, Diaghilev went on to make dozens of productions; Les Sylphides, Firebird, Coq D’or, Rite of Spring, Petrouchka, Les Noces, Apollo, Prodigal Son, The Three Cornered Hat, Sheherazade. Of course, not coming from ballet training, he approached this job from the musical and artistic perspective, how to make the show better. th his failing law career, he dove into the world of painting and poetry by editing a journal which discussed the latest works. Then, add beautiful music by Stravinsky to set the mood, expressive and inventive choreography by Fokine, and realistic and modern costumes, you have a true masterpiece at hand. In the original production of Petrouchka, each dancer was related in both action and reaction to the principal dancers.

Over the years, dance has changed in many ways, but more importantly, the way it is presented changed tremendously. The story is set in a Russian fair around 1830, and the three main characters are the Ballerina, Petrouchka, and the Moor, the latter two both in love with the Ballerina. With Fokine, however, each dancer contributed to the general impression. He knew exactly what people want to see, hear, and feel, and more importantly, he knew how to put on a show.