Ballets Russes and Politics: an introduction

The Ballets Russes are a private ballet company founded by Sergei Diaghilev, that toured in Europe and the Americas from 1909 to 1929. It revolutionized the classical ballets, the way they were perceived as well as the way they were conceptualized. Indeed, the Ballets Russes’ original creations were not only about dancers and choreography but also about music, costumes and decors, leading to the creation of total art pieces.

A gathering of talents from all arts

The leader of the company, the impressive russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev, managed to have multiple artists of talents working for his ballets, much of which are still famous nowadays. These greats names include, for the dancers and choregraphers: Vaslav Nijinski, Michel Fokine, Leonide Massine, Georges Balanchine, as well as Ida Rubinstein. For the composers, the Russians Stravinsky, Moussorgski, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakoff, but also the French Debussy, Satie, Ravel, Poulenc and Milhaud. Concerning the decors and costumes, well-known paintors such as  Bakst, Picasso, Braque, Matisse or Benois. Coco Chanel also did create costumes for the Ballets Russes.

A tremendous heritage

This tremendous gathering of such talented artist resulted in the creation of pieces that are still classics today: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), The Afternoon of a Faun (1912), The Rite of Spring (1913)… If these pieces are all well-known for their musical aspect nowadays, one must not forget that they initially were composed for the ballet. The Ballets Russes thus impacted musical creation to a great extent. And their legacy is huge, as they were the first independent touring private ballet company, that paved the way to so many others. But the arts are not the only thing that the Ballets Russes impacted: they also have had a political impact.

An instrument of soft power?

By working on the theme Music and Politics, we realized that arts and politics are strongly correlated. Arts are used by the political as a tool: to gather, to control, to convey specific views, and far more. The artistic creation is hardly about the “art for the art”, as any creation is done in a specific political context, responding to the current society. That is why, when thinking about the Ballets Russes, we could not look at them without asking ourselves: were the Ballets Russes an instrument of soft power for the Russian government? They, for sure, revolutionized the artistic world; did they also revolutionized the way Russia was perceived at the time? What link is there between the Ballets Russes and politics?

These are questions this blog aims at answering. We are not experts, and the articles we provide are reflecting our reflection on this subject, to which we do not have a definitive answer. Nevertheless, we hope that our work will give you an insight on the situation and wish you an interesting reading!