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Léon Bakst: Firebird, Ballerina, 1910

There was also the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1932 to 1963

The Ballets Russes (French for The Russian Ballets) was a ballet company established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev and resident first in the Théâtre Mogador and Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. Then they went to Monte Carlo. Its members originated from the Tsar's Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, where all its dancers were associated and trained, and the influence of the great choreographer Marius Petipa. It created a sensation in Western Europe because of the great vitality of Russian ballet compared to French dance. The Ballets Russes became one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century, in part because of the ground-breaking artistic collaboration among choreographers, composers, and artists. That influence, in one form or another, has lasted to this day.

The company consisted of 13 members, all at a very high standards of dance. The dancers and choreographers associated with it included George Balanchine, Mathilde Kschessinska, Michel Fokine, Vera Karalli, Tamara Karsavina, Serge Lifar, Alicia Markova, Léonide Massine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Ida Rubinstein and Lydia Lopokova.

Designers included Bakst, Benois, Braque, Gontcharova, Picasso, Chanel, Matisse, Derain, Miro, de Chirico,Dali, Bilibin, Tchelitchev, and Utrillo.

Composers included Debussy, Milhaud, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Ravel, Satie, Respighi, Richard Strauss, and, most notably, Igor Stravinsky, whom Diaghilev spotted when he was virtually unknown and whose career he launched.

Russian Ballet, by August Macke (1912). The ballet being danced appears to be Carnaval.

See also: Category of Ballets Russes productions

After Diaghilev's death in 1929, the company's property was claimed by creditors. The dancers were scattered. Count de Basile revived the company under the name Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, with which George Balanchine and Tamara Toumanova were associated. He and one of his collaborators disagreed, who went on to found another company under the name Original Ballet Russe. During World War II the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo toured extensively in the United States and South America. The Original Ballet Russe toured mostly in Europe.

Ballets Russes companies performed in Australia between 1938 and 1946. Max Dupain, Australian photographer, took photographs of the principal dancers during this period. (See external link below)

Dance Portal

• Serge Diaghilev
• Mir Iskusstva
• Igor Stravinsky
• Vaslav Nijinsky
• The Rite of Spring
• Théâtre Mogador
• George Balanchine

• Danza Ballet: Especial The Ballet Russes
• Ballet Russes (2005), documentary covering the history of the Ballet Russe from its inception through to the end, featuring many interviews with surviving dancers of the company - IMDB listing
• Ballets Russes Australian tours (1936 - 1940) / AustraliaDancing
• The Ballets Russes in Australasia, 1936-1940 / National Library of Australia performing arts collection
• Ballets Russes project / National Library of Australia
• The Ballets Russes in Australasia, 1936-1940 - a list of holdings from the National Library of Australia (including links to digitised collection items)
• Max Dupain's Dancers 1938-1946 Collection, National Library of Australia
• : J. M. Barrie and the Russian Dancers - Article by Robert Greenham about J. M. Barrie's play 'The Truth about the Russian Dancers' and his friendships with the prima ballerinas of Ballets Russes, Lydia Lopokova and Tamara Karsavina.