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"Russian Seasons" - annual theatrical performances of Russian opera and ballet at the beginning of the 20th century in Paris (since 1906), London (since 1912) and other cities of Europe and the USA. The "Seasons" were organized by Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872-1929).
S.P. Diaghilev - Russian theatrical figure, entrepreneur. In 1896 he graduated from the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, at the same time he studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the class of Rimsky-Korsakov. Diaghilev knew painting, theater, history very well. artistic styles. In 1898, he became one of the organizers of the "World of Art" group, as well as the editor of the magazine of the same name, which, as in other areas of culture, fought against the "academic routine" for new means of expression new modern art. In 1906-1907, Diaghilev organized exhibitions of Russian artists in Berlin, Paris, Monte Carlo, Venice, as well as performances by Russian artists.
In 1906, the first Russian season of Diaghilev took place in Western Europe, in Paris. He began working at the Salon d'Automne to organize a Russian exhibition, which was supposed to present Russian painting and sculpture over two centuries. In addition, Diaghilev added to it a collection of icons. Particular attention at this exhibition was given to a group of artists from the "World of Art" (Benoit, Borisov-Musatov, Vrubel, Bakst, Grabar, Dobuzhinsky, Korovin, Larionov, Malyutin, Roerich, Somov, Serov, Sudeikin) and others. The exhibition opened under the chairmanship of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, the exhibition committee was headed by Count I. Tolstoy. Diaghilev released for greater accessibility the catalog of the Russian Art Exhibition in Paris with an introductory article by Alexandre Benois on Russian art. The exhibition at the Autumn Salon was an unheard-of success - that's when Diaghilev begins to think about other Russian seasons in Paris. For example, about the season of Russian music. He arranges a trial concert, and its success set the plans for the next 1907. Returning to St. Petersburg in triumph, Diaghilev began to prepare the second Russian season. His famous Historical Concerts. For this, a committee was created chaired by A.S. Taneyev - chamberlain of the highest court and notorious composer. The best musical forces were involved in these concerts: Arthur Nikish (an incomparable interpreter of Tchaikovsky), Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Glazunov and others conducted. F. Chaliapin's world fame began with these concerts. "Historical Russian Concertos" were composed of works by Russian composers and performed by Russian artists and the choir of the Bolshoi Theatre. The program was carefully designed and composed of masterpieces of Russian music: "Seasons" presented in Paris the Russian opera "Boris Godunov" with the participation of Chaliapin. The opera was staged in the editorial office of Rimsky-Korsakov and in luxurious scenery by the artists Golovin, Benois, Bilibin. The program included the overture and first act of Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, symphonic paintings from Rimsky-Korsakov's The Night Before Christmas and The Snow Maiden, as well as parts from Sadko and Tsar Saltan. Of course, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Taneyev, Scriabin, Balakirev, Cui were represented. After the stunning success of Mussorgsky and Chaliapin, Diaghilev in next year brings to Paris "Boris Godunov" with the participation of Chaliapin. The Parisians discovered a new Russian miracle - Shalyapin's Boris Godunov. Diaghilev said that this performance was simply impossible to describe. Paris was shocked. The audience of the Grand Opera, always prim, this time screamed, knocked, cried.
And again Diaghilev returns to St. Petersburg to begin work on the preparation of a new "Season". This time he was to show Russian ballet to Paris. At first everything went smoothly and brilliantly. Diaghilev received a large subsidy, he enjoyed the highest patronage, he received the Hermitage Theater for rehearsals. Almost every evening an unofficial committee met at Diaghilev's own apartment to work out the program for the Paris season. From the Petersburg dancers, a young, "revolutionary" group was outlined - M. Fokin, an excellent dancer, who at that time was starting his career as a choreographer, Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina and, of course, the brilliant Kshesinskaya, Bolm, Monakhov and a very young, but declared himself as about the "eighth wonder of the world" Nijinsky. The prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Koralli was invited from Moscow. Everything seemed to work out so well. But... Died Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, and besides, Diaghilev offended Kshesinskaya, to whom he was primarily obliged to receive a subsidy. He offended her by wanting to resume Giselle for Anna Pavlova, and he offered the magnificent Kshesinskaya a small role in the ballet The Pavilion of Armida. There was a stormy explanation, "during which the" interlocutors "threw things at each other ...". Diaghilev lost his subsidies and patronage. But that was not all - the Hermitage, the scenery and costumes of the Mariinsky Theater were taken from him. Court intrigues began. (Only two years later, he will make peace with the ballerina Kshesinskaya and kept for life with her good relationship.) Everyone already believed that there would be no Russian season in 1909. But it was necessary to have the indestructible energy of Diaghilev in order to rise again from the ashes. Help (almost salvation) came from Paris, from secular ladies and friend Diaghilev Sert - she arranged a subscription in Paris with her friends and collected necessary funds in order to be able to remove the theater "Chatelet". Work began again, and the Repertoire was finally approved. These were Tcherepnin's "Pavilion of Armida", "Polovtsian Dances" from "Prince Igor" by Borodin, "Feast" to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Glinka and Glazunov, "Cleopatra" by Arensky, the first act of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in the scenery ARTISTS of the "World of Art" group. Fokine, Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova and T. Karsavina were the main figures in Diaghilev's "Russian ballet" project. Here is what Karsavina said about Diaghilev:
“As a young man, he already possessed that sense of perfection, which is undoubtedly the property of a genius. He knew how to distinguish transient truth from eternal truth in art. For all the time that I knew him, he was never mistaken in his judgments, and the artists had absolute faith in his opinion. Nijinsky was the pride of Diaghilev - he only graduated from college in 1908 and entered the Mariinsky Theater, and immediately they started talking about him as a miracle. They talked about his extraordinary jumps and flights, calling him a bird-man. "Nijinsky," recalls the artist and friend of Diaghilev S. Lifar, "given himself to Diaghilev, into his careful and loving hands, into his will - whether because he instinctively felt that in no one's hands would he be so safe and no one unable to shape his dancing genius in the way Diaghilev did, or because, infinitely soft and completely devoid of will, he was unable to resist someone else's will. early 1911, when he was forced to retire because of Diaghilev. Nijinsky was a rare dancer, and only a dancer. Diaghilev also believed that he could be a choreographer. However, in this role, Nijinsky was unbearable - ballet dancers perceived and remembered rehearsals with him as terrible torments, because Nijinsky could not clearly express what he wanted. In 1913, Diaghilev released Nijinsky into the world, on an American journey. And there, indeed, poor Nijinsky almost died, completely submitting again to someone else's will. But it was already a woman, Romola Pulska, who married Nijinsky to herself, and, moreover, dragged him into the Tolstoy sect. All this accelerated the process of the dancer's mental illness. But it will still be. In the meantime, until the end of April 1909, the Russian "barbarians" finally arrive in Paris and frantic work begins before the next "Russian Season". The problems that Diaghilev had to overcome were darkness. First of all, elite Paris, seeing Russian ballet dancers at a dinner in their honor, was greatly disappointed by their outward dullness and provincialism, which raised doubts about their art. Secondly, the "Chatelet" theater itself - state-owned, gray and boring, was completely unsuitable as a "frame" for beautiful Russian performances. Diaghilev even rebuilt the stage, removed five rows of stalls and replaced it with boxes, covered with columnar velvet. And in the midst of all this incredible construction noise, Fokin held rehearsals, raising his voice to shout over all the noise. And Diaghilev was literally torn between artists and musicians, ballet dancers and workers, between visitors and critics-interviewers, who increasingly published materials about Russian ballet and Diaghilev himself.
On May 19, 1909, the first ballet performance took place. It was a holiday. It was a miracle. One French grand dame recalled that it was "sacred fire and sacred delirium that swept the entire auditorium." In front of the public there was really something never seen before, unlike anything, incomparable to anything. A completely special beautiful world, which none of the Parisian spectators even suspected. This "nonsense", this passion lasted for six weeks. Ballet performances alternated with operas. Diaghilev spoke of this time: "We all live as if bewitched in the gardens of Armida. The very air surrounding Russian ballets is full of dope." The famous Frenchman Jean Cocteau wrote: "The red curtain rises over the holidays that turned France upside down and which carried the crowd into ecstasy after the chariot of Dionysus." Russian ballet was accepted by Paris immediately. Accepted as a great artistic revelation that created an entire era in art. Real hymns were sung to Karsavina, Pavlova and Nijinsky. They instantly became favorites of Paris. Karsavina, the critic said, "looks like a dancing flame, in the light and shadows of which languid bliss dwells." But the Russian ballet fascinated everyone by the fact that it was an ensemble, by the fact that the corps de ballet played a great role in it. In addition, the painting of the scenery, and the costumes - everything was significant, everything created an artistic ensemble. Less was said about the choreography of the Russian ballet - it was just difficult to understand it right away. But all holidays come to an end. The Parisian is over. It was, of course, a worldwide success, as Russian artists received invitations to different countries peace. Karsavina and Pavlova were invited to London and America, Fokine - to Italy and America. Diaghilev, having returned to St. Petersburg, began preparations for the new season, in which it was imperative to consolidate success. And Diaghilev, who has a fantastic sense of talent, knew that Igor Stravinsky, with his ballets, in particular The Firebird, would be the new Russian miracle next season. "The predestined man entered his life." And from now on, the fate of the Russian Ballet will be inseparable from this name - from Stravinsky. In the spring of 1910, Paris was again shocked by the Diaghilev ballet and opera. The program was just amazing. Diaghilev brought five new works, including Stravinsky's ballet. These were luxurious ballets, this was a new attitude to dance, to music, to the painting of the performance. The French realized they needed to learn from the Russians. But the triumph of this season also dealt a blow to the Diaghilev troupe - some artists signed foreign contracts, and Anna Pavlova left Diaghilev back in 1909. Diaghilev decided in 1911 to organize a permanent ballet troupe, which was formed in 1913 and received the name "Russian Ballet of Sergei Diaghilev". Over the twenty years of the existence of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, he has staged eight ballets by Stravinsky. In 1909, Anna Pavlova left the ballet troupe, and others followed her. The permanent ballet troupe begins to replenish with foreign dancers, which, of course, loses its national character.
The ballet repertoire of the "Seasons" included "Pavilion of Armida" by Tcherepnin, "Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Giselle" by Tchaikovsky, "Petrushka", "Fire Bird", "The Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky, "Cleopatra" ("Egyptian Nights") by Arensky , "Vision of the Rose" by Weber, "The Legend of Joseph" by R. Strauss, "Afternoon of a Faun" by Debussy and others. For this touring troupe, Diaghilev invited M. Fokin and a group of leading ballet soloists of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theaters, as well as artists from the private opera S.I. Zimin - A. Pavlov, V. Nizhinsky, T. Karsavin, E. Geltser, M. Mordkin, V. Koralli and others. In addition to Paris, the Diaghilev ballet troupe toured in London, Rome, Berlin, Monte Carlo, and in the cities of America. These performances have always been a triumph of Russian ballet art. They contributed to the revival of ballet in a number of European countries and had a huge impact on many artists.
Tours were held, as a rule, immediately after the end of the winter theatrical season. In Paris, performances were held at the Grand Opera (1908, 1910, 1914), Châtelet (1909, 1911, 1912), and the Théâtre des Champs Elysées (1913).
No less prestigious theaters hosted the troupe in London as well. These were the Covent Garden Theater (1912), Drury Lane (1913, 1914).
After the outbreak of the First World War, Diaghilev transferred his entreprise to the United States. Until 1917, his ballet troupe performed in New York. In 1917 the troupe disbanded. Most of dancers remained in the United States. Diaghilev returns to Europe and, together with E. Cecchetti, creates a new troupe, in which, along with Russian emigrant actors, foreign dancers perform under fictitious Russian names. The troupe existed until 1929. Diaghilev, with his delicate taste, brilliant erudition, huge plans, most interesting projects, all his life he was the soul of his offspring "Russian Ballet", all his life he was in an artistic search, an eternally seething creator. But in 1927, in addition to ballet, he had a new business that passionately fascinated him - book. It grew rapidly, acquiring Diaghilev proportions. He intended to create a huge Russian book depository in Europe. He made grandiose plans, but death stopped him. Diaghilev died on August 19, 1929. He and his "Russian Seasons" have remained a unique and brightest page in the history of world and Russian culture.
Just over a hundred years ago, Paris and all of Europe were stunned bright colors, beauty and, of course, the talent of the actors of the Russian Ballet. "Russian Seasons", as they were also called, for several years remained an unsurpassed event in Paris. It was at this time that the performing arts had such a great effect on fashion.
Costumes made according to sketches by Bakst, Goncharova, Benois and many other artists, their decorations were distinguished by their brightness and originality. This led to an explosion of creative enthusiasm in the creation of luxurious fabrics and suits, and even determined the future lifestyle. Oriental luxury swept the entire fashion world, transparent, smoky and richly embroidered fabrics appeared, turbans, aigrettes, feathers, oriental flowers, ornaments, shawls, fans, umbrellas - all this was embodied in fashionable images pre-war time.
"Russian Ballet" literally caused a revolution in fashion. How could the naked nakedness of Mata Harry or the barely covered Isadora Duncan compare with the fantastic costumes of the Russian ballet? The performances literally shocked the whole of Paris, for which the new world.
The queen of cosmetics of that time, all her life recalled the performances of the Russian Ballet, after attending which one day, as soon as she returned home, she changed all the decoration of her house to bright shiny colors. The brilliant impresario S. Diaghilev determined the lifestyle of Parisian society. The fireworks of the "Russian Ballet" on the stage inspired the famous Paul Poiret to create bright colorful clothes. Oriental exoticism and luxury were also reflected in the dances of that time, which primarily include tango.
On the eve of the revolutionary events of 1905, Sergei Diaghilev, the former publisher of the magazine Mir Art in Russia, founded a new theater company, which included artists Lev Bakst, Alexander Benois, Nikolai Roerich, composer Igor Stravinsky, ballerinas Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, dancer Vaclav Nijinsky and choreographer Mikhail Fokin.
Then they were joined by many other talented artists and dancers, who were united by S. Diaghilev's ability to see and find these talents and, of course, love for art. Numerous connections of S. Diaghilev with commercial and the artistic world helped to organize a new troupe, which became famous under the name of "Russian Ballets".
Mikhail Fokin, a former student of the genius Marius Petipa, at the beginning of the 20th century began to develop his own ideas of ballet choreography, which were very well combined with the ideas of S. Diaghilev.
Among the outstanding artists who gathered around Diaghilev, the works of Lev Bakst won special world recognition. In the magazine "World of Art" Bakst was the main graphic artist. After graduating from the Imperial Academy of Arts, the artist painted portraits and landscapes, and then became interested in scenography. Already in 1902, he began to develop scenery for the Imperial Theater, and already here he showed himself as a capable innovative artist.
Bakst was passionate about scenography, he thought a lot about how to make a ballet capable of expressing thoughts and feelings. He traveled across North Africa, was in Cyprus, in , studied ancient art Mediterranean. Lev Bakst got acquainted with the works of Russian art researchers and knew well the works of Western European artists.
Just like Mikhail Fokin, he followed and strove for the emotional content of the performance. And to convey feelings and emotions, he developed his own color theory, which made fireworks in the Russian Ballet. Bakst knew where and what colors could be used, how to combine them in order to convey all the emotions in the ballet and influence the audience through color.
Bakst created luxurious scenery and costumes, and at the same time, Vaclav Nijinsky conquered the audience with his dance, he made hearts flutter. The reviewer of the French newspaper Le Figaro wrote that "... the love of Oriental art was brought to Paris from Russia through ballet, music and scenery ...", Russian actors and artists "became mediators" between East and West.
Most Europeans then, as well as now, considered Russia to be part of the East. On the stage there was music by Russian composers, scenery by Russian artists, libretto, costumes and dancers - Russian. But the composers composed harmonies of Asian music, and Bakst, Golovin, Benois and other artists depicted the pyramids of the Egyptian pharaohs, the harems of the Persian sultans.
On the stage, there was a connection between the West and the East, and Russia was both at the same time. As Benois said, from the first performances he felt that the "Scythians" presented in Paris, "the capital of the world", the best art that hitherto existed in the world.
The fireworks of the colors of the Russian Ballet made me look at the world with different eyes, and this was received with enthusiasm by the Parisians.
Prince Pyotr Lieven wrote in his book The Birth of Russian Ballet: “The influence of Russian ballet was felt far beyond the theater. The fashion makers in Paris included it in their creations…”
The costumes of the Russian Ballet contributed to the change real life women, freeing her body from the corset, provided her with great mobility. Photographer Cecil Beaton later wrote that after the performances the next morning, everyone found themselves in a city immersed in the luxury of the East, in flowing and bright outfits that reflected a new and fast pace. modern life.
New fashion touched and male images. Although they did not change into bloomers and, some tough elegance with a high collar and a top hat left the fashion of men, a new silhouette appeared - a narrow torso, high waist, low collars and bowlers, almost pulled over the eyes.
New images and silhouettes attracted the attention of fashion designers, who began to study the work of Bakst and other artists of the Russian Ballet. And Paul Poiret went to Russia in 1911-1912, where he met with Nadezhda Lamanova and other Russian fashion designers, and recognized the influence of Russian fashion.
To this day, textile designers and artists recall and play variations on the theme of "Russian Seasons". Fashion designers are returning to bright exotic images, folklore motifs, to Russian, Indian or Arabic ornamental traditions. They skillfully vary cultural forms East, connecting it with the West. Under the banner of Russian artistic traditions, European and Russian cultures united.
In this post, I would like to talk directly about the "Russian Seasons of Diaghilev" themselves and their influence on world art, especially on the ballet art of the 20th century.
So, what were the Seasons - these are the tour performances of Russian opera and ballet dancers abroad. It all started in Paris in 1908, then in 1912 it continued in Great Britain (in London), and from 1915 in other countries.
Speaking quite accurately, the beginning of the "Russian Seasons" was laid back in 1906 year, when Diaghilev brought an exhibition of Russian artists to Paris. It was an incredible success, so it was decided to expand the horizons and already in 1907 A series of concerts of Russian music (“Historical Russian Concerts”) took place at the Grand Opera. Actually "Russian Seasons" began in 1908 in Paris, when Modest Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov", the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by Mikhail Glinka, "Prince Igor" by Alexander Borodin and others were performed here. Paris for the first time heard the singing of Chaliapin and the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff and Glazunov. From this moment begins the history of the famous "Russian Seasons" by Diaghilev, which instantly made everything Russian the most fashionable and relevant in the world.
Fyodor Chaliapin in the opera "Prince Igor" 
AT 1909 the first joint opera and ballet performances took place in Paris. In subsequent years, he began to export mainly ballet, which was a huge success. From this moment begins the period of ballet seasons. Nevertheless, the opera was still: in 1913 the opera "Khovanshchina" was staged (Chaliapin performed the part of Dosifey), in 1914 The Grand Opera hosted the world premiere of Stravinsky's The Nightingale.
The fantastic success of the first seasons, which included the ballets The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, made the European public understand that the cutting-edge Russian art- a full-fledged and most interesting part of the world artistic process.
Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet "Petrushka"
Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet "Scheherazade", 1910
Ballet premiere program "Scheherazade"
The success of the "Russian Season" in Paris 1909 year was truly triumphant. There comes a fashion for everything Russian. Performances on the stage of the Chatelet theater not only became an event in the intellectual life of Paris, but also had a powerful influence on Western culture in its most diverse manifestations. The French appreciated the novelty of theatrical and decorative painting and choreography, but the highest praise was given to the performance skills of the leading dancers of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theaters: Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Lyudmila Shollar, Vera Fokina, Vaslav Nijinsky, Mikhail Fokine, Adolf Bolm, Mikhail Mordkini and Grigory Rosaya.
Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet The Pavilion of Armida, 1909
Anna Pavlova
The French writer Jean Cocteau said of the performances:"The red curtain rises over the feasts that upended France and which carried the crowd in ecstasy after the chariot of Dionysus".
AT 1910 In the year Diaghilev invited Igor Stravinsky to write music for a ballet to be staged as part of the Russian Seasons, and the next three years became perhaps the most "stellar" period in the life of both the first and second. During this time, Stravinsky wrote three great ballets, each of which turned Diaghilev's Russian Seasons into a global cultural sensation - The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1911-1913).
An interesting fact about the ballet "The Firebird": The Firebird is the first ballet on a Russian theme in Sergei Diaghilev's entreprise. Director (choreographer) and performer of the main male part - Mikhail Fokin. Realizing that Paris needed to be "treated" with something primordially Russian, he announced this name in the poster of the first season in 1909. But the ballet did not have time to stage. The cunning impresario engaged in a rigging - although the poster said "The Firebird", the pas de deux of Princess Florine and the Blue Bird from the ballet "Sleeping Beauty", unknown to the Parisians, was performed on stage, moreover, in the new oriental costumes of Leon Bakst. Only a year later, the real "Firebird" appeared in Paris - the first ballet score by Igor Stravinsky, which glorified the name of the then novice composer outside of Russia.
Costume design for the ballet "The Firebird" by the artistLeon Bakst,1910 
Mikhail Fokin in the costume of the Blue Bird, ballet "Sleeping Beauty"
In the same 1910, the already staged ballets Giselle and Carnival to the music of Schumann, and then Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, entered the repertoire. Anna Pavlova was supposed to perform the main roles in the ballets Giselle and The Firebird, but for a number of reasons her relationship with Diaghilev deteriorated, and she left the troupe. Pavlova was replaced by Tamara Karsavina.
Tamara Karsavina and Mikhail Fokin in ballet "Firebird"
Tamara Karsavina
Dancers. Ballet by Igor Stravinsky "Sacred spring" on the Champs Elysees. May 29, 1913
Playbill for the play "Russian Seasons", sketch by Leon Bakst with Vatslav Nezhinsky
And again, a resounding success with the Parisian public! However, this success had a downside: some of the artists who became famous thanks to the Diaghilev seasons left the troupe for foreign theaters. And after Nijinsky was dismissed from the Mariinsky Theater with a scandal, Diaghilev decided to recruit a permanent troupe. Many dancers of the Imperial Ballet agreed to enter into permanent contracts with him, and those who decided to stay at the Mariinsky - for example, Karsavina and Kshesinskaya - agreed to continue cooperation. The city in which Diaghilev's company was based, where rehearsals and preparations for future productions took place, was Monte Carlo.
Interesting fact:Monte Carlo occupied a special place in the heart of Diaghilev. It is here in 1911 "Russian Ballet" was transformed by him into a permanent theater troupe, here he first showed a number of his most significant productions, and here he has invariably spent his winters since 1922. Thanks to the generosity of the ruling house of Grimaldi and the fame of the Casino, which made such generosity possible, Mote Carlo became the creative laboratory of Diaghilev in the 1920s. Former ballerinas of the Imperial Theaters, who had already left Russia forever, shared the secrets of mastery with the rising stars of emigration invited by Diaghilev. In Monte Carlo, he last time succumbed to the temptation of the dream of his life - to live, giving his all to art.
AT 1911 5 new ballets were staged: The Underwater Kingdom (from the opera Sadko), Narcissus, Peri, The Phantom of the Rose, which is an exquisite pas de deux Karsavina and Nijinsky, and the main novelty of the season - the dramatic ballet "Petrushka" by Stravinsky, where the leading role of the fair jester, who dies in the finale, belonged to Nijinsky.
Vaslav Nijinsky as Petrushka
"Sadko", scenery sketch by Boris Anisfeld, 1911
But already in 1912 Diaghilev began to gradually free himself from his Russian like-minded people, who brought him world fame. Charismatic leader Diaghilev did not tolerate confrontation. A person is important for him as a carrier of a creative idea: having exhausted the idea, Diaghilev ceases to be interested in him. Having exhausted the ideas of Fokine and Benois, he began to generate ideas from European creators, to discover new choreographers and dancers. The quarrels in the Diaghilev team also affected the productions: unfortunately, the 1912 season did not cause much enthusiasm among the Parisian audience.
All the ballets of this season were staged by Mikhail Fokin, except for one - The Afternoon of a Faun, at the suggestion of Diaghilev, staged by his favorite Nijinsky - this performance was the debut in his short career as a choreographer.
ballet "Afternoon of a Faun"
After the failure in Paris, Diaghilev showed his productions (plus ballets from the early repertoire) in London, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest, where the public received them more favorably. Then there were tours South America again a resounding success! It was during these tours that a conflict occurred between Diaghilev and Nijinsky, after which Sergei Pavlovich refused the services of a dancer, but for some time they continued to work together, but then there was a final break.
In the years World War I the Diaghilev ballet troupe went on tour in the United States, since at that time interest in art in Europe was subsiding. Only charity concerts remained, in which they nevertheless took part.
Servants of the Swan Princess in the ballet "Russian Tales", 1916
Sketches of scenery by Natalia Goncharova for one of Diaghilev's most outstanding productions - Les Noces, 1917
A full-fledged return of the Diaghilev seasons to their former positions began in 1917 year. Returning to Europe, Diaghilev formed a new troupe. As a choreographer in the troupe, a young dancer of the corps de6let of the Bolshoi Theater, Leonid Myasin, took a firm place. The performances he staged were filled with an innovative spirit and were well received in Paris and Rome.
In the same year, Diaghilev invited Pablo Picasso to design the ballet "Parade", a few years later the same Picasso made scenery and costumes for the ballet "Cornered Hat". A new, last period of the Russian ballet seasons begins, when French artists and composers begin to prevail in Diaghilev's team.
The ballet "Parade", staged in 1917 by Leonid Myasin to the sarcastic music of Eric Satie and in the cubist design of Picasso, marked a new trend of the Diaghilev troupe - the desire to demythologize all ballet components: plot, scene, actor's masks ("Parade" depicted the life of a traveling circus ) and put another phenomenon in place of the myth - fashion. Parisian everyday fashion, pan-European stylistic fashion (in particular, cubism), global fashion for free (to a greater or lesser extent) dance.
Olga Khokhlova, Picasso, Maria Shabelskaya and Jean Cocteau in Paris on the occasion of the premiere of the ballet "Parade", May 18, 1917
Sketch by Pablo Picasso for the ballet "Parade", 1917
Set and costume design for the ballet The Three-Cornered Hat, Pablo Picasso, 1919
Lyubov Chernyshova as Cleopatra, 1918
The aggravated political situation in Europe made it impossible to visit France, so the Paris season in 1918 there was no year, but there were tours in Portugal, South America, and then almost a whole year in the UK. The years 1918-1919 became difficult for Diaghilev: the inability to stage ballets in Paris, a creative crisis, the departure of one of the leading dancers, Felix Fernandez, from the troupe due to illness (he went crazy). But at the end 1919 seasons in Paris were resumed. The scenery in one of this year's ballets, Stravinsky's The Nightingale, was created by artist Henri Matisse to replace the lost works by Benois.
The period of 1920-1922 can be called a crisis, stagnant time. Choreographer Leonid Myasin, having quarreled with Sergei Pavlovich, left the troupe. For this reason, only 2 new productions were released at that time - the ballet "Jester" to the music of Sergei Prokofiev and the dance suite "Quadro Flamenco" with Picasso's scenery.
In the autumn of 1921, Diaghilev brought The Sleeping Beauty to London, inviting the ballerina Olga Spesivtseva to perform the lead role. This production was well received by the public, but at the same time it put Diaghilev in a catastrophic situation: the profit from the fees did not reimburse the costs. Diaghilev was on the verge of ruin, the artists began to scatter, and his entreprise almost ceased to exist. Fortunately, an old acquaintance of Diaghilev, Misya Sert, came to the rescue. She was very friendly with Coco Chanel, who was so inspired by Diaghilev's work that she donated significant funds to restore his troupe. By that time, Bronislava Nijinska, the younger sister of Vaslav Nijinsky, had emigrated from Kyiv, whom Diaghilev decided to make the new choreographer of his seasons. Nijinska offered to renew the composition of the troupe with her Kiev students. In the same period, Diaghilev met Boris Kokhno, who became his personal secretary and author of the libretto of new ballets.
In the spring of 1923, Bronislava Nijinska choreographed one of Diaghilev's most outstanding productions, Stravinsky's Les Noces.
Sketches of scenery by Natalia Goncharova for the ballet "Wedding"
AT 1923 1999, the troupe was immediately replenished with 5 new dancers, including the future favorite of Diaghilev - 18-year-old Serge Lifar. As Diaghilev said about him: “Lifar is waiting for his own right time to become a new legend, the most beautiful of ballet legends”.
In subsequent years, the years of the revival of the Russian Ballet troupe, Picasso and Coco Chanel collaborated with Diaghilev, the troupe tours a lot, presents not only ballet, but also opera productions, symphony and chamber concerts. George Balanchine became the choreographer during this period. He emigrated from Russia after graduating from the theater school at the Mariinsky Theater and, collaborating with Diaghilev, greatly enriched the choreography of his seasons.
George Balanchine (aka George Balanchivadze) 
Despite seeming prosperity, Diaghilev again ran into financial difficulties. As a result, Diaghilev took out a loan and, overcoming depression, took up the new season in Paris and London. That's what he said about the season 1926 of the year Serge Lifar: " I will not remember a more brilliant, more triumphant London season in all the years of my life in the Russian Ballet of Diaghilev: we were literally carried in our arms, showered with flowers and gifts, all our ballets - both new and old - met enthusiastically and gratefully and caused an endless storm of applause ".
Soon Diaghilev began to lose interest in ballet, devoting more and more time and energy to a new hobby - collecting books.
AT 1928 The most successful production of the season was Balanchine's "Apollo Musagete" to Stravinsky's masterpiece, according to Diaghilev, with scenery by Beauchamp and costumes by Coco Chanel. The audience gave Lifar, the soloist in this ballet, a long standing ovation, and Diaghilev himself also highly appreciated his dance. In London, "Apollo Musagete" was shown 11 times - out of 36 productions of the repertoire.
Alexandra Danilova and Serge Lifar in Apollo Musagete, 1928
1929 the year has become last year the existence of Diaghilev's Russian Ballet. In the spring and early summer, the troupe actively toured Europe. Then, in late July and early August, a short tour took place in Venice. There, Diaghilev's health suddenly deteriorated: due to an exacerbation of diabetes, he had a stroke, from which he died on August 19, 1929.
After the death of Diaghilev, his troupe broke up. Balanchine went to the USA, where he became a reformer of American ballet. Myasin, together with Colonel de Basil, founded the troupe "Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo", which retained the repertoire of the "Russian Ballet of Diaghilev" and in many respects continued its traditions. Lifar remained in France and headed the ballet company of the Grand Opera, making a huge contribution to the development of French ballet.
Possessing a brilliant artistic intuition to foresee everything new or to discover as a new forgotten art of past eras, Diaghilev could realize each of his ideas with fantastic perseverance. Putting his name and fortune on the line, enticing his friends, Russian merchants and industrialists with his ideas, he borrowed money and invested it in new projects. For Sergei Diaghilev, there were only two idols that he worshiped all his life - Success and Glory.
An outstanding personality, the owner of a unique gift to discover talents and amaze the world with novelty, Sergei Diaghilev brought new names of outstanding choreographers to the world of art - Fokine, Myasin, Nijinsky, Balanchine; dancers and dancers - Nijinsky, Wiltzack, Woitsekhovsky, Dolin, Lifar, Pavlova, Karsavina, Rubinstein, Spesivtseva, Nemchinova, Danilova. He created and rallied a wonderful troupe of talented chorus artists.
Many contemporaries, as well as researchers of Diaghilev's life and work, agree that the main merit of Sergei Pavlovich was the fact that, having organized his "Russian Seasons", he actually launched the process of reviving ballet art not only in Russia, but throughout the world. The ballets created in his enterprise are still the pride of the largest ballet scenes in the world and are successfully staged in Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, Paris and many other cities.