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Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni was a ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance. She was one of the most celebrated ballerinas of the romantic ballet. She is credited with being the first ballerina to truly dance en pointe. She also inspired the romantic tutu from what she wore in La Sylphilde. -
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Fanny Cerrito
Fanny Cerrito was an Italian ballet dancer and choreographer. She was one of few women in the 19th century to be recognized for her talent as a choreographer. -
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Marius Petipa
Some consider Marius Petipa to be the "father of classical ballet". He arrived in St. Petersburg from France in 1847.While at first he was a dancer, he later became the Ballet Master of the Imperial Theatre in 1870. He created over 50 new ballets. Petipa worked with composers and choreographers such as Pytor Tchaikovsky and Lev Ivanov. -
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Carlotta Grisi
Carlotta Grisi was an Italian ballet dancer. She was trained at the ballet school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and later with dancer/balletmaster Jules Perrot. She was especially noted for her performance in the classic role of "Giselle". -
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Lucile Grahn
Lucile Grahn received her training at the Royal Danish Theatre School in Copenhagen, where her principal teacher was the ballet master August Bournonville. After dancing with the Paris Opera she traveled to Russia appearing immediately after Taglioni's performance in the role of "La Sylphide." -
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The Romantic era of ballet develops
This era began the interest in supernatural, spiritual creatures, and mythical places. It provided an escape from people's daily lives. Female dancers took the central roles, while men had the supporting role. Romantic ballet usually told stories about a love triangle through dramatic action and pantomime. This ballet form was performed in two acts. -
Pas De Quatre
The Pas De Quatre recieved great critical acclaim on its opening night because it brought together, on one stage, the four greatest ballerinas of the time — in order of appearance, Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni. The Pas de Quatre captured the essence of the Romantic style as the ballerinas danced with demure lightness, delicacy, and poise. -
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Sergei Diaghilev
Diaghilev was an impresario, first presenting art exhibits in Paris, then a series of concerts in Russian, and finally connecting with Russian dance. In 1909, he made a contract for a summer season of Russian ballet in Paris. He gathered an outstanding cast of dancers to present a diverse repertoire. The result was so successful that in 1911, he established the company as Diaghilev's Ballet Russe. -
Swan Lake
Swan Lake is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette. The ballet was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on 4 March 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on 15 January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. -
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Michel Fokine
A Russian native, Fokine trained and performed in Russia before joining Ballet Russe as a dancer and choreographer. These are his best known works: Les Sylphides (1909), Petrouchka (1911), and Firebird (1910). -
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Vaslav Nijinsky
Another Russian born dancer, Vaslav first joined Ballet Russe as a dancers, and then later emerged as a choreographer. He choreographed cutting edge ballets that sometimes shock audiences. His work as a dancer raised the bar for male dancers. His major choreographic contributions include the following:
Le Apres-mid-d un faune and Le Sacre du Printemps -
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty is a ballet in a prologue and three acts, first performed in 1890. The music was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.The choreographer of the original production was created by Marius Petipa.The premiere performance took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on January 15, 1890. The work has become one of the classical repertoire's most famous ballets. -
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, December 18, 1892. -
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Leonide Massine
Massine's ballets were often witty, sophisticated and filled with quirky gestures. His history with the Ballet Russe is extensive. However, in his later years he created an epic dance for film, The Red Shoes. He choreographed and danced the lead role, as the shoemaker in this film. -
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Ballet Russes
Originally conceived by impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballets Russes is widely regarded as the most influential ballet company of the 20th century, in part because it promoted ground-breaking artistic collaborations among young choreographers, composers, designers, and dancers, all at the forefront of their several fields. -
The Ballet Russes resurrection begins
Wassily de Basil and Rene Blum named their new company Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo. George Balanchine (a former choreographer for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe) became the Dance Master and principle choreographer. -
The Original Ballet Russe
The Original Ballet Russe was a ballet company established in 1931 by René Blum and Wassily de Basil as a successor to the Ballets Russes, founded in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev. The company assumed the new name Original Ballet Russe after a split between de Basil and Blum. It was a large scale professional ballet company which toured extensively in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the United States, and Central and South America. It closed down operations in 1947. -
Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes in 1937 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo toured chiefly in the United States after World War II began. The company introduced audiences to ballet in cities and towns across the country, in many places where people had never seen classical dance.They taught the Russian ballet traditions to generations of new dancers.
