Sergei Diaghilev (jan 1, 1872 – jan 1, 1957)

Description:

a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise. His ballet company was based in Paris.

Ballet Finds Its Theorist
1. In the early twentieth century, Russian ballet did not reflect current trends in Russia— those reflected by novelists like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.
2. Benois and Diaghilev looked to a new artistic movement: Mir iskusstva.
3. Diaghilev may have been the world’s greatest impresario.
4. With the lessening of popularity for the Ballets Russes, Diagheliv commissioned a new work based on a Russian folk subject.

Key term:

Mir iskusstva: a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize European art during the first decade of the 20th century. In fact, few Europeans outside Russia actually saw issues of the magazine itself. From 1909, several of the miriskusniki (i.e., members of the movement) also participated in productions of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company based in Paris.

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