Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872-1929)
Sergei Diaghilev was born on this day in 1872. The iconic Russian ballet impresario, dancer, choreographer, songwriter and critic, founded the incomparable Ballets Russes company. He was responsible for the ballet premieres of Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Petrouchka and Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), not to mention Rimsky-Korsakov’s Schéhérazade, Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) and Prokoviev’s Chout.
[Diaghilev is] ‘a giant, undoubtedly the only one whose dimensions increase the more he recedes into the distance’. Sergei Prokoviev
‘Of all the wonders that the world had to offer, only art promised immortality.’
‘I could make a choreographer out of this inkwell if I wanted to.’
Related sites
- History of Ballet Russes
- Sergei Diaghilev: first lord of the dance
- IMDb
- Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes (V&A)
Take care and keep laughing!
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