First Night Design | Nijinsky dans La Peri — Ballets Russes #Vintage

Nijinsky dans La Peri – Ballets Russes Tote Bag from Fine Art America © Sarah Vernon

Nijinsky dans La Peri — Ballets Russes Greeting Card by FirstNightVintage

Now here’s a vintage ballet theatre programme illustrated by Léon Bakst that I haven’t played with! I bought it from Mindy Sommers at Vintage Stock Art and gave it a soupçon of restorative magic so that you can buy it as a greeting card, postcard, print or US stamp in the Theatre & Film section of First Night Vintage. You will also find many other products with the image at Fine Art America & England (see links below).

Nijinsky dans La Peri — Ballets Russes Postcard by FirstNightVintage

Nijinsky circa 1912 [Wikimedia]

The incomparable Vaslev Nijinsky (1890-1950) was so famous a dancer with Sergei Diaghilev’s (1872–1929) Les Ballets Russes that he, along with Diaghilev, was one of the few people known the world over by surname alone; both are inextricably linked with early 20th century arts. Nijinsky went on to choreograph Debussy’s L’Après-midi d’un faune (1912) and Stravinsky’s (1882–1971) The Rite of Spring (1913), which impresario Diaghilev produced. Ballets Russes was founded by the latter in 1909 and Stravinsky was not the only composer to be commissioned. Also included were Satie (1866–1925) and Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908), while there were sets designed by Picasso (1881–1973) and Jean Cocteau (1889–1963). Names to conjure with indeed. Add fellow dancers, Michael Fokine (1880–1942), Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) and George Balanchine (1904–83), and you can see why the company was so instrumental in reviving ballet as an art form.

If you like this, as they say at many online stores and give you examples you wouldn’t touch with a bargepole, you might also like Schéhérazade.

Available at the following galleries:
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England

Take care and keep laughing!