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Death of Serge Diaghilev
Diaghilev died in Venice, Italy, and is buried on the nearby island of San Michele in the San Michele Cemetery. -
The Split
After Diaghilev's death in 1929, the company's property was claimed by creditors. The dancers were scattered. Colonel Wassily de Basil and his associate René Blum revived the company but Col. de Basil and Rene Blum argued constantly, so Blum founded a new company named the Original Ballet Russe. -
Baby Ballarinas
Children of the Russian exile community in Paris, established after the revolution of 1917, the three girls were discovered by George Balanchine in 1931 in the studios of two former ballerinas of the Russian Imperial Ballet. Baronova and Toumanova were pupils of Olga Preobrajenska; Riabouchinska was a protégée of Mathilde Kschessinska. -
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, ballet company founded in Monte-Carlo in 1932. The name Ballets Russes had been used by the impresario Serge Diaghilev for his company, which revolutionized ballet in the first three decades of the 20th century. -
Original Ballet Russe became popular
Although the first of the post-Diaghilev Ballets
Russes proved only mildly successful at its
debut in 1932, it soon achieved wild popularity,
especially in England, where it inspired a
fanatical form of fandom known as
balletomania, a phenomenon that was repeated
on several tours of Australia. -
Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo became popular
The later Ballet
Russe de Monte Carlo was equally popular,
especially in the United States. -
Baby Ballerina Split
The Baby Ballerinas became very popular, so when the company finally split, so did the Baby Ballerinas. Two stayed with the Original Ballet Russe while the other one left to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. -
Period: to
Divergeance
During World War II, the paths of the two
companies diverged. -
George Balanchine
George Balanchine, who became artistic director in 1944, Americanized the company even further, by featuring dancers like Maria Tallchief who later became the nucleus of the New York City Ballet. -
Fall of Original Ballet Russe
Colonel de Basil started running out of money and growing
out of touch with new balletic developments.
The Original gave its final performance in 1952. -
Fall of Ballet Rusee de Monte Carlo
The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo continued
crisscrossing America until economic hardships
also caused Denham to pinch pennies and
simplify the scale of productions. He, too,
appeared unable to develop fresh
choreographic talents, and his company
disbanded in 1962.
