2011 Articles

The Legacies of the Ballets Russes

Garafola, Lynn

This essay traces the multiple legacies of the Ballets Russes during the 100 years following the company‘s first performances in 1909. Dividing the intervening century into four periods ("The Lifetime of the Ballets Russes," "1930-1954," "1954-1987: Glamor and Revival," and "1987 to the Present: Historicity and the End of the Cold War"), it analyzes the dispersal, migration, transformation, and assimilation of its repertory, choreographic methodologies, cultural narratives, aesthetics, and historiography.