A Brief Introduction to the Primary Ballets Russes Companies
On May 19, 1909, Serge Diaghilev presented the first full evening dance performances of the Ballet Russe and launched his career as a ballet impresario. The roster of legendary Russian dance artists included Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, and Tamara Karsavina. Featuring two gifted choreographers, Mikhail Fokine and George Balanchine, and an array of Russian designers including Leon Bakst and Alexander Golovine, the company shocked Western Europe with the force, color, skill, and originality of its creative artistry and continued to do so until disbanding following Diaghilev’s death in 1929.
The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which included some dancers and other artists of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, was founded in 1932 by Rene Blum and Col. Wassily de Basil. This company was known for its presentation of the “Baby Ballerinas”: Irina Baranova, Tamara Toumanova, and Tatiana Riabouchinska. George Balanchine was a featured choreographer. In 1935, Blum severed his connection with de Basil and a legal struggle ensued. During this time, the company appeared under several different names. Having lost the rights to the ‘Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo’ name to Blum, de Basil changed the name of his company to the Original Ballet Russe and maintained touring in the United States, South America, and Australia. He died in 1951 and the company disbanded soon after.
Following the lawsuit with de Basil, Blum retained choreographer Leon Massine. In 1937, American investors bought Blum’s company. Serge J Denham became the director. The company, The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, was based in United States. The company disbanded in 1962. Many of the dancers moved throughout the US founding ballet schools and companies.
As former Ballets Russes dancers left their respective companies, they settled in many communities throughout the United States and other countries. Two of these dancers, husband and wife Miguel Terekhov and Yvonne Chouteau, one of Oklahoma’s five Native American ballerinas, began teaching at the University of Oklahoma in 1961 and founded the Department of Dance in 1963. This department later became the University of Oklahoma School of Dance. In 2005, prompted by discussions between Yvonne Chouteau, Miguel Terekhov, and then Chair of the School of Dance Mary Margaret Holt, conversations began between the School of Dance and former Ballets Russes dancers about donating their memorabilia to start an archive. This launched the collection of material that eventually led to the founding of the Ballets Russes Special Collections and Archive in 2007.
What began as a small amount of material has expanded with contributions from over eighty-six individuals to date. . The collections include contracts, correspondence, programs, newspaper clippings, diaries, books, oral histories, scrapbooks, costume pieces, art work, and photographs as well as video resources and ephemera.
