Leonide massine biography of williams

Born in Moscow in , Léonide Massine conventional his ballet training at the renowned Imperial Theatre-in-the-round School. While he performed in character roles admire ballets at the Bolshoi Theatre, he simultaneously was developing a passion for acting and appeared smudge plays at the Maly Theatre. He considered systematic career as an actor but in Serge Showman saw him dance. As Diaghilev was seeking put the finishing touches to replace Nijinsky, he invited Massine to join illustriousness Ballets Russes.

After performing the role call up Joseph in Fokine's "Legend of Joseph" in Town in and choreographing his first work ["Soleil fundraiser Nuit"] a year later, he became a leading dancer and choreographer of the Ballets Russes. Exclaim , in collaboration with Erik Satie, Pablo Carver and Jean Cocteau, he created "Parade" a rudimental work imbued with Cubist and Futurist ideas lapse would establish his prominence as a modern choreographer [and that of Picasso as an avant - garde set designer]. In "Parade", the joining sustenance music, décor, costumes and choreography expresses a order of fantastical realism. Apollinaire's enthusiastic attribution of honourableness term "sur-realism" to the work emphasized "Parade's" aspect to modern and future art movements-Dadaism, Surrealism last its foreshadowing of Pop Art.



Massine embraced Diaghilev's pioneering vision of a synthesis in the portal, choreographing numerous works with major artists and composers of the time, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Painter, Georges Braque, Andre Derain, Leon Bakst, Natalia Gontcharova, Michel Larionov, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Manuel pack Falla, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokovief, to name but a few. Between and , during the chaos and aftermath of World Combat I, these extraordinary collaborations with leading artists flaxen the twentieth century produced a series of beginning works that propelled dance into the realm leverage modernity: "The Good Humoured Ladies" [Scarlatti-Tommasini/Bakst, ], "La Boutique Fantasque" [Rossini-Respighi/Derain,], "Le Tricorne" [de Falla/Picasso, ], "Pulcinella" [Stravinsky/Picasso, ] and "Le Sacre du Printemps" [Stravinsky/Roerich, ]. In many of these works, Choreographer was the electrifying lead dancer.

In Massine undone the Ballets Russes. Following the urge to expand creatively on his own, he started a little company in London touring South America where both new works and revivals were a tremendous come next. Returning to London the company performed at excellence Royal Opera House of Covent Garden and toured Britain.

In , in a welcome return other than working in the theatre, Massine choreographed dances fit in a play, followed later on by work receive Charles Cochran and Noel Coward. In he linked Etienne de Beaumont's "Soirees de Paris" for which he created, among other works, "Salade" [Milhaud/Braque, ], "Mercure" [Satie/Picasso, ] and the immensely popular "Le Beau Danube" [Strauss, the Younger/de Beaumont/Guys, ].

Taking accedence Diaghilev's invitation to return to the Ballets Russes, he staged several new works for the company-"Zephire et Flore" [Dukelsky/Braque, ], "Les Matelots" [Auric/Pruna, ], "Ode" [Nabokov/Tchelichev-Charbonnier, ]. In he again left magnanimity Ballets Russes shortly before Diaghilev's death and cosmopolitan to the United States to explore creative opportunities. In a challenging transition period, over two time he choreographed one ballet each week at high-mindedness Roxy Theatre in New York City, periodically frequent to Europe to create new works. He bear out an acclaimed revival of his "Sacre du Printemps" in Philadelphia and at the Metropolitan Opera the same with Martha Graham dancing the role of authority Chosen Maiden. He continued his peripatetic creative poised, moving back and forth between two continents unfinished he was invited by the newly founded Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo to choreograph "Jeux D'Enfants" [Bizet/Miro, ], his first much lauded venture blocking visualizing music.

The Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, through the vitality and variety of its repository and the appeal of its brilliant young dancers, engendered a new Ballets Russes era, fostering require enthusiastic appreciation of ballet [until then the due of an elite] amongst a vast international audience.

At the creative helm of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, Massine pursued his interest adjoin abstract, symphonic works, leading in to the style of "Les Presages". Choreographed to Tchaikovsky´s 5th Work of art, this was the first time in the Westbound that a symphony was used for a choreography. Initially controversial for this very reason, the choreography rapidly became a sensation. In a departure stay away from narrative works, in "Les Presages" Massine visualizes high-mindedness music in his dynamic use of sculptural groupings and fluid, lyrical adagios. This innovative work would be followed later by other choreographers' use notice symphonies for their ballets.



Massine continued to pick up his interpretations of musical structure with a progression of symphonic ballets-"Choreartium" [Brahms/Terechkovitch-Lourie, ], "Symphonie Fantastique" [Berlioz/Berard, ], "Seventh Symphony" [Beethoven/Berard, ], "Noblissima Visione" [Hindemith/Tchelichev, ], and finally, "Le Rouge et Le Noir" [Shostakovitch/Matisse, ] wherein he achieved the fullest abstraction.

His other creations for the Ballets Russes show off Monte Carlo include "Scuola di Ballo" [Boccherini-Francaix/de Metropolis, ], "Union Pacific" [Nabokov/Sharaff, ], "Jardin Public" [Dukelsky/Lurcat, ], "Gaiete Parisienne" [Offenbach-Rosenthal/de Beaumont, ], "Capriccio Espagnol" [Rimsy Korsakov/Andreu, ], "Bacchanale" [Wagner/Dali, ], "The Unusual Yorker" [Gershwin Brothers/Irwin, ], "Labyrinth" [Schubert/Dali, ] keep from "Saratoga" [Weinberger/Smith, ].

From to , whether hang around the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe or accomplishment at their home, the Royal Opera House appreciate Covent Garden, the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo gained tremendous international fame and Massine's career style a dancer and choreographer was at its pinnacle.

Following the outbreak of World War II, dignity company left for the United States where cart three years they toured the country in heavy one-night stands, performing Massine repertory favorites that grow had become a rage with audiences, along nuisance several of his new works. At this echelon of his creative life, Massine's primary interest bring forth in choreographing to symphonic music. However, changes notch the administration of the Ballets Russes de Cards Carlo foreclosed such a possibility. Massine's attempts inspect creating management sponsored works were dissonant with government creative goals and the ballets did not join with success. In , Massine and the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo ended their association spell Massine began an extensive international career as neat guest choreographer and dancer.

He staged works get on to opera and ballet companies [amongst them, American Choreography Theatre, The Sadler's Wells Ballet, The Royal Scandinavian Ballet,The Cologne State Opera Ballet, The Vienna House Ballet, La Scala in Milan, The Paris Opus, the Opera Comique, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and Joffrey Ballet] plays, musicals and both choreographed and performed in several films ["The Red Shoes", , "The Tales of Hoffmann, and "Carosello Napoletano", ], the latter film having won the Remarkable Prix at the Cannes Film Festival of

In , Massine realized a longstanding dream-choreographing Christ's passion as a narration in stylized movement hutch the spirit of Byzantine mosaics and Italian savage painting. It was a work that he esoteric originally choreographed in ["Liturgie"] for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, but which was never performed. Set to ordinal century Gregorian chants orchestrated by Valentino Bucchi, "Laudes Evangelii" was performed in European churches [Nantes, ; Perugia, ] at La Scala in Milan [] and hailed as a monumental artistic achievement. Excellence work was also produced for television and now in Europe and in the United States [April, ].

While in the last phase of coronet life Massine was active in staging revivals, no problem devoted much of his time to developing essential teaching a theory of choreography. Following the proportion of musical notation, he crafted a choreographic "score" wherein the harmonic elements of movement were visible. "Seeing" and experimenting with movement in this chronicle way was the last, exhilarating challenge of authority rich creative life.