Ballets Russes Style
Diaghilev's Dancers and Paris Fashion
Will be published approx. on 1. October 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-86189-757-2 (ISBN)
Description
In the decades between its debut performance in Paris in 1909 and the death of impresario Sergei Diaghilev in 1929, the Ballets Russes was an unrivaled sensation not only in France but in London, New York and the other cities it toured. Attention has often been centred on the links between Diaghilev's troupe and modernist art and music, but there has been surprisingly little written concerning the Ballets' role in tastemaking and trendsetting. Ballets Russes Style reveals for the first time the full extent of the ensemble's influence on haute couture.
The Ballets Russes' seasons were an exciting laboratory for ambitious cultural experiments, often grounded in the aesthetic confrontation of those great designers, artists and composers who travelled with the troupe from St Petersburg - Leon Bakst, Alexandre Benois and Igor Stravinsky among them - and Paris's avant-garde, which included Picasso, Satie, Matisse, Debussy and Ravel. The ensemble brought the stage and everyday life into creative contact with each other, most noticeably in the world of fashion. In its heyday, the Ballets Russes was a potent force in defining Paris Style, bringing the work of great designers such as Jeanne Paquin and Coco Chanel to the stage, and creating sensibilities that resonated in the collections of couturiers from Paul Poiret to Yves Saint Laurent and beyond.
Beautifully illustrated and drawing on unpublished images and memorabilia, this book illuminates the ways in which innovations by the Ballets Russes in dance, music, sets and costume both mirrored and invigorated contemporary culture.
The Ballets Russes' seasons were an exciting laboratory for ambitious cultural experiments, often grounded in the aesthetic confrontation of those great designers, artists and composers who travelled with the troupe from St Petersburg - Leon Bakst, Alexandre Benois and Igor Stravinsky among them - and Paris's avant-garde, which included Picasso, Satie, Matisse, Debussy and Ravel. The ensemble brought the stage and everyday life into creative contact with each other, most noticeably in the world of fashion. In its heyday, the Ballets Russes was a potent force in defining Paris Style, bringing the work of great designers such as Jeanne Paquin and Coco Chanel to the stage, and creating sensibilities that resonated in the collections of couturiers from Paul Poiret to Yves Saint Laurent and beyond.
Beautifully illustrated and drawing on unpublished images and memorabilia, this book illuminates the ways in which innovations by the Ballets Russes in dance, music, sets and costume both mirrored and invigorated contemporary culture.
Reviews / Votes
"The legendary command of the Ballets Russes impresario was simply: Astonish me! A century on from its Paris debut, Diaghilev's dancers continue to do that in this handsome book . . . Mary E Davis conveys the electric excitement from a collection of talents music by Stravinsky, sets by Picasso, costumes by Bakst that has never been equalled." - The Independent"Davis vantage point offers intriguing insights into the broader cultural impact of Diaghilev's enterprise. Her book is a welcome addition to recent scholarship on the Ballets Russes and its enduring allure." - Times Higher Education
"this book combines a lively history of the troupe with detailed assessments of the set and costume designs." - Sydney Morning Herald
"Mary Davis has plenty to say, inviting her readers to revel in an aspectrarely discussed in scholarly books, the effect of the Ballets Russes on Paris fashion and style and, conversely, how style and fashion affected the ballet . . . Davis's book illuminates the relationship between popular culture and art spawned by the Ballets Russes. It charts the heritage of the various ballets Diaghilev introduced to the French upper class world between 1909 and 1929. These drew on mythology, on Russian folklore and ultimately on the avant-garde artistic circles of the 1920s. It fills a much needed gap in Ballets Russes history . . ." - The Slavonic and East European Review
"The well amalgamated combination of art history, ballet history and fashion history is one of the many strengths of this study . . . It also provides a refreshing insight on a theatre phenomenon that suffered from a pedantic historicization." - Modernism/Modernity
"a fascinating look at the ways in which early 20th-century Russian dancers in France caught the public imagination . . . beautifully illustrated on heavy stock" - The Gay and Lesbian Review
"A wonderful descriptive account of the Ballets Russes from its inception to its demise, emphasizing the relation of the company and its development to the fashion and arts world. Written with great clarity it explores these relationships in detail. Most informative and insightful." - Elizabeth Wilson
"A wonderful addition to the large body of literature available on the topic, this is a small, compact and well-organized book focusing specifically on the impact the troupe had on designers working at the time of Diaghilev . . . What is nice about this particular volume is the links drawn between specific theatrical designs or performers and the couture they inspired . . . I will be spending considerable time with this book in the coming months." - wornthrough.com
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
93 illustrations, 51 in colour
Dimensions
Height: 150 mm
Width: 200 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-86189-757-2 (9781861897572)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2010
Reaktion Books
€25.49
Available for download
Person
Mary E. Davis is a member of the Capstone Faculty at Yale University's Jackson School of Global Affairs. Her books include Classic Chic (2006), Erik Satie (Reaktion, 2007) and Paul Poiret (Reaktion, 2025).