T HERE is no need to enlarge here upon the vogue which the Russian Ballet, or rather that company of dancers which has become familiar outside its own country under that title, has achieved in England, France, Germany, and America. Sufficient testimony to that is provided by the appearance of this book, which seeks to present a souvenir of the performances with which so many spectators have been delighted. It may be interesting, however, to sketch briefly the history of the ballet as a form of t

Choreographic Drama by Léon Bakst Music by Balakirev. Scenes and Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. I N no ballet, perhaps, are the resources of the Russians so characteristically and comprehensively displayed as in “Thamar.” In certain other spectacles particular aspects of their art receive more emphasis, are more acutely perceived. But in this barbaric legend from the far Caucasus their powers are revealed at their ripest and fullest. There is a “body,” a fu

Pantomime-Ballet by Michel Fokine. Music by Robert Schumann , Orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov, Glazounov and Tcherepnin . Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. “L E CARNAVAL,” which has been built upon Schumann’s well-known music, is a ballet of the type which defies pedestrian description. If one may term “incident” so trifling an affair as, let us say, a butterfly’s flirtation with a flower, then “Le Carnaval” is full of incident. But it has no story, no dramatic development of

Choreographic Drama in One Act by Michel Fokine. Music by Arensky, Taneiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka and Glazounov. Scenes and Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. I T is the supreme merit of “Cléopâtre” that it is of an even and sustained excellence throughout. All concerned in its production and performance have surpassed themselves, but since each has risen equally to the occasion there are no outstanding features to distract the balance of the whole. The resul

Romantic Reverie by Michel Fokine. Music by Chopin , Orchestrated by Glazounov, Liadov, Taneiev, Sokolov and Stravinsky . Scenery and Costumes Designed by Alexandre Benois. I N some respects the most beautiful, “Les Sylphides” is certainly the most difficult of the ballets to describe. It defies description, in fact. To quote the simple words of the Russians themselves: “Amidst a scene of ruins, a series of classical dances takes place with no purpose but their musical and choreographic interest

Choreographic Drama by Léon Bakst and Michel Fokine. Music by Rimsky-Korsakov. Scenes and Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. S ENSUOUSNESS is the note of “Scheherazade” throughout—a sensuousness that is next-of-kin to sensuality. It is an unbridled affair altogether, and for this very reason the ballet is among the most completely successful performances which the Russians have given. It contains nothing that strains the limitations of their art, its essential

From a Poem by Théophile Gautier, Adapted by J. L. Vaudoyer. Music by Weber, Orchestrated by Berlioz. Scenes and Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. N OTHING is more eloquent of the Russians’ art than the distinction they are able to give to a theme which, less sensitively treated, would be merely commonplace, if not banal. In no ballet is this refining instinct more delicately employed than in “Le Spectre de la Rose,” which Nijinsky and Karsavina dance to the f

Mythological Drama by Léon Bakst. Music by N. Tcherepnin. Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. W ITHOUT reference to “Hélène de Sparte” and “Daphnis et Chlöe,” two ballets in their repertoire which the Russians seem chary of presenting in London, it would be unfair to say that the Greek view of life baffles them. But their performance of “Narcisse,” despite its many beauties, suggests no very confident or happy exploration into classic mythology. One fancies thei

Ballet in Two Tableaux by Michel Fokine. Music by Igor Stravinsky. Scenery and Costumes designed by Golovine. A N element of unreality is of advantage in the theme of a ballet. It not only excuses, but demands, the fantastic, for which the means of expression at disposal—pantomimic action, illustrative or suggestive music, for example—provide a suitable vehicle. It eases matters all round, and converts what are obstacles to the convincing treatment of a strictly realistic theme into positive aid

Pantomime-Ballet by Alexandre Benois. Music by Nicolas Tcherepnin. Scenes and Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Alexandre Benois. O NE reason for the remarkable conquest which the Russian Ballet has made of London is that for the first time the present generation—at all events the stay-at-home portion of it—has been given an opportunity of learning what a ballet really is. For the last few decades, at least, the native ballet (if one can call it native) has been a poor, d

Music by A. Borodin. Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by N. Roehrich. T HE Polovtsian Dances which recur so frequently in the Russian repertoire belong properly to an excerpt from the second act of Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor.” But the passage at full length requires the services of singers, and for this reason it is the usual custom to present the dances detached. The long orchestral prelude sounds the necessary warlike and aggressive note, preparatory of the barbaric Tar

Hindu Legend in One Act by Jean Cocteau and de Madrazo. Music by Reynaldo Hahn. Scenes and Dances by Michel Fokine. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. I T has been previously remarked, in comment on “Narcisse,” that for all their sense of fitness, the Russians sometimes exhibit a curious inability to recognise the limitations of the stage, and in considering “Le Dieu Bleu,” the charge must be repeated. They are at fault usually when they have to present the supernatural. The criticism

Choreographic Tableau by Nijinsky. Music by Claude Debussy. Scenery and Costumes designed by Léon Bakst. I N the preparation of his part in “Le Dieu Bleu,” Nijinsky sought inspiration, it was remarked, from ancient Hindu art. One fancies him, with appetite whetted by this excursion, eager to explore another field of antiquity, and turning naturally to early Greek, Roman and Etruscan art. His interest already engaged by the strangeness (to modern eyes) of the Hindu forms, his perceptions having a

Dance-Poem by Nijinsky. Music by Claude Debussy. Choreography by Nijinsky. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Léon Bakst. N IJINSKY’s curious production called “Jeux” comes next in order after “Le Dieu Bleu” and “L’Après-Midi d’un Faune.” In the first of the two latter the dancer was concerned only with his individual rôle ; his conception of that was, no doubt, his own, but his part in the ballet as a whole was subject to the directing influence of Michel Fokine. In “L’Après-Midi d’un Faune” he w

Pictures of Pagan Russia by Igor Stravinsky and Nicolas Roerich. Music by Igor Stravinsky. Choreography by Nijinsky. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Nicolas Roerich. W HEN three such remarkable talents as those of MM. Stravinsky, Roerich and Nijinsky form an alliance, something unusual may be confidently expected as the result. The most eager anticipations can hardly have been disappointed, on that score, by “Le Sacre du Printemps,” of which the music is by the first named, the décor by the sec

From a Poem by Robert Humieres. Music by Florent Schmitt. Dances by Boris Romanov. Scenery and Costumes Designed by Serge Soudeikine. S ALOME furnishes the theme of yet another ballet in the Russians’ later style. Though Nijinsky has no connection with it the influence of his example is evident throughout. “La Tragédie de Salome” takes a place very fittingly in the same gallery as “L’Après-Midi d’un Faune,” “Jeux,” and “Le Sacre du Printemps.” That is to say, it has no story to unfold by means o

Pantomime Ballet by M. Tchaikovsky. Music by P. Tchaikovsky. Dances and Scenes by M. Petipa. Scenery and Costumes by C. Korovin and A. Golovin. T HE outstanding feature of “Le Lac des Cygnes” is undoubtedly the music of Tchaikovsky, which is worthy of something better. For this is a ballet which falls within the same category as “Le Pavillon d’Armide,” a survival of the formality of an earlier day. It has a story, and a good one; it is not, indeed, without dramatic passages; but mainly the balle

Nothing can well be written about the Russian Ballet without some mention of Pavlova. For though that great dancer has not been associated with the troupe to whose performances the foregoing pages have been devoted, it is largely to her art that London owes the revived interest in ballet which paved the way for these later spectacles. Much has been written in adulation of Pavlova. Comparisons and metaphors have been well-nigh exhausted in enthusiastic attempts to convey a full appreciation of he