In the early twentieth century, avant-garde artists, musicians, and choreographers in Russia coalesced around the charismatic artistic producer Serge Diaghilev to form a new and strikingly innovative ballet company, the Ballets Russes. Under Diaghilev’s leadership, the Ballets Russes swept across Europe as a comprehensive art form in which pioneering painting, design, music, and dance interacted synergistically. Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes disbanded upon his death in 1929, but the influence of its fresh staging has lived on, not only in the performing arts but also in other fields; it is regarded, for example, as one of the wellsprings of the Art Deco style.
This exhibition presents the world of the Russian stage, including Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and other aspects of ballet, opera, and theater, from the early twentieth century through 1945. The 190 items brought together from New York, Paris, London, St. Petersburg, and from within Japan for this exhibition include a wide variety of materials: designs for costumes and stage sets, actual costumes, posters, brochures, photographs, and recreations of performances on film. Like the Ballets Russes itself, it generates creative synergies, through which it presents a three-dimensional view of the world of the Russian stage.
Lectures
Date: July 28th (Sat) at 14:00
Lecturer: Dr. Alla Rosenfeld (Guest Curator, Vice President, Russian Paintings Department, Sotheby’s New York)
Title: “Russian designs for stage arts”
*The lecture will be made in English and with Japanese translation.
Date: August 11th (Sat) at 14:00
Lecturer: Ms. Naoko Haga (Dance Historian, Curator of Usui Kenji Ballet Collection)
Title: “Legendary ballet dancer; Vaslav Nijinsky”
*The lecture will be made in Japanese with translation.
*Capacity is 250, free of charge, no reservation needed.
Please visit museum website for other related events.
[Image: Sergei Sudeikin "Stage design from opera 'The Magic Flute'" 1926, Collection René Guerra, Paris]
6 minute walk from exit 1 at Shirokanedai Station on the Toei Mita or Namboku line, 7 minute walk from the East exit of Meguro Station on the JR Yamanote line, 7 minute walk from the Main exit of Meguro Station on the Tokyu Meguro line.
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