.Miró - Ballets Russes
Fantastic !
Miró's designs for the costumes of the ballet Roméo et Juliette , presented in 1926 by the famous Ballets Russes company.
Music by Constant Lambert, choreography by Bronislava Nijinska (sister of Nijinsky), stage curtain by Max Ernst, sets by Max Ernst and Joan Miró, costumes by Joan Miró.
Whaaaa!
Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) was the founder of the Ballets Russes company for which he organized tours in Europe every year, from 1909 until his death in 1929. He carefully chose the musical works he wanted to show to the public Western.
It began with a retrospective exhibition of Russian art at the Grand Palais in 1906, then continued in 1907 at the Palais Garnier with five major historical Russian concerts. In 1908, he presented the opera Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky, before turning, the following year, to the performance of ballets to Russian music.
It was in 1909 at the Théâtre du Châtelet that the troupe of artists he formed under the name of Ballets Russes performed for the first time, with immense success, before touring Europe and the Americas, each year until 1929.
Serge Lifar as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet , 1926. Costume design by Joan Miró
The Ballets Russes company is considered today to be the most influential company of the 20th century. Diaghilev is revolutionary and encourages collaboration between choreographers, composers, artists, designers and dancers. Over the years, Diaghilev associated with many artistic virtuosos, including Igor Stravinsky, George Balanchine, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Coco Chanel.
In 1926, the surrealists Joan Miró and Max Ernst designed the sets and costumes for the Ballets Russes' new production of Roméo et Juliette which was to be presented in Monte-Carlo. Diaghilev's initial plan for this production of Romeo and Juliet was to faithfully tell the story of William Shakespeare, for which he hired the young English composer Constant Lambert and Christopher Wood, for costumes and sets.
Diaghilev quickly changes his mind and decides to adapt the plot to follow the story of a ballet company rehearsing Romeo and Juliet . To better respond to his new production ideas, Diaghilev recruits Miró and Ernst in Wood's place.
Joan Miró, "To Serge Lifar, Arrow piercing smoke", 1926.
Here is another trace of the friendships which linked the creators: Painters, dancers and choreographers, architects, writers… In 1923, Lifar, after fleeing Russia, started within the Ballets Russes and quickly became principal dancer of the company.
blmiro