Soleil de nuit

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Soleil de nuit (The Midnight Sun) was Leonide Massine’s choreographic debut for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, with Massine himself dancing in the 1915 premiere. Based on a Russian folk tale, this ballet was set to part of Rimsky-Korsakov’s score for the opera The Snow Maiden, and featured bold design by Michel Larionov.

Australian audiences were introduced to the work by the first of the de Basil Ballets Russes companies to tour Australia, the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, and it was also a popular inclusion in the repertoire of the following two de Basil tours by the Covent Garden Russian Ballet and the Original Ballet Russe. The Australian premiere took place at His Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, on December 19, 1936, with Leon Woizikowsky performing as the Midnight Sun, Irina Bondireva as the Snow Maiden and Thadee Slavinsky as Bobyl (The Innocent). The Argus review of December 21 described the work as ‘pagan Russian dances, hearty, good-natured and primitive…They match the tempestuous music of Rimsky-Korsakoff perfectly and breathe that peculiar air of boisterous gaiety that makes Russian folk dancing so fascinating to Western eyes. Larionoff’s peasant costumes are a riot of colour and when the ensemble is on the warpath, leaping and whirling in a frenzy of physical animation, the effect is intoxicating’.

Bibliography:

'Ballet's Last Performances', The Argus, 21 December 1936, p. 4

See also: Ballets Russes Australian tours ; Massine, Leonide ; Woizikowsky, Leon

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