Australia Dancing - Ballets Russes Australian tours (1936

Ballets Russes Australian tours (1936 - 1940)

Dupain, Max: Tamara Toumanova and Paul Petroff at Frenchs Forest, Sydney, Original Ballet Russe, 1940

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A number of Ballets Russes companies were formed in the wake of the dissolution of Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russe following his death in 1929. Between 1936 and 1940 three of these companies visited Australia in tours orchestrated by the entrepreneur Colonel Wassily de Basil. The first, a company assembled in London by de Basil and billed as '(Colonel W. de Basil's) Monte Carlo Russian Ballet', toured for nine months between 1936 and 1937. Its sixty-two dancers were drawn largely from the Ballets de Leon Woizikowsky, augmented by artists from de Basil's own company, and from Rene Blum's Ballets de Monte Carlo.

The second tour, which took place over seven months between 1938 and 1939, was by the 'Covent Garden Russian Ballet, presented by Educational Ballets Ltd'. In essence, this was the de Basil company of the time. The use of the title 'Educational Ballets Ltd' related to the need for de Basil to formally distance himself from company management during a legal dispute with the Ballets de Monte Carlo, the company that had been founded by Rene Blum following his split with de Basil in 1935. By 1938, the Ballets de Monte Carlo was based in America under the direction of Sergei Denham with the financial backing of Universal Art. An attempted merger between this company and that of de Basil early in 1938 ended acrimoniously, with ensuing legal challenges by Universal Art over the copyright of particular works. Prior to this, legal challenges to de Basil over copyright had also been instigated by Leonide Massine during his 1937 move from the de Basil to the rival company as artistic director. Michel Fokine, originally ballet master and choreographer for Blum had, also in 1937, moved in the other direction, joining de Basil. A feature of this second Australian tour was the presence of Fokine, supervising the production of his own ballets.

For the third tour, Colonel de Basil assembled a company that, in addition to his English-based dancers, included a number who were stranded in America on the outbreak of war. These two groups were united in Australia, forming the company that was most commonly referred to as 'The Original Ballet Russe', although it was also billed as 'Colonel W. de Basil's Covent Garden Ballet' and 'Colonel W. de Basil's Ballet Company'. De Basil himself accompanied this tour, which began in December 1939 and, although originally planned to be of ten weeks duration, was, due to the complexities of the war, extended until September 1940.

The Ballets Russes companies brought with them a panorama of choreography, music and design of a kind not previously seen in Australia. Works such as Scheherazade and Le Spectre de la Rose linked directly back to the Diaghilev repertoire, with some, such as Aurora's Wedding, extending that link back to the Tsarist Russian period. Ballets such as Les Presages and Cotillon introduced Australian audiences to works that post-dated the Diaghilev era. Five ballets, including David Lichine's Graduation Ball, received world premieres in Australia. In all, a stunning range of forty-four works, most of them Australian premieres, was presented over the three tours.

The influence of the de Basil Ballets Russes on the development of the arts in Australia was important and long-lasting. The heightening of audience interest was significant. A more tangible impact resulted from the choice of a number of dancers, notably Edouard Borovansky, Helene Kirsova, Kira and Serge Bousloff, Tamara Tchinarova, and a group of Polish dancers - Raisse Kouznetsova, Valery Shaievsky and Edouard Sobishevsky, to stay in or return to Australia. Kirsova founded the Kirsova Ballet, Borovansky the Borovansky Ballet, Bousloff the West Australian Ballet and Kouznetsova and her colleagues the Polish Australian Ballet. A few Australians joined the Ballets Russes companies. Valrene Tweedie, for example, joined the Original Ballet Russe in 1940 and travelled overseas with the company, returning later after performing in North and South America to make a lasting contribution to Australian dance.

In 2006, the National Library of Australia, the Australian Ballet and the University of Adelaide embarked on a four-year collaborative project – Ballets Russes in Australia: Our Cultural Revolution. This project focused on the impact and legacy of the Ballets Russes Australian tours, and culminated in 2009, the centenary of the founding of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris. The project's website includes details of events and performances that celebrate the tours as well as listing resources relating to the tours and their impact on Australian culture. A further brief discussion, with online resources, of the Ballets Russes tours to Australia and the context in which they occurred is contained in the National Library of Australia's exhibition Dance people dance. See 'Early touring companies' for an overview of the context in which the tours occurred, and 'Artistic impact' for a discussion of their influence.

A finding aid to the National Library's programs and ephemera material relating to the Ballets Russes is at 'Australian Performing Arts (PROMPT) Collection: The Ballets Russes in Australasia, 1936-1940'. This finding aid provides details of the Library's holdings of programs and other printed items, and includes a chronology of the three tours, a full listing of the ballets performed in Australia, and lists of the personnel involved in each tour. Digitised images of the programs, cast lists and related ephemera in the Prompt collection are available online at 'The Ballets Russes in Australasia, 1936-1940: a holdings list'.

Please note that not all items under the link 'Picture' below were photographed in Australia although all have an Australian connection.

Bibliography:

For a listing of resources relating to the Ballets Russes tours to Australia and to the influence the tours had on the development of the arts in Australia see 'Ballets Russes Project: Resources'. A number of articles relating to the Ballets Russes Australian tours can also be viewed at the website 'Michelle Potter on dancing'.

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Find more about Ballets Russes Australian tours in:

Internet - Google
Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
Pictures - Picture Australia
Libraries - Libraries Australia