DOI Heft:
No. 317 (August 1919)
DOI Artikel:The art of the theatre: the Russian ballet
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21358#0123
THE ART OF THE THEATRE: THE
RUSSIAN BALLET
THE two seasons of M. Serge Diaghi-
leff’s troupe of Russian Dancers
which have just closed, have rivalled the
glories of pre-war Covent Garden nights,
and have left most fragrant memories. This
“ Russian Ballet," as we have become
accustomed to call it, is the most homo-
geneous organism of its kind in which one
dominating impulse pervades the whole,
and is responsible for the intimate collabo-
ration between composer, designer, and
dancer—each reinforcing the other. Only
superlatives can be used in speaking of the
exquisite harmonies of sound, colour, and
movement, and their varied appeals to the
senses. Whether spectacle, pageant, or
choreodrama, the unifying principle is al-
ways there, resulting in a perfect harmony
of the contributing arts. Take the pas-
sionate and haunting tragedies : “ Cleo-
patra ” and “ Thamar " ,* those gems of
simplicity and grace : “ Les Sylphides ”
and “ Papillons " ; the exquisite pastoral
idyll “ Daphnis and Chloe," which is based
on the tale of the poet Longus, of the second
century; the Arabian Nights Fantasy
“ Sheherazade ” ; the dream-poems 44 Le
Spectre de la Rose,” with its scheme of
white and blue which breathes the fra-
grance of breaking dawn ; or the delicious
puppetries : 44 Petroushka ” and “ La Bou-
tique Fantasque.” 0000
With the enormous success which this
troupe of gifted artists has achieved in
practically every country of three conti-
nents the names of the painters Gontcha-
rova, Picasso, Derain, Delaunay, Lario-
nov, Benois, Balia, Depero, and Bakst are
intimately connected. To the last named,
however, it owes in a great measure its
amazing artistic unity. He was the first to
insist upon the complete abolition of all
scenic realism. “ I believe,” he says,
that the time for the conventional pro-
ducer to arrange the sunshine and shadow
of the 4 scene ’ has passed for ever. The
peculiar form of 4 mental ’ intelligence
which has dominated the theatre for so
many years is about to be replaced by the
plastic intelligence, and the tone of the
ensemble will be determined by the painter.
The evolution of 'the theatre is towards a
plastic ideal, and the action of a piece,
sometimes full of invention, is weak and
ineffective if it has not been conceived
according to an artistic vision; just as an
exaggerated ‘ literary ' picture repels a true
connoisseur. So, give place to the painter
in the theatre—and a leading place. It is
the painter who should now (taking the
place of the erudite director) create every-
thing, know everything, foresee everything,
and organize everything. It is the painter
who must be master of the situation, under-
stand its finesse and decide the style of the
piece. To his plastic judgment and taste
must be subordinated the thousand details
which compass the imposing ensemble of a
fine work of the theatre.” 000
Leon Bakst uses his colour on the stage
for a double purpose, i.e. to obtain a deco-
rative as well as a symbolic value. He
achieves the former by various methods,
such as the employment of masses of colour,
gradations of related tones, hues of one
colour at their various intensities, and so
forth. The functions of these two values
are closely defined, but they are of such a
nature that the one scheme of colour chosen
for any one production is invariably made
to serve the twofold purpose mentioned
above. So in order to emphasize the
dramatic conflict he proceeds to create a
contrast in feeling by confronting, let us
say, the hottest reds, the fiercest yellows,
and the most fiery orange with a few
touches of the coldest blues, which he in-
variably centres on that part of the stage
where the principal action takes place.
Again, he may use a crescendo of one par-
ticular colour up to the most powerful hue,
which he causes to synchronize with the
development of the dramatic action, and
which will coincide with the dramatic
climax. Bakst’s genius manifests itself
most completely in his designs for Oriental
ballets, for his art is essentially wedded to
the East. His most striking designs are
those for “ Cleopatra,” 44 Sheherazade,”
44 Narcisse,” and 44 Thamar.” 0 0
The setting for 44 Cleopatra,” on the last
occasion, was designed by Robert Delaunay
and executed by A. Wolmark. Although
the colour-scheme of bright red columns
and fierce orange for the pyramid in the
distance was not without a certain barbaric
beauty, it hardly equalled the marvellous
107
RUSSIAN BALLET
THE two seasons of M. Serge Diaghi-
leff’s troupe of Russian Dancers
which have just closed, have rivalled the
glories of pre-war Covent Garden nights,
and have left most fragrant memories. This
“ Russian Ballet," as we have become
accustomed to call it, is the most homo-
geneous organism of its kind in which one
dominating impulse pervades the whole,
and is responsible for the intimate collabo-
ration between composer, designer, and
dancer—each reinforcing the other. Only
superlatives can be used in speaking of the
exquisite harmonies of sound, colour, and
movement, and their varied appeals to the
senses. Whether spectacle, pageant, or
choreodrama, the unifying principle is al-
ways there, resulting in a perfect harmony
of the contributing arts. Take the pas-
sionate and haunting tragedies : “ Cleo-
patra ” and “ Thamar " ,* those gems of
simplicity and grace : “ Les Sylphides ”
and “ Papillons " ; the exquisite pastoral
idyll “ Daphnis and Chloe," which is based
on the tale of the poet Longus, of the second
century; the Arabian Nights Fantasy
“ Sheherazade ” ; the dream-poems 44 Le
Spectre de la Rose,” with its scheme of
white and blue which breathes the fra-
grance of breaking dawn ; or the delicious
puppetries : 44 Petroushka ” and “ La Bou-
tique Fantasque.” 0000
With the enormous success which this
troupe of gifted artists has achieved in
practically every country of three conti-
nents the names of the painters Gontcha-
rova, Picasso, Derain, Delaunay, Lario-
nov, Benois, Balia, Depero, and Bakst are
intimately connected. To the last named,
however, it owes in a great measure its
amazing artistic unity. He was the first to
insist upon the complete abolition of all
scenic realism. “ I believe,” he says,
that the time for the conventional pro-
ducer to arrange the sunshine and shadow
of the 4 scene ’ has passed for ever. The
peculiar form of 4 mental ’ intelligence
which has dominated the theatre for so
many years is about to be replaced by the
plastic intelligence, and the tone of the
ensemble will be determined by the painter.
The evolution of 'the theatre is towards a
plastic ideal, and the action of a piece,
sometimes full of invention, is weak and
ineffective if it has not been conceived
according to an artistic vision; just as an
exaggerated ‘ literary ' picture repels a true
connoisseur. So, give place to the painter
in the theatre—and a leading place. It is
the painter who should now (taking the
place of the erudite director) create every-
thing, know everything, foresee everything,
and organize everything. It is the painter
who must be master of the situation, under-
stand its finesse and decide the style of the
piece. To his plastic judgment and taste
must be subordinated the thousand details
which compass the imposing ensemble of a
fine work of the theatre.” 000
Leon Bakst uses his colour on the stage
for a double purpose, i.e. to obtain a deco-
rative as well as a symbolic value. He
achieves the former by various methods,
such as the employment of masses of colour,
gradations of related tones, hues of one
colour at their various intensities, and so
forth. The functions of these two values
are closely defined, but they are of such a
nature that the one scheme of colour chosen
for any one production is invariably made
to serve the twofold purpose mentioned
above. So in order to emphasize the
dramatic conflict he proceeds to create a
contrast in feeling by confronting, let us
say, the hottest reds, the fiercest yellows,
and the most fiery orange with a few
touches of the coldest blues, which he in-
variably centres on that part of the stage
where the principal action takes place.
Again, he may use a crescendo of one par-
ticular colour up to the most powerful hue,
which he causes to synchronize with the
development of the dramatic action, and
which will coincide with the dramatic
climax. Bakst’s genius manifests itself
most completely in his designs for Oriental
ballets, for his art is essentially wedded to
the East. His most striking designs are
those for “ Cleopatra,” 44 Sheherazade,”
44 Narcisse,” and 44 Thamar.” 0 0
The setting for 44 Cleopatra,” on the last
occasion, was designed by Robert Delaunay
and executed by A. Wolmark. Although
the colour-scheme of bright red columns
and fierce orange for the pyramid in the
distance was not without a certain barbaric
beauty, it hardly equalled the marvellous
107