Sergei diaghilev choreographer

Serge Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872 – 1929), dictator, devil, charlatan, sorcerer, charmer – all names of a single man whose unique character and driving ambition caused a ferment in European culture.

Diaghilev's greatest achievement was his dance company – the Ballets Russes.

Sergei diaghilev choreographer

Created a century ago, the productions of the Ballets Russes revolutionised early 20th-century arts and continue to influence cultural activity today.

Diaghilev lived through the cataclysms of the First World War and the Russian Revolutions, yet seemed strangely unaffected by them.

He embraced the modern and exploited the avant-garde, but was in many ways deeply conservative. He lived mostly in hotel rooms, and left few personal possessions, but offers all of us an astonishing legacy of music, dance and art.

On 19 May 1909, after weeks of publicity, Diaghilev launched his first season of Russian ballet in Paris.

Audiences were dazzled by the dancing and striking designs. Over the next few seasons a se