Massine, Léonide, 1896-1979

Leonide Feodorovitch Miassin (Massine) was born in Moscow in 1896. His mother, Eugenia, was a soprano in the Bolshoi Theatre chorus, and his father, Feodor, played French horn in the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra. Massine's parents had a daughter, Raissa, and three other sons. Although all of his brothers were engineers, Massine entered the Imperial Theatre School at age 8, studying both drama and ballet. Massine intended a career as an actor, and, in fact, was later noted for his dramatic interpretation of ballet roles. Diaghilev saw Massine in a small part at the Imperial Theatre and invited him to join the Ballets Russes company in 1913. In his autobiography, Massine called Diaghilev “an outstanding influence on my artistic career,” and credited him with nurturing Massine's view of ballet as “a fusion of music, dance, painting, poetry, and drama.” This view of ballet as a collaborative effort of the best composers and artists as well as dancers and choreographers is reflected in much of Massine's work.

After joining the Diaghilev company, Massine studied ballet with Cecchetti in Europe, and danced his first leading role in The Legend of Joseph in 1914 or 1915. The first Massine ballet, Soleil de Nuit (Midnight Sun), had its premiere a year later. The Ballets Russes tour of 1916 was Massine's first trip to the United States.

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