Ekstrom, Parmenia Migel., 1908-1989

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes was the single most revolutionary force in 20th century ballet, creating out of the conservative classical ballet of the 19th century a new, vibrant art form in which dance, design and music fused into an indissoluble whole, capable of expressing the whole range of human emotion and creating a new public for dance which continued to grow long after the company disbanded after Diaghilev's death in 1929.

Formed to present abroad the 'revolutionary' ballets of Michel Fokine, which could find no place in the conservative Imperial Theatres of early 20th century Russia, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes first appeared in Paris in 1909. Almost overnight ballet as an art was reborn in Europe, the one- act ballet became established as the new form, the male dancer was restored to star status after a century of neglect. The dancers, Karsavina, Nijinsky, became household names and the designers, Bakst, Roerich and Benois the rage of Paris.

Subsequent seasons revealed Fokine's astonishing versatility and the range and variety of expression available to classically trained dancers - classic Romantic works ( Les Sylphides, Carnaval, Le Spectre de la rose ) exotic dramas ( Cleopatre, Thamar ) ballets based on Russian folk themes ( The Firebird, Petrouchka ) or Greek classical themes ( Narcisse, Daphnis and Chloe ). In place of the easy tuneful scores hitherto used for ballet, Diaghilev commissioned scores from Stravinsky, Ravel and Debussy, while Bakst's erotic, flamboyant designs spilled out from the stage into fashion and interior design.

In 1911 Diaghilev broke with Russia and formed his own company around the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky. In 1912 Diaghilev began to develop Nijinsky as choreographer; his ballets Le Sacre du Printemps, L'aprés midi d'un faune and Jeux created scandalous furores. Diaghilev, already showing signs of the low boredom threshold that was to drive him ever onwards towards the new and the novel, was increasingly to capitalise on sensationalism and novelty to keep the interest of the comparatively small avant-garde society on whom he depended for his audience and his backers.

By 1914 Fokine had left and Nijinsky had been dismissed from the company. Diaghilev selected the teenage Leonide Massine as their successor. The Russian revolution of 1917 cut the company off from its Russian roots and it became more cosmopolitan in dancers and subject matter. The shorter experimental ballets suited a company trained in many different schools and styles and Massine turned to Europe for inspiration. Ballet now embraced Spanish folklore in Le Tricorne, Italian comedy in Les femmes de bonne humeur as well as reflecting cubism and the musical avant-garde in European art in Parade. From this time Diaghilev sought out the young European designers and composers, commissioning avant-garde painters such as Picasso, Braque, de Chirico and Rouault, and composers like Satie, de Falla and Poulenc.

After Massine's departure, Diaghilev, temporarily without a choreographer, attempted a sumptuous revival of Marius Petipa's classical masterpiece The Sleeping Beauty (as The Sleeping Princess ), but it was an expensive failure. In the mid 1920s Diaghilev developed his policy of seeking for fashionable novelty, and Bronislava Nijinska's ballets, including Le train bleu and Les biches, reflect the preoccupations of his society audience. Alongside these came new masterpieces, notably Nijinska's Les Noces, which looked back to the peasant Russia that seemed to have been destroyed by the 1917 Revolution.

In 1926 Diaghilev found a new choreographer in George Balanchine. While his early works continued the policy of novelty, in Apollo Balanchine turned again to the basic principals of classical dance, reasserted in his own unique neoclassic style; meanwhile Prodigal Son saw a return to the dramatic ballet which had first established the company's reputation - a perfect synthesis of choreography music and design.

In 1929 Diaghilev died and his company, leaderless, dispersed throughout the Western world, spreading the gospel of the new ballet which he had helped to form and from which 20th century dance descends.

From the guide to the Ekstrom Collection: Diaghilev and Stravinsky Foundation, 1902-1984, (V&A Museum: Department of Theatre and Performance)