ABOUT THE BALLETS RUSSES PROJECT
The Ballets Russes project celebrates the vision and legacy of three legendary ballet companies that toured to Australia between 1936 and 1940. These companies, under the artistic leadership of Colonel Wassily de Basil, could trace their lineage back to Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe, a company that took Paris by storm in 1909 with the best of Russian ballet, music and design and that continued to lead the world in theatrical innovation until 1929.
The de Basil companies that came to Australia were inheritors of much of the Diaghilev repertoire and also engaged in innovative commissions of their own. They brought to Australia a panorama of dance, music and design on a scale not seen here before. They significantly influenced the development of the arts in this country and had a long-lasting impact on Australian society and culture.
The Ballets Russes project is a collaborative partnership between the Australian Ballet, the University of Adelaide and the National Library of Australia. Under the banner ‘Ballets Russes in Australia: our cultural revolution’, the project will bring together outstanding creators across disciplines and will delve into the environment that gave rise to the Diaghilev phenomenon and saw its legacy take hold in Australia. It will have performance, research and documentation outcomes making it an innovative project highlighting a rarely recognised conjunction between the performing arts and scholarship.
The Australian Ballet will celebrate the legacy of the Ballets Russes period with performances, including re-creations and new commissions in the spirit of the Ballets Russes; the University of Adelaide will lead an academic research program into the social and cultural history of the tours; and the National Library will use its extensive collections and its subject and technological expertise to support and contribute to both the research program and the performance schedule.
The project will culminate in a celebration of the centenary of Diaghilev’s first Paris season in 1909. It has been supported by a significant grant from the Australian Research Council and will unfold over four years from 2006 to 2009.
- More about Ballets Russes
- Read more from the University of Adelaide
- Read more from The Australian Ballet





