Léonide Massine

(1895-1979)
 

Trained in theatre and dance at the Bolshoi Theatre School, he joined the Ballet in 1912. In 1913 he was engaged by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes, where he was the first to dance the title role in “The Legend of Joseph” and completed his training with Enrico Cecchetti. He choreographed his first ballet, “Midnight Sun”, in 1915 and from then on embarked upon a double career as both dancer and choreographer. He left the Ballets Russes in 1921, danced in South America and in Great Britain, came back to choreography for the “Soirées d’Etienne de Beaumont” (1924) and returned to work for Diaghilev from 1925 to 1928, also contributing to shows for the Cochran Review in London (1925-1926) and the Roxy Theater in New York until 1930. He collaborated with the Rubinstein company (1928 et 1931) and, from 1932, with the Monte-Carlo Ballets Russes. He was guest choreographer at the American Ballet Theater in New York (1942-1943), and at the Marquis de Cuevas’ Ballet International in 1944. In 1945-1946, he directed his own company, Ballet Russe Highlights, then returned to Europe where he created or revived works for Sadler’s Wells Ballet, the Ballets des Champs Élysées, La Scala Milan, the Opéra-comique in Paris, the Marquis de Cuevas’ Grand Ballet and Rome Opera House. In 1960, he founded Balletto Europeo for the Nervi festival. He was invited to revive his work all over the world right up until his death.
 

A dancer adulated by audiences for his stage presence and vivacity, he excelled in character and demi-character roles and translated the diversity of styles with a great sense of movement and theatricality. He performed little of the repertoire, appearing in the tarantella in “Swan Lake” at the Bolshoi, and although he appeared at the Ballet Russes in Michel Fokine’s works, he went on to dance in his own ballets, marking them with his own personality: the Chinaman in “Parade”, the Miller in “The Three-Cornered Hat”, the Cancan Dancer in “La Boutique Fantasque”, the Peruvian Tourist in “Gaîté Parisienne”, the Hussar in “Beau Danube Bleu” (1933) and the Young Musician in “Symphonie Fantastique”. His many experimental choreographies display his sense of humour and taste for burlesque, his fondness for dance with a Russian, Spanish or Commedia dell’Arte character, and his interest in modern art. He made a success of tackling religious themes. In all his works, he imposed a modern concept of academic dance in the neoclassical style. His movement, marked by an angular aesthetic, integrated comic facial expression into dance and favoured spontaneous and vivacious movement in choreographies which do not allow for the slightest pause.

Source: Dictionnaire de la Danse, Philippe Le Moal, Larousse, 1999

More information : massine-ballet.com