2 3 Throwback Thursday and Léonide Massine | Ballet Webb

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Throwback Thursday and Léonide Massine




Throwback Thursday and Léonide Massine

Léonide Massine was born in Russia in 1896 and attended the famous Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg.  His career really began to flourish when he became the principal dancer and choreographer for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, where he worked from 1914 until 1920.  His first work, Midnight Sun, was created in 1915.  

Massine was particularly gifted as a character dancer (see today’s link), as well as a choreographer who created unique works such as Parade, Three-cornered Hat, and Gaité Parisienne.  He is considered to be one of the greatest dancers and choreographers of the 1920s and 1930s.  During the 1940s he worked in the U.S. for American Ballet Theatre.

Massine danced into his mid-sixties, and he can be seen dancing in the famous movie The Red Shoes.  During his lifetime he created more than one hundred ballets and he continued to create works until his death in 1979. 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #44:
“ Léonide Massine was a famous choreographer who worked with the Ballet Russes as well as American Ballet Theatre.”

                Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
-          Alan W. Watts

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