Marie Rambert is just so charming and listening to her reminiscing about Nijinsky and the bygone era is so movie. This is a precious documentary. Thank you.
Thanks to the most generous human being on the planet, John Hall, who has given us invaluable gems like this documentary. John Hall is single-handedly exposing great art from a previous era to all of us in unlimited fashion. He is carrying on in the spirit of Diaghilev exposing ballet and the arts in all its historical splendour. Thank you deeply Mr. Hall. Listen to the inimitably elegant way of all the speakers in this film. A bygone impeccable refinement, and rich beauty of expression. Wow. I bow my head to each one of these greats and to you for giving it to us.
oh gee shucks - i'm getting all embarrassed - but seriously thank you so much for such kind words - they are truly appreciated. as you say and i am also riveted by the erudition and diction of those interviewed in this documentary, starting with Karsavina. i am trying to locate the other documentary made by Omnibus at this time 'Diaghilev - The Years in Exile' and if i do i'll upload it here. :)
Thank you is an inadequate response to this. Marie Rambert is divine, amazing to see Madame Sokolova. I was amused by Cecil Beaton being in it since he was 5 the year they debuted in Paris!
pleasure! it took many many years finding it - i'm still chasing its companion piece - 'Diaghilev - The Years In Exile'. yes Beaton's inclusion seemed strange - he later designed the costumes for David Lichine's Ballets Russes 'Pavillon' (1936). i read "David Lichine's Le pavillon premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on August 11, 1936, performed by the de Basil Ballets Russes. Lichine choreographed this ballet to an arrangement by Antal Dorati of piano pieces by Alexander Borodin, and Cecil Beaton was responsible for conceiving the design. The simple libretto, a slight story about a poet, a young girl and the spirits of the garden, was by Boris Kochno, whose guidance was an important influence on Lichine at this early stage of his choreographic career. The opening night cast featured Lichine himself as the Poet, Tatiana Riabouchinska as the Chief Spirit, and, somewhat unexpectedly, Irina Baronova as the Young Lady - Alexandra Danilova also having been rehearsed in this role.Le pavillon was performed in Australia by the Original Ballet Russe, opening at His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on May 20, 1940, with Tatiana Stepanova as the Young Lady, Tatiana Leskova as the Chief Spirit and Roman Jasinsky as the Poet. For the Australian staging, scenery was by Nicolas Benois and costumes executed by B. Karinska. The Australian performances also saw Tamara Toumanova dancing as the Young Lady, and marked the last stagings of this work by the company."
What a great programme again. I have subscribed. To see all those faces - Sacheverell Sitwell looking a lot like his sister.And all the others. I have only met one dancer personally and that was Moira Shearer. I had to see her about an article I was editing. She came twice and when she saw I was mesmerised by ballet talk she gave me as much of it as she could.
Moira Shearer sounds very generous with her help - that's lovely. there are some new faces in the second program - this is some detail about this other documentary: Diaghilev: The Years in Exile First aired: Jan/09/1968 Writer: John Drummond Guest star: Peter Ustinov (Presenter), Leonide Massine (Himself), Tamara Karsavina (Herself), Serge Lifar (Himself), Henri Sauguet (Himself), Marie Rambert (Herself), Alicia Markova (Herself), Anton Dolin (Himself), Ninette De Valois (Herself)
Another wonderful clip John and what a marvellous group of contributors and so ably introduced By Peter Ustinov as a descendant of Alexandre Benois Gives a marvellous insight of the man and his company due to the contributions of such wide actual knowledge from previous dancers of the company Critics and people who witnessed the season - many sadly no longer with us - Its wonderful that we have these interviews and especially for students and historians of ballet
yes, an amazing documentary - with so many people interviewed who had a direct connection with the Ballets Russes - wonderful that Alexandre Benois gives that short speech. the documentary 'Ballets Russes' 2006 similarly recorded many post Diaghilev dancers, choreographers and so on. each just before many died so a great record for posterity. one of my favourite documentaries!
Brilliant programme John again and so many no longer with us who relate their own experiences and their recollections of names we only know from manuals and histories of ballet Karsavina Sokolova Beaumont etc So interesting
yes, it's fascinating to me to hear these participants talking about now legendary events - there is another part to this documentary which i'll upload if i can find it. :)
The composer Alexi Machavariani (from the old noble Georgian family) was the Georgian composer, who was born and died in Georgia (Republic of). He was often invited to the Russian Opera, the Russian Soviet Music events and on. One of his famous ballet compositions was Otello and it was perfomanced in in Bolshoi Theater in times of USSR. It was a masterpiece and also the ballet dancer who performed Otello, was a legendary Georgian ballet dancer Vakhtang Chabukiani (you can click in You-tube his name and will enjoy of his incomparable Otello in the ballet world). The dancer created such a great speed of otello that neither Russian Soviet nor European dancers could run over this master class performance. So after his death none could take the step in such dance speed, and because of it Otello, composed by the great Georgian composer Alexi MACHAVARIANI is not is on ballet list anymore. Anotheryoung great Georgian ballet dancer Nika(Nikolai) Tsiskaridze which also was invited to dance in Moscow Bolshoi Theater, approached to this Otello, but in some circumstances it didn’t work… Also George Balanchine, the well-known Master and Choreographer of AMERICAN BALLET was the Georgian origin too, from the old Georgian noble family) who immigrated to US after Russian revolution. He had very warm relations with Stravinsky, composer of Fire Bird and Petrushka, which Balanchine created for the American ballet. He was the son of famous Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze and brother of famous composer Andrea Balanchivadze, who was on very friendly terms with Shostakovich.. There is another Georgian great ballet dancer who performed in Bolshoi Theater, Nika (Nikolai) Tsiskaridze too.
Thank you so so much! 😍❤️❤️❤️ This is glorious! So many terrific insights! Love it! Wished these people could still be alive, to ask many other questions! Is there a second part about the years after the war to 1929?
it's a great documentary - and to have gathered interviews with so many dancers and others connected with the BR makes it extra special. yes the second part is titled 'Diaghilev -The Years in Exile' (1968) - and yes from after WW2 to 1929. this is some detail about this other documentary: Diaghilev: The Years in Exile First aired: Jan/09/1968 Writer: John Drummond Guest star: Peter Ustinov (Presenter), Leonide Massine (Himself), Tamara Karsavina (Herself), Serge Lifar (Himself), Henri Sauguet (Himself), Marie Rambert (Herself), Alicia Markova (Herself), Anton Dolin (Himself), Ninette De Valois (Herself)
hi Ernest - yes a wonderful documentary with so many Ballets Russes luminaries interviewed - i'm trying to locate its companion documentary 'Diaghilev: The Years in Exile' - i'll upload it if i find it!
Thanks John for this extraordinary documentary. It is possible to add youtube's automatic subtitle? I need it for show this document to my italian eleves. Thanks so much!
Hello John, I wonder if you might be able to help me. Someone suggested your name on Facebook so I thought I'd get in touch. I know this is a long shot - but would you happen to have the BBC 'Omnibus' documentary on Dirk Bogarde first broadcast in 1983? I'm sure I watched it at the time and would love to see it again. It doesn't appear to be on TH-cam but an excerpt from it was included in the more recent 'Talking Pictures' documentary. I have that one but would be very interested in seeing the complete original 1983 documentary. I'm hoping you might have it in your collection. Best wishes, Kieran
hey :) from this period i only see 'Above the Title' about sadly - you know this i'm sure. i'll look about for the 1983 Omnibus documentary and get back to you Kieran - i like 'Talking Pictures - Dirk Bogarde'. Documentary (2021) th-cam.com/video/F6mycamXjSM/w-d-xo.html
I came here while reading The Successes and Failures of Picasso by John Berger. I kept wondering who is this Diaghilev the writer referred to and what was this ballet Parade all about. In Additions, I wondered who was Apollinaire. In essence, I wanted to distinguish the ballet painting Edvard Degas from Picasso but did not have the background. Well, I feel more armed with knowledge now.
don't mind at all - it's good to make it available to as many people as possible. i've already posted it on two FB groups: Les Balletomanes and Ballets Russes. which group/s do you belong to? good to see you there soon!
@@moniquelegarda1842 yes, i see the people who were interviewed in part two and imagine the insights they would share. i believe the second doco can be seen in NY at the NYPL
'Firebird' was filmed famously with Fonteyn in the 1950s - with coaching from Karsavina, the first Firebird. Diaghilev sadly refused to allow any of the Ballets Russes performances to be filmed.
You can see also 3 other ballets of the era reconstructed by Andris Liepa with original Nijinsky costumes, Spirit of the Rose, Afternoon of the Faun and Blue God all performed by ex- Bolshoi dancer, Nikolai Tsiskaridze. Reconstrcted for Maris Liepa Foundatioin Saisons Russes. He also danced in Scheherezade produced for the foundation. They are all on YT. Here is Scheherezade with Tsiskaridze in the same costume Nijionsky wore as Golden Slave th-cam.com/video/GecU6I7HY-s/w-d-xo.html
![ILLSLICK - THE KING'S LANDING [Freestyle]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/feIJJnNkTfk/mqdefault.jpg)
Marie Rambert is just so charming and listening to her reminiscing about Nijinsky and the bygone era is so movie. This is a precious documentary. Thank you.
It's wonderful to see those legendary faces again. I love hearing Sokolova refer to Rambert as "Mme Ramberg".
yes, and wonderful that the documentary was made while all these now legendary people were still with us.
Thanks to the most generous human being on the planet, John Hall, who has given us invaluable gems like this documentary. John Hall is single-handedly exposing great art from a previous era to all of us in unlimited fashion. He is carrying on in the spirit of Diaghilev exposing ballet and the arts in all its historical splendour. Thank you deeply Mr. Hall. Listen to the inimitably elegant way of all the speakers in this film. A bygone impeccable refinement, and rich beauty of expression. Wow. I bow my head to each one of these greats and to you for giving it to us.
oh gee shucks - i'm getting all embarrassed - but seriously thank you so much for such kind words - they are truly appreciated. as you say and i am also riveted by the erudition and diction of those interviewed in this documentary, starting with Karsavina. i am trying to locate the other documentary made by Omnibus at this time 'Diaghilev - The Years in Exile' and if i do i'll upload it here. :)
@@JohnRaymondHall You should credit the producer and director, though.
Thank you is an inadequate response to this. Marie Rambert is divine, amazing to see Madame Sokolova. I was amused by Cecil Beaton being in it since he was 5 the year they debuted in Paris!
pleasure! it took many many years finding it - i'm still chasing its companion piece - 'Diaghilev - The Years In Exile'. yes Beaton's inclusion seemed strange - he later designed the costumes for David Lichine's Ballets Russes 'Pavillon' (1936). i read "David Lichine's Le pavillon premiered at the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden, on August 11, 1936, performed by the de Basil
Ballets Russes. Lichine choreographed this ballet to an arrangement by
Antal Dorati of piano pieces by Alexander Borodin, and Cecil Beaton was
responsible for conceiving the design. The simple libretto, a slight
story about a poet, a young girl and the spirits of the garden, was by
Boris Kochno, whose guidance was an important influence on Lichine at
this early stage of his choreographic career. The opening night cast
featured Lichine himself as the Poet, Tatiana Riabouchinska as the Chief
Spirit, and, somewhat unexpectedly, Irina Baronova as the Young Lady -
Alexandra Danilova also having been rehearsed in this role.Le pavillon was performed in Australia by the Original Ballet Russe,
opening at His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on May 20, 1940, with
Tatiana Stepanova as the Young Lady, Tatiana Leskova as the Chief Spirit
and Roman Jasinsky as the Poet. For the Australian staging, scenery was
by Nicolas Benois and costumes executed by B. Karinska. The Australian
performances also saw Tamara Toumanova dancing as the Young Lady, and
marked the last stagings of this work by the company."
What a great programme again. I have subscribed. To see all those faces - Sacheverell Sitwell looking a lot like his sister.And all the others. I have only met one dancer personally and that was Moira Shearer. I had to see her about an article I was editing. She came twice and when she saw I was mesmerised by ballet talk she gave me as much of it as she could.
Moira Shearer sounds very generous with her help - that's lovely. there are some new faces in the second program - this is some detail about this other documentary:
Diaghilev: The Years in Exile
First aired: Jan/09/1968
Writer: John Drummond
Guest star: Peter Ustinov (Presenter), Leonide Massine (Himself), Tamara
Karsavina (Herself), Serge Lifar (Himself), Henri Sauguet (Himself),
Marie Rambert (Herself), Alicia Markova (Herself), Anton Dolin
(Himself), Ninette De Valois (Herself)
Fantastic, thank you. Blows your mind that such explosion of talent was ignited by one man.
yes, the force of personality and creativity to invite, cajole and so on all these artists to result in a unified whole of his conception is amazing.
Another wonderful clip John and what a marvellous group of contributors and so ably introduced By Peter Ustinov as a descendant of Alexandre Benois Gives a marvellous insight of the man and his company due to the contributions of such wide actual knowledge from previous dancers of the company Critics and people who witnessed the season - many sadly no longer with us - Its wonderful that we have these interviews and especially for students and historians of ballet
yes, an amazing documentary - with so many people interviewed who had a direct connection with the Ballets Russes - wonderful that Alexandre Benois gives that short speech. the documentary 'Ballets Russes' 2006 similarly recorded many post Diaghilev dancers, choreographers and so on. each just before many died so a great record for posterity. one of my favourite documentaries!
Thank you for this film! Also, great to see and hear Leonide Massine in this post.
hi Elias - there is another companion documentary - 'Diaghilev - The Years In Exile' - which i am trying to locate - and which i'll post if i find it
Wonderful documentary! Thanks so much for uploading!
pleasure Joyce
A very good doku. Some days ago I saw the Neumeier Ballett "Nijinsky" and with luck I find this video again. Perfect! Thank you!
pleasure - there was another complimentary dodo made - 'The Years in Exile' - which i'll upload if i find it :)
Brilliant programme John again and so many no longer with us who relate their own experiences and their recollections of names we only know from manuals and histories of ballet Karsavina Sokolova Beaumont etc So interesting
yes, it's fascinating to me to hear these participants talking about now legendary events - there is another part to this documentary which i'll upload if i can find it. :)
Extraordinario documental . Muchas gracias por publicarlo . Es histórico !
my pleasure!
Simply Divine. Catherine Deneuve looks radiant.
The composer Alexi Machavariani (from the old noble Georgian family) was the Georgian composer, who was born and died in Georgia (Republic of). He was often invited to the Russian Opera, the Russian Soviet Music events and on. One of his famous ballet compositions was Otello and it was perfomanced in in Bolshoi Theater in times of USSR. It was a masterpiece and also the ballet dancer who performed Otello, was a legendary Georgian ballet dancer Vakhtang Chabukiani (you can click in You-tube his name and will enjoy of his incomparable Otello in the ballet world). The dancer created such a great speed of otello that neither Russian Soviet nor European dancers could run over this master class performance. So after his death none could take the step in such dance speed, and because of it Otello, composed by the great Georgian composer Alexi MACHAVARIANI is not is on ballet list anymore. Anotheryoung great Georgian ballet dancer Nika(Nikolai) Tsiskaridze which also was invited to dance in Moscow Bolshoi Theater, approached to this Otello, but in some circumstances it didn’t work…
Also George Balanchine, the well-known Master and Choreographer of AMERICAN BALLET was the Georgian origin too, from the old Georgian noble family) who immigrated to US after Russian revolution. He had very warm relations with Stravinsky, composer of Fire Bird and Petrushka, which Balanchine created for the American ballet. He was the son of famous Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze and brother of famous composer Andrea Balanchivadze, who was on very friendly terms with Shostakovich..
There is another Georgian great ballet dancer who performed in Bolshoi Theater, Nika (Nikolai) Tsiskaridze too.
Ziskarids is now the head of the Vaganova Akademie" thanks god!
Tamara Karsavina is gorgeous. Happy to see her !!! it's fantastic
and lovely to hear her beautiful voice :)
Thank you so so much! 😍❤️❤️❤️ This is glorious! So many terrific insights! Love it! Wished these people could still be alive, to ask many other questions! Is there a second part about the years after the war to 1929?
it's a great documentary - and to have gathered interviews with so many dancers and others connected with the BR makes it extra special. yes the second part is titled 'Diaghilev -The Years in Exile' (1968) - and yes from after WW2 to 1929. this is some detail about this other documentary:
Diaghilev: The Years in Exile
First aired: Jan/09/1968
Writer: John Drummond
Guest star: Peter Ustinov (Presenter), Leonide Massine (Himself), Tamara Karsavina (Herself), Serge Lifar (Himself), Henri Sauguet (Himself), Marie Rambert (Herself), Alicia Markova (Herself), Anton Dolin (Himself), Ninette De Valois (Herself)
terrific! thanks John. I just went to a great Ballet Russes gala at the Coliseum last Sunday. AAAAAAH!
the Ballet Russes is still the flavour of the moment! :)
Long may they reign....!
i second that! :)
Fantastic -- thank you !
pleasure Jackie - if you knew the efforts needed to get this documentary you would fall out of your shoes. but happily it's here :)
Mussorgsky was an army officer,before turning to music, hence his appearance in Diaghilev’s childhood home .
John Hall Hello, Thank you very much, this was amazing very very intresting.
hi Ernest - yes a wonderful documentary with so many Ballets Russes luminaries interviewed - i'm trying to locate its companion documentary 'Diaghilev: The Years in Exile' - i'll upload it if i find it!
Merci Monsieur John Hall ! ❤
mon plaisir ❤
Thank you John. I have never seen this before
pleasure - it's one of my favourite Ballets Russes documentaries.
Gosh, that magazine looks amazing!
doesn't it - i think there are jpegs of it online
That's Wonderful Ballet History....Thanks VERY much !
pleasure - i am looking for it's companion piece - 'Diaghilev - The Years In Exile'
Thanks John for this extraordinary documentary. It is possible to add youtube's automatic subtitle? I need it for show this document to my italian eleves. Thanks so much!
BEllISSIMO !!!!! Grazie
piacere mio
@@JohnRaymondHall 😊
@@carlamastrangelo8852 😊
Hello John, I wonder if you might be able to help me. Someone suggested your name on Facebook so I thought I'd get in touch. I know this is a long shot - but would you happen to have the BBC 'Omnibus' documentary on Dirk Bogarde first broadcast in 1983? I'm sure I watched it at the time and would love to see it again. It doesn't appear to be on TH-cam but an excerpt from it was included in the more recent 'Talking Pictures' documentary. I have that one but would be very interested in seeing the complete original 1983 documentary. I'm hoping you might have it in your collection. Best wishes, Kieran
hey :) from this period i only see 'Above the Title' about sadly - you know this i'm sure. i'll look about for the 1983 Omnibus documentary and get back to you Kieran - i like 'Talking Pictures - Dirk Bogarde'. Documentary (2021) th-cam.com/video/F6mycamXjSM/w-d-xo.html
I came here while reading The Successes and Failures of Picasso by John Berger. I kept wondering who is this Diaghilev the writer referred to and what was this ballet Parade all about. In Additions, I wondered who was Apollinaire. In essence, I wanted to distinguish the ballet painting Edvard Degas from Picasso but did not have the background. Well, I feel more armed with knowledge now.
This is marvellous! Thank you so much for the upload! Is there a part 2?
pleasure. yes part two is called 'Diaghilev: the Years in Exile' but I have never managed to find it. hopefully one day!
Would anyone happen to know when this was filmed/released? l tried to look it up, but couldn't find it. Thank you. :)
1968 theresa42213 :) and the companion film ''Diaghilev - "The Years In Exile'' was released the same year
@@JohnRaymondHall~ Thank you John. Merry Christmas to you. :)
pleasure - and a very merry Xmas to you @@theresa42213
Very enjoyable, but even with the volume on full, I found it difficult to follow some of the speakers.
yes, sadly this doco came to me with low sound volume :(
i would love to see marc chagall's set for the fiebird,
Great documentary. Thanks. You don't mind I will post in a group. Are we going to see you there soon ? Missing you there..
don't mind at all - it's good to make it available to as many people as possible. i've already posted it on two FB groups: Les Balletomanes and Ballets Russes. which group/s do you belong to? good to see you there soon!
It's me Luba, you are in my group :) For serious ballet lovers only :)
hi Luba - and i am Alex de Ravin aka John Hall :)
WHERES THE VOLUME.???????????????
it plays for me and others - maybe something at your end?
It’s a pity when they mention the original soloist but n Les Sylphides that they leave out Baldina.
yes, a pity
6:12 Tamara Karsavina !!!
Has the second part of this documentary been found?
i have search for it for years, unsuccessfully. i've almost given up hope
@@JohnRaymondHall Such a pity. I've been obsessed with the Diaghilev era and with everyone who took part in it.
@@moniquelegarda1842 yes, i see the people who were interviewed in part two and imagine the insights they would share. i believe the second doco can be seen in NY at the NYPL
Lots of people of all sizes can perform ballet!
very true!
The Firebird, was it ever filmed. Chagall fan. Love how thet shared at a comune.
'Firebird' was filmed famously with Fonteyn in the 1950s - with coaching from Karsavina, the first Firebird. Diaghilev sadly refused to allow any of the Ballets Russes performances to be filmed.
It was also filmed by Bolshoi as a CD called Return of the Firebird with Andris Liepa in 3 ballets, Firebird, Petrushka and Scheherezade.
You can see also 3 other ballets of the era reconstructed by Andris Liepa with original Nijinsky costumes, Spirit of the Rose, Afternoon of the Faun and Blue God all performed by ex- Bolshoi dancer, Nikolai Tsiskaridze. Reconstrcted for Maris Liepa Foundatioin Saisons Russes. He also danced in Scheherezade produced for the foundation. They are all on YT. Here is Scheherezade with Tsiskaridze in the same costume Nijionsky wore as Golden Slave th-cam.com/video/GecU6I7HY-s/w-d-xo.html
Than you, I will look it up!
Yo are welcome, if you don't speak Russian yo might not find them so let me know, I will post them for you.
Loved the dancing - hate the story- so sinister! Give me a real ol' fairy-tale with a happy ending any time!
yes and Diaghilev was ruthless and not-to-be opposed! i'm on the happy ending scale of things too!
Where is Ana Pavlova?
indeed - though she was only with the company in that first season in Paris
Interesting .
i agree
Nijinsky as Petrouchka looks so tragic...like a poor, abused animal 😔
yes, a gut wrenching performance from all accounts
Peter Ustinov 👏👏👏👏👏
A get
Waz ucking eveee un
Excellent! Merci!
my pleasure Markie! wish i could find the companion piece - also filmed in 1968