Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%
Features

The astonishing legacy of Sergei Diaghilev  

by Alan R. Dodge
March 2011, no. 329

Ballets Russes: The Art of Costume by Robert Bell

National Gallery of Australia, $39.95 pb, 264 pp

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.

What is it about the Ballets Russes that resonates with so many people? Is it the magic of a redeemed art ordained in a marriage of artists, dancers, and composers overseen by a master celebrant – Sergei Diaghilev? Is it remembrance of a creative fire that burst onto the stage in 1909 and assured a strong future for ballet around the world? The answer is ‘yes’ to both, but I think that what attracts us most is nostalgia for a particular moment in time; the desire to have witnessed those famous performances in the early decades of the last century.

 


Continue reading for only $10 per month.
Subscribe and gain full access to Australian Book Review.

Already a subscriber? .
If you need assistance, feel free to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..



Ballets Russes: The Art of Costume by Robert Bell

National Gallery of Australia, $39.95 pb, 264 pp

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.


From the New Issue

Clever Men: Mountford’s expedition reappraised by Martin Thomas

by Ben Silverstein

The Odyssey: A mesmerising guide to Odysseus’s world by Homer, translated from ancient Greek by Daniel Mendelsohn

by Glyn Davis

Letters – October 2025

by Eli McLean, Theodore Ell, Ben Brooker, et al.

What Is Wrong with Men by Jessa Crispin & The Male Complaint by Simon James Copland

by Tom Ryan

You May Also Like

by Don Anderson

Andrea Chénier

by Peter Rose

Maria Stuarda

by Peter Rose

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.

Submit comment