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特集―シンポジウム「Ballets Russes―ロマン主義からモダニズムへの変革」

Modern Ballet in Early Democracy: Quests and Achievementsof Sergei Diaghilev, George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein
Hiromi Sakamoto（Kindai University）
1．Introduction
Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) was a legendary Ballet Impresario who
founded and directed a ballet company called the Ballets Russes in the earlytwentieth century. Diaghilev himself was neither a dancer nor achoreographer, and yet gave many up-and-coming artists artistic direction andopportunities to choreograph, compose and design. His Ballets Russes
contributed to a radical aesthetic transformation of ballet from a romantic
style to a modern one. Diaghilev helped to revive ballet as a composite art
form in European countries including the U.K., while he struggled to find asuitable support system for ballet in early European democracy (Kirstein,
1935, pp.279-283; Buckle, 1971, 1979; Kaye & O ’ Toole, 1980). His legacy canbe seen in the performances of Royal Ballet, which was founded by several
dancers and choreographers who worked for Diaghilev ’ s Ballets Russes(Haga, 2014, p.164).
I originally became familiar with Diaghilev ’ s name and his achievements
through Lincoln Kirstein ’ s writings (Kirstein, 1991, 1994). Lincoln Kirstein
was an American producer who founded the New York City Ballet together
with George Balanchine, one of the last protégés of Diaghilev and the lastgeneration choreographers from the Ballets Russes. Balanchine inheritedsome of Diaghilev ’ s significant artistic achievements, while Kirstein invited
Balanchine to New York to create a ballet school and a company, succeeding
Diaghilev ’ s role. In twentieth-century America, Balanchine became one of『ヴィクトリア朝文化研究』第 20 号（ 2022 年）

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the most prolific and talented ballet choreographers (Kirstein, 1978, 1991;
Taper, 1984). I had the privilege of working with the New York City Balletdancers and later carried out research on Kirstein and Balanchine ’ s work
between 1988 and 2000 (Sakamoto, 2000). As I am a performing arts
producer myself, some parts of this paper are written based on myexperiences.
In the business of performing arts, whether it is a straight play, a concert, amusical, or a ballet production, “ success ” usually means both artistic andfinancial. Otherwise, it is not quite sustainable to keep on producing. Thanks
to producers such as Diaghilev and Kirstein, ballet has proliferated rapidly inmany parts of the world in the last one hundred years. Still our capitalistic
democracy ’ s social values and ballet as a traditional art form have not beenquite a perfect match; ballet was an art form for and supported by absolutemonarchy and aristocracy for a long period of time. Many of us who live indemocratic society today appreciate ballet, because it has become capable ofoffering diverse cultural values that could enhance our democracy. Sergei
Diaghilev was one of the first pioneering producers in ballet who struggled
to finance artistically challenging ballets independently from aristocraticenvironments.
In this paper I argue that one of Diaghilev ’ s significant achievements was
his experimentation of materializing modernism in the twentieth-century art
world. Diaghilev ’ s Ballets Russes was one of the most active entities of themodern art movement. I also argue that Diaghilev was the first balletproducer who struggled to produce international ballet productions undercapitalistic democracy. However, the way he produced ballet depended
heavily on his passion for the arts, his charismatic personality, his uniqueinter-cultural background and the era he lived in. Diaghilev ’ s way of life andaesthetic philosophy strongly reflected the idea of avant-garde art.

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2．On Modernism in Ballet: Avant-Garde Aesthetics, Political
Revolutions and Dance
2.1. The Arts and Patronage: From Autocracy to Democracy
The arts often have much to do with the political environments of theplace and the era in which they are produced. So-called high art, especiallybefore the age of democracy, was mainly commissioned and produced by andfor the rulers. Artists, often the gifted ones, served powerful kings, lords andthe riches throughout the pre-democratic periods. Leonardo da Vinci painted
for the Medici Family in Florence, Italy, during the Renaissance period. In
medieval Japan, Zeami danced for the Muromachi shogun ’ s events. Mozart
composed his music for regional rulers, aristocrats and high-ranking priests,
and received money from them.
Ballet became popular during the age of absolutism. Some rulers usedballet to show their autocratic power. For example, Louis XIV of France
founded the first ballet school (1661) and created performances to express his
regime ’ s superiority. He even danced himself: by placing him in the center,an orderly, beautiful world would appear on stage (Kirstein, 1935). The
aesthetics of ballet in such an aristocratic regime shows that even nature canbe controlled by the powerful humans. In the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, Imperial Russia also tried to show how civilized and powerful thecountry was by producing even more sophisticated ballets than Western
European countries, where the art form had originated (Murayama, 2022;
Haga, 2014).
A couple of decades before the Russian Revolution of 1917, there was asign of a new movement in the arts called the Russian Avant-Garde (itactually developed mainly in today ’ s Ukraine). Some artists might have feltthat a big political change was coming. They wanted the arts to portray theworld differently and tried to add more diverse socio-cultural dimensions andvalues to a romantic expression, a kind of fantasy world that the powerfulrulers and their obedient followers preferred. Classical ballet stories such as

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Giselle (1841), Swan Lake (1895) or Sleeping Beauty (1890) were romanticallycelebrated (Balanchine & Mason, 1978) in aristocracy, and yet the original
stories had become socially irrelevant. In democratic society, everyone shouldbe equal: any village girl can marry a prince if they love each other, andpeople should not be governed by a handful of rulers. In many forms of arts,
including ballet, citizens were looking for opportunities to tell their own
stories and show more unique and diverse expressions by placing ordinary
citizens in the center.
2.2. Diaghilev and Modern Ballet: Aesthetic Searches in Tzarist Russia and
Early European Democracy
Diaghilev started producing theatrical exhibitions and ballet performances
before the Russian Revolution. He brought talented Russian artists to
Europe, representing his country. Even the Russian Tzar (Emperor) Nicholas
II and his family thought Diaghilev was good at producing art events andperformances (Buckle, 1979). Even before the revolution, he started
transforming this aristocratic art form into something different; after the
revolution, he was committed to creating something new, in European
countries that had a struggling, young, and yet exciting democratic
atmosphere. With the birth of democracy, or rather, with the shift fromaristocracy to democracy, modern art was born. The French Revolution(1789-1795) and the Russian Revolution (1917) greatly influenced the natureof modern art. Robert Hughes (1980) asks:
How has art created images of dissent, propaganda, and political coercion?
How has it defined the world of pleasure, of sensuous communion withworldly delights? How has it tried to bring about Utopia? What has been its
relation to the irrational and the unconscious? How has it dealt with the great
inherited themes of Romanticism, the sense of the world as a theatre of despair
or religious exaltation? And what changes were forced on art by the example
of pressure of mass media, which displaced painting and sculpture from theirModernism in Ballet and the Art ’s Conditions for Revitalization in Early Democracy

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old centrality as public speech? Obviously, these are only some of the themesof modern art. (p.7)

It is not easy to define modernism in the arts or modern art, yet there areseveral notable characteristics such as freedom of expression and cultural
diversity. The art works of Picasso were extraordinary and unique, while he
was aware that his aesthetics and philosophy were part of the socialtransformation of his era. His Guernica (1937) gives us insight into humannature every time there is a war on the earth (Hughes, 1980, pp.108-111).
Picasso saw the world from a citizen ’ s point of view in which common
people have never benefited from their egotistical ruler ’ s wars and systematic
mass destructions. Matisse, as well as Picasso, borrowed images, ideas andways to see from the colonized world. They both learned from the “ precivilized world ” (Hughes, 1980, p.135) and created something new, possibly
recognizing how civilized the people from the other cultures were, an idea
which did not necessarily exist during the initial era of colonization (Hughes,
1980, pp.135-141). Gradually recognizing the cultural values outside theWestern countries, people started to approve and respect the peoples fromother cultures and civilizations, although we still do not live in a completely
post-colonial era.
Let us discuss dance here before we move on. There is a difference between
modern dance and modern ballet. Ballet is a genre of dance. Ballet has ahistory of more than four hundred years, while dance existed all throughout
human history possibly in every culture, and in every part of the world
where human beings lived. It is said that ballet originated in the Renaissanceperiod in Northern Italy and was brought to France, when Catherine de ’
Medici (1519-1589) married Henri, duc d ’ Orléan (1822-1897), who later
became King of France. As I mentioned earlier, Louis XIV (1638-1715)
patronized ballet and brought the art form to the level that symbolized thepower of his monarchy (Kirstein, 1935; Haga, 2014).
The word “ modern dance ” usually refers to a genre of dance that became

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popular at the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe and America,
and afterwards throughout the world. An American woman, Isadora Duncan(1877-1927), who studied and yet hated ballet, started free style, a nonschooled, somewhat improvisational form of dancing, and she was wellreceived in Europe. She is considered one of the most significant pioneers ofmodern dance. Her charismatic dance performance represented “ freedom ”
and anti-ballet-technique. Duncan ’ s dance demonstrated especially women ’ sfreedom and reminded people of how dance could materialize the images offree citizens and thinkers in Ancient Greek society. There are many othermodern dance pioneers and they looked for freedom in bodily movements
and thoughts: Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Dennis, Émile Jacques-Dalcroze, Hanya
Holm, Rudolf Laban, Doris Humphrey, then later, Michio Ito, Martha
Graham, Charles Weidman, Mary Wigman and others (Maynard, 1965;
Kurth, 2001; Anderson, 1992).
The themes of modern dance shared ideas and values of democracy:
freedom, human rights, equality, aesthetic relativity, cultural diversity, andoften peace. With these modern dance movements thriving, ballet also had
to transform. Yet what could be done with ballet, this very aristocratic,
baroque form of dance, with its rich and powerful patrons ruined throughradical political regime changes, such as the French and Russian Revolutions?
What kinds of ballet productions were desired when modern dance started
becoming popular among the public, and who would be the new ballet
audience in democratic societies? Diaghilev told his choreographers, such as
Mikhail Fokine and Vaslav Nijinsky, to watch Isadora Duncan ’ s performance,and his company would start experimenting new ballet pieces that might
have a strong appeal to the public, to free citizens, in a democratic society(Buckle, 1979).
Going back and forth between changing Russia and Europe, Diaghilev ’ saesthetic experimentation flourished in the environment of early bourgeois
democracy in France and other European countries. Diaghilev was busy
producing artistically stimulating productions and was also busy looking forModernism in Ballet and the Art ’s Conditions for Revitalization in Early Democracy

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sponsors and patrons to cover the cost. He was charming and good at
attracting the wealthy. Additionally, as an immigrated foreigner and cultural
outsider in Western Europe, Diaghilev ’ s aesthetics and his way of life fit
rather well with the theory of modernism and the avant-garde arts. Lincoln
Kirstein (1991) writes:
Serge Diaghilev, more than any other single person, was responsible for thegrowth and maintenance of a tradition in contemporary painting, music, anddancing. Picasso is not the gold mine of Fifty-seventh Street and the rue de laBoëtie wholly because he invented Cubism, but in a great measure because
Diaghilev commissioned him to decorate Satie ’ s Parade and de Falla ’ s ThreeCornered Hat, and in a succession of ballets furnished this great decorator withthe chance to display himself on a grand scale. Stravinsky Diaghilev found in aclass in harmony, and, irritated because his old master Liadov was slow inscoring some Russian fairy tales, ordered The Firebird. Then followed The Rite of
Spring, Petrouchka, Pulcinella, Les Noces, Renard, King Oedipus, and Apollo, Leaderof the Muses: the works by which composer is known. Without Diaghilev, thegreat tradition of classical ballet dancing might have died of dry rot, or disuse.
Instead, first with Fokine, Nijinsky, Pavlova, later with Massine, Dolin, andLifar, he made it greater and more popular than ever before. Diaghilev was asynthesizer, a catalyst, who could image in three dimensions the perfectcombination of the right dances, for the right music, in the right décor; andby right we must read inevitable. (p.104)

Consciously or unconsciously, Diaghilev loved scandals, both in the realmof aesthetics and the way he lived. Fokine ’ s Le Spectacle de la Rose (1911)
shocked the audience, because Nijinsky danced in a very magical and erotic
way. The production broke the image of the male dancer in ballet. When
Nijinsky ’ s L’Après-midi d ’ un Faune (1912) was first performed at Théatre duChâtelet in Paris, the theatre became a mad house: half the audience shouted,
booed, and threw things at the performers on stage, because they found the

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Hiromi Sakamotoballet terribly obscene and annoying. In his personal life, Diaghilev was a gay
man who slept with young male dancers, and the company members were
aware of that (Buckle, 1971, 1979). This of course was long before theLGBTQ people gained the rights to come out.
Diaghilev ’ s dissent, conflicting and rebellious way of production, and his
way of life against social norms were on the same philosophical line asmodern art and the avant-garde. This reminds us of an aspect of politicalarguments in democracy: there is a difficulty in accepting dissent, minority
and oppositional views, and therefore the public often has a hard timecelebrating progressive ideas and attitudes that may challenge traditionalsocial norms. However, Diaghilev was at least successful in art-making,because his talents fitted and flourished in a particular community, which
was modern and culturally foreign (exotic and Russian) ballet. The ballet
audience at that time mainly consisted of people who were basically wealthy,
well-educated, and liberal citizens, if not aristocratic.
Through my experience as a producer, I must mention with somehesitation that there is a tendency that the more intellectual and radical, theless popular arts would become. The more sophisticated and complicated, theless arts may sell to mass audiences. In this context, traditional (baroque andromantic) ballet is more easily accepted by the public, while modern ballet isstill on its way to being globally accepted and celebrated by broader massaudiences. Diaghilev revitalized classical ballet by creating and presenting
modern ballet. As a result, Diaghilev produced all types of ballet to beenjoyed, redefined and recognized as a civic art form, if not every citizen ’ s,in the democratic public sphere.

3．My Encounter with Modern Ballet in America
3.1. New York City Ballet and George Balanchine
I first encountered modern ballet through a Japanese dancer, Gen Horiuchi（堀内元）, then a soloist at New York City Ballet. I worked for NHK as a
drama director for several years in Japan and left for New York in 1988,

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hoping to produce my own theatrical works. A few months after I moved tothe city, I was introduced to Gen. He was soon promoted to a principal, thehighest rank as a ballet dancer. Gen and I decided to found a production
company together, because Gen was often asked to give a guest performancein Japan with his colleagues from City Ballet and we thought I could be ofsome help to him as a producing partner. My knowledge of modern ballet
was rather poor at that time, although I had studied classical ballet a little in
the past.
To discuss repertoires suitable to Japan, and to become familiar with theballets Gen wanted to introduce to the Japanese audience, I started watching
performances at New York City Ballet intensively. Gen gave me lectures on
their artistic style, on how the ordinary Japanese ballet-goers were accustomed
to watching ballets from nineteenth-century Russia. Gen thought it was
important for the Japanese audience to become more familiar with modern
ballet, especially the ones created by Balanchine. Gen was very proud of
being part of New York City Ballet, and he respected his company ’ sfounding choreographer, George Balanchine, immensely. Gen was one of thelast generation dancers of the City Ballet who had worked directly with
Balanchine before the Ballet Master ’ s passing in 1983.
The more I watched the ballets by Balanchine, the more I fell in love withthem. New York City Ballet has been the home of Balanchine ballets where
the choreographer experimented, explored, and exhibited his genius and his
modernism in ballet. In the early days, his “ neo-classical ” ballets caused
debates (Kirstein, 1991, p.122; 1982, p.178). Some called his ballets “ abstract, ”
while Balanchine himself refuted this by explaining that some were just“ plotless, ” and that it was not appropriate to use the word “ abstract ”(Anderson, 1992, pp.160-161; Kirstein, 1991, pp.184-185). Others marveledthat Balanchine ballets were like “ visualized music, ” although Kirstein had
much to say about that (Kirstein, 1982, p.178). Having been a prolificchoreographer, Balanchine created more than one hundred ballets in his life.
During my sixteen years of living in New York City, I probably saw most of

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his famous pieces. I also worked with more than twenty excellent dancers,
including Kyra Nichols, Wendy Whelan, Benjamin Millepied, Lindsay
Fischer, Jeffrey Edwards and others from City Ballet, with and without Gen
Horiuchi.
There are many ballets created by Balanchine which I like, yet I would liketo mention a few of my favorite ones to discuss his style. Apollo, Leader of theMuses (1928) is a piece that Balanchine choreographed when he was with theBallets Russes, and it was pure, simple, and yet very experimental. The ballet
is about one of the Ancient Greek Gods, Apollo, who dances with his threemuses. In this piece, I strongly feel the influence of Diaghilev: how
Balanchine was inspired by Ancient Greek mythology, how ballet grew out of
the soap operatic portrayal of human relationship, and how bodily
movements directly dealt with divinity. With Apollo, Balanchine showed his
own version of modernism. I assume that Diaghilev probably would havepreferred a more profane atmosphere, yet Balanchine created a rather sacred
and timeless atmosphere on stage, blending it perfectly with Stravinsky ’ scomposition which also has this timeless value (Taper, 1984, p.100; Kirstein,
1991, p.125).
Allegro Brillante (1956) was choreographed on the Piano Concerto #3 by
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The music is strong enough to make one feel
comfortable, and this is an extremely romantic piece of music, and yet it is
one of those ballets that brings us to a dramatic, dream-like, highly emotional
state. I used to wonder why this is so modern and romantic at the same time.
This piece suggests that Balanchine did not distinguish the romantic and themodern, but he would take the best elements from both worlds (Balanchine& Mason, 1978). I have seen Allegro Brillante performed many times by Kyra
Nichols, and later with Wendy Whelan. They were extraordinary dancers.
Balanchine also choreographed several story ballets. I mention this because
many people would categorize him as a creator of “ plotless ” ballets.
However, his story ballets are also excellent and I have seen several of them.
For example, Shakespeare ’ s A Mid-Summer Night ’ s Dream (1962) is one of theModernism in Ballet and the Art ’s Conditions for Revitalization in Early Democracy

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full-scale story ballets that Balanchine created. It is so well-choreographedthat even without having any knowledge of the original play, one can capture
the magical world of Shakespeare, and Mendelssohn ’ s music is wonderful aswell (Kirstein, 1991, pp.290-300).
At New York City Ballet, Balanchine had the title of Ballet Master. He was
genuinely a master of ballet, whether it was baroque, romantic or modern,with or without a plot, small or large scale. Balanchine said Diaghilev taught
him how to appreciate art. Young Balanchine was taken to an art museum by
Diaghilev and they looked at paintings together. At first, Balanchine did notknow how to view these paintings, but with the help of Diaghilev, hesuddenly came to appreciate them (Kirstein, 1991, p.210). In New York,
Lincoln Kirstein wrote much on Balanchine ’ s ballets, so that Balanchine ’ sgenius would be understood and appreciated by the public. Kirstein was astrong supporter of Balanchine and an excellent spokesperson for the Ballet
Master ’ s choreography. For example, Kirstein (1991) writes:
Balanchine ’ s ballets can be read as icons for the laity, should we grant dancers
attributes of earthy angels. These have sworn to disavow hedonism in a callingwhich demands transcendence of worldliness and possessiveness, an abjuration
and abandonment of elementary self-indulgence. We can even discover in theiraura an animal innocence as one aspect of Lamb of God which takes away thesins of this world, for they sacrifice much enjoyment in ordinary fun and gamesof their fellows. They are schooled to serve paradigms of order – at least for the
temporal duration of their performing – which, if well done, seem momentarily
to give their audience something approaching “ peace of mind.” (p.219)

It did not take long for me to recognize how sacred and divine Balanchineballets could be. I thought that I was lucky enough to see the works of agenius artist who had choreographed extraordinary pieces in New York, andthat I was able to work directly with those who danced under his direction.

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3.2. Lincoln Kirstein: Producing Partner to Balanchine and Diaghilev ’s Successor
After becoming familiar with Balanchine ’ s ballets, my curiosity went
beyond each ballet. Why was Balanchine able to create so many ballets in
New York? Making a large-scale theatre production requires many talented
artists, time, and a space to rehearse. How had Balanchine been able tosupport one hundred dancers, one hundred orchestra members and one
hundred staff members for such a long period of time? Why was New York
City Ballet given a permanent base theatre in the middle of New York City?
My search led me to the producer of the company, Lincoln Kirstein, the cofounder of New York City Ballet. Kirstein invited Balanchine to the UnitedStates from Europe, and he supported Balanchine ’ s creative processes in New
York.
As I learned more about Lincoln Kirstein, I also found that he wassomeone who looked up to Diaghilev. Kirstein thought Diaghilev was a
distinguished and indispensable ballet impresario in the history of ballet, andespecially of modern ballet. As a student from Harvard University, Kirstein
was active in writing poetry and criticisms on modern art. He helped
establish the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Kirstein was a big fan of
the Ballets Russes, and Balanchine was his favorite choreographer (Taper,
1978; Kirstein, 1978, 1983, 1991, 1994).
When Kirstein was traveling to Venice, Italy, he happened to haveencountered Diaghilev ’ s funeral. Kirstein felt a kind of fate. He examined
and learned from Diaghilev ’ s achievements and wanted to serve Balanchineby completing Diaghilev ’ s unfinished work and bringing modern ballet toits highest level (Kirstein, 1991, p.103). At first, Kirstein wanted Balanchine
to make ballets which reflected American culture and ideals when he moved
to New York. Indeed, Balanchine did make some ballets that were culturally
very American (e.g. Slaughter on 10th Avenue, 1936; Western Symphony, 1954;
Who Cares?, 1970). But Kirstein also realized that Balanchine was a greater
artist than just that. Balanchine ’ s work consists of celebration of humanityand divinity, of lives of diverse individuals, and of cultures and countries.

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Kirstein quickly recognized the genius of Balanchine and supported his
creations in every way possible. Without Kirstein, Balanchine would not havebeen able to create so many great choreographic pieces. From my point ofview, Kirstein turned out to be an even greater producer than Diaghilev.
Kirstein was born into a very wealthy family and inherited much moneyfrom his father. Still, ballet was not, and still is not, the kind of art that one
wealthy person could support for a long time. Luckily the City of New Yorkwas looking for a resident performing arts organization, and Morton Baum,
who was one of the City ’ s Board members, happened to have seen some ofBalanchine ’ s ballets, and he offered Kirstein financial support of the New
York City (Taper, 1984, p.226). Thus, Kirstein did not have to facebankruptcy. New York City Ballet and the City of New York started having a
special relationship; this probably was a rare, successful match between art
and local government in the history of modern democracy (Kirstein, 1978,
1991, 1994).
3.3. Meanings of Art in Democracy
If democracy has one negative element, it is the tendency that radical andminority views can be suppressed by the majority. In the world of art, nomatter how high the artistic quality might be, the general public may not beable to appreciate certain kinds of art. In her discussion on avant-garde art,
Caroline Levine (2007) writes:
The three institutions at stake here — mass culture, avant-garde art, and modern
democracy — are all intertwined; all three developed out of nineteenth-century
struggle over the power of “ the people, ” and together, these three institutions
pose fundamental questions about democracy ’ s workings: how do we knowwhat the will of the people really looks like, and does that will necessarily
indicate the wisest, fairest, freest course for societies to take? (p.21)

In ballet, in addition to politics and art, there is an aspect of financing.

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When Diaghilev suddenly died, his ballet company had much debt. His
legacy as an outstanding ballet impresario is still remembered by many today,
while he was not always financially successful as a producer. Lincoln Kirstein
carefully observed how difficult it was to keep on producing ballets,
especially modern and avant-garde ones. Yet, with Balanchine ’ s choreography
and subsidies from New York City at the right time, Kirstein was able togarner support from multiple sources: individuals, corporations, private
foundations, and public institutions such as the City, the State, and theFederal Government. This unique art support system of the United States iscalled a “ nonprofit ” management system.
Kirstein was probably right in writing that Diaghilev not only saved andrevived ballet but also helped identify new directions for ballet to grow. The
spirit of modernism in ballet was achieved by Balanchine and Kirstein, andthey proliferated performances of modern ballet in New York, which helped
people understand that ballet can be an important part of art in democracy.
Today we enjoy different styles of ballets with four hundred years ’ history —baroque, romantic, modern and contemporary, even regional, ballets — andthey are seen throughout the world. Thanks to Diaghilev, Kirstein thinks,
ballet evaded its possible fate of elimination. It was Diaghilev ’ s talent as a
producer that caused the artistic transformation from romantic ballet to
exotic yet artistic modern ballet, which helped all kinds of ballets to beappreciated.
On the other hand, because of Balanchine, modern ballet did not justpresent scandalous and shocking works with dissenting and challenging
characters, but also aesthetically divine, orderly and peaceful messages to the
public. Balanchine respected diverse cultures and created ballets celebrating
uniqueness of them. With Balanchine ’ s choreographic genius, Kirstein wasable to help ballet find a way to be financially supported by the public andproliferate in democratic environments. Instead of kings and queens, popes
and tzars, each citizen and individuals, local governments, nation-states,
corporations, and foundations all support the arts. Today this American

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model of art patronage, namely the nonprofit art management system, has
become popular among other democratic countries (Connors, 1988).
Still, what is more important is to recognize that through art, we areconsciously and constantly able to push the boundaries of democracy. The
role of arts in democratic society has become more significant and more
important than ever (Levine, 2007; Zuidervaart, 2011). Both arts anddemocracy are humanity ’ s never-ending experiments and quests for a better
alternative life. What Diaghilev, Kirstein, Nijinsky and Balanchine started inballet still makes us think and inspires us today.

4．In Place of a Conclusion
In 1990, Gen and I brought twelve dancers from New York City Ballet toperform in Tokyo. Gen Horiuchi & Kyra Nichols in “ Ballet Capsule ” with 10
Dancers of the New York City Ballet was one of the main performing arts
programs which celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the New York-Tokyo
Sister City relationship. We selected Balanchine ’ s Apollo, Allegro Brillante,
Tarantella, Stravinsky Violin Concerto and other pieces. While there was a
producer in Tokyo who was financially responsible for this project, I was aco-producer/production advisor in New York. It was a special experience forme to be mostly responsible for the quality of the production: selecting
ballet pieces and dancers with Gen, suggesting managerial and promotional
ideas, and writing articles for a brochure.
One of my contributions was to introduce the American nonprofit art
management system to the Japanese audience. While the French word
mécénat was becoming popular, the idea of nonprofit art management was
not yet common in Japan in the 1990 ’ s. In those days, half of the New York
City Ballet ’ s annual sixty-million-dollar budget was fundraised through thissystem. The producing team sent out press releases to the Japanese media to
introduce how Balanchine ’ s ballets were supported, and how the City Ballet
operated in the United States. Gen was interviewed by many journalists bothas an artist and as a fundraiser for the company.

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With hindsight, that week-long event happened in the last decade of thetwentieth century. What Sergei Diaghilev started together with great artists
such as Fokine, Nijinsky, Stravinsky, Debussy, Bakst, Picasso and Matisse at
the beginning of the century, was transplanted and developed by Balanchine
and Kirstein in America, and Gen and I were lucky enough to be able tointroduce their work to the ballet audience in Japan.
In February 2022, Putin ’ s Russia invaded Ukraine, where the so-called
Russian Avant-Garde movement originated and flourished. It is quite
unbelievable that nobody can stop this madness. It seems to me that while
Putin ’ s Russia barbarically and mercilessly attacks its civilized neighbor,
Ukrainians defend democracy and humanity at all cost. Some professional
Russian ballet artists left their companies, protesting against the war. Joseph
Biden, the current American President, explains that this is a war between“ autocracy and democracy. ” It is appalling that such a tragedy is taking placewhen the world is still suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic. Excessive
human activities on a global scale have caused severe environmental damages
to the planet, and some say that the recent pandemic was one of them aswell. In my mind, it is not the time for human beings to fight one another, it
is a time when we must unite internationally to fight against global issues
together.
Unfortunately, human beings can be ugly, egotistical, and destructive. We
can cause a pandemic and we can cause war. Yet, we should also be able toend them if we choose to do so. I wonder what the arts and artists can do. I
wonder if there is anything I can do as a performing arts producer, and as aprofessor of performing arts who teaches young people contemporary dance
and theatre. With this opportunity of reflecting on the footsteps ofDiaghilev, a great impresario from Russia, of Balanchine, a genius from
Georgia, of Kirstein from the United States of America, and other great artists
and creative individuals who contributed to the beautification of the world
and to the enhancement of democracy, I hope to find answers and ways tobuild a better future with like-minded people.

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67

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