page_title: Petrushka
section_title: Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes
hierarchical_section_title: Petrushka / Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Vaslav Nijinsky in Pavilion d'Armide. Sargent deliberately exaggerated the length of his neck to convey the impression he gave in the role of a mysterious and sexless creature. Shown in costume with turban and choker.
context_page_description: Petrushka is a ballet burlesque in four scenes. Alexandre Benois and Igor Stravinsky wrote the story of the ballet. Igor Stravinsky wrote the music. Michel Fokine choreographed the work. Benois designed the sets and costumes. Petrushka was first performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris on 13 June 1911. Nijinsky played Petrushka, and Tamara Karsavina played The Ballerina. Alexandre Orlov played The Moor, and Enrico Cecchetti played The Charlatan.
  Petrushka tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets. The three are brought to life by The Charlatan during St. Petersburg's 1830 Shrovetide Fair. Petrushka is in love with The Ballerina. She rejects him because she likes The Moor. Petrushka is angry and hurt. He challenges The Moor. The Moor kills him with his scimitar. Petrushka's ghost rises above the puppet theatre as night falls. He shakes his fist at The Charlatan, then collapses in a second death.
  Petrushka brings music, dance, and design together in a unified whole. It is one of the most popular of the Ballets Russes productions. It is usually performed today using the original designs and dances.
context_section_description: Serge Diaghilev, the impresario who brought together the three men who created Petrushka, was the son of a nobleman. He was educated at home, and moved to St. Petersburg in 1890 to study law. He took music lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov, and developed a strong interest in the arts. 
  Diaghilev spent his inheritance traveling to Europe's major art museums.  Between 1899 and 1905 he published The World of Art, a magazine that had great influence on the Russian art world. Its success led Diaghilev to set even greater artistic goals for himself.
  He managed to secure a position at the Imperial Ballet, but was fired after overstepping his authority. He organized concerts of Russian music for the Paris Opéra, and promoted Russian operas and short ballets. The Paris public was thrilled with these ballets.
  In 1910, Diaghilev focused his efforts on ballet, and the Ballets Russes was organized. Stravinsky's The Firebird was one of the highlights of the 1910 season. In spite of the company's success, Ballets Russes did not have a permanent home. The dancers went back to their jobs at the Imperial Ballet when the Paris season was over.
   
  When Nijinsky was fired from the Imperial Ballet for an incident possibly masterminded by Diaghilev, the impresario hired him. Nijinsky was an artist of the greatest magnitude who could lead the Ballets Russes to unheard of success and international renown.
  Other artists joined the Ballets Russes, but the company still did not have a permanent home. It led a nomadic existence. Petrushka and Le Spectre de la rose were the highlights of the 1911 season, Daphnis and Chloe and Afternoon of a Faun of the 1912 season, and The Rite of Spring of the 1913 season. Nijinsky married in 1913, and broke with Diaghilev. 
  In the following years, Diaghilev persuaded disgruntled artists who had left the company to return — Fokine and Benois, especially. In 1921, the company found a permanent home in Monte Carlo. It continued to produce the colorful ballets it was famous for. The company's international renown grew, but the excitement of its early Paris days was over.
caption: Nijinsky by John Singer Sargent (1911)
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