Le Dieu Bleu

***Le Dieu Bleu*** () is a ballet in one act. Jean Cocteau and Federico de Madrazo y Ochoa wrote the story of the ballet. Reynaldo Hahn wrote the music. Michel Fokine designed the dances, and Léon Bakst designed the sets and costumes. The ballet was first performed in Paris, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, on 13 May 1912.  It was a failure. Critics thought Vasdlav Nijinsky, the dancer for whom the ballet was designed, did more posing than dancing. Producer Sergei Diaghilev blamed Hahn's music for the failure. _Le Dieu Bleu_ was staged three times in Paris in 1912 and three times in London in 1913. The ballet has not been revived.

## Background

The ballet impresario and producer Sergei Diaghilev staged two exotic ballets for the Ballets Russes: _Cléopâtre_ in 1909 and _Schéhérazade_ in 1910. Both were great successes with the Parisian public. He hoped that _Le Dieu Bleu_, another exotic ballet, would be equally successful.

_Dieu_ was one of six new ballets for the 1911 Ballets Russes season. The others were _Narcisse_, _La Peri_, _Le Spectre de la Rose_, _Sadko_, and _Petrushka_. Michel Fokine would design the dances for all of them. Léon Bakst would design the sets and costumes for the first four. When Fokine and Bakst started work on Ida Rubinstein's ballet _Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien_, Diaghilev felt betrayed. He pushed _Dieu_ forward to 1912. He lost interest in _Dieu_, but spent huge amounts of money on the production. He hoped _Dieu_ would make Vasdlav Nijinsky a great international star.

Fokine started work on _Dieu_ in Saint Petersburg in the winter of 1911-1912. He based some of his ideas for the ballet on the dances of the Royal Siamese Court ballet. This company had danced in St Petersburg in 1900. Fokine also made a study of the arts of India. In the end though
, his dances for _Dieu_ were dull.

Hahn's music could have been the reason. It was not very good. Prince Lieven, a critic and historian of the Ballets Russes, said the music had no interest or importance. He said that it was "sweet and insipid." Bakst based his ideas for the sets and costumes on the printed materials for the Cambodian Ballet's 1906 performances in France.

## First performance

The ballet was first presented by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet on 13 May 1912. Another ballet, _Thamar_, was also on the program. Both ballets were failures. Diaghilev was shocked by the failure of _Thamar_. He thought it would be another success like _Schéhérazade_. He was not surprised that _Dieu_ was a failure. He privately blamed Hahn's  music for its failure. The music was dull. He was forced to use it because Hahn had rich friends in Paris. They would have cut their support of the Ballets Russes if the music had been turned down.

## Cast

The ballet was designed for Nijinsky. He had yet to dance an important part for the Ballets Russes. He was cast as The Blue God. Diaghilev hoped The Blue God would make the dancer an internationally famous star. Other dancers in the ballet were Max Frohman as The Young Man, Tamara Karsavina as The Young Girl, Lydia Nelidova as The Goddess, and Michel Federov as The High Priest. Nijinsky's sister Bronislava Nijinska was cast as The Drunken Temple Dancer.

## Story

The curtain rises on a warm evening in India a long time ago. In front of a temple of rock, a pool is seen with a lotus on the surface of the water. Snakes and other animals rest near the pool. The temple walls are covered with masses of flowering plants. People are waiting for a ceremony to take place. The Young Man is about to become a priest of the temple. The Young Girl runs in. She kneels at the feet of The Young Man. She does not want him to desert her for the life of a priest. She dances before him. The priests are shocked. They lead The Young Man out. They prepare The Young Girl for death.

The gates are shut. The Young Girl tries to get out. Monsters rise from a place under a trap door. The Goddess rises from the lotus. The Blue God rises from the pool. He calms the monsters with his flute. The monsters are trapped by the masses of plants. The Blue God's work is done. The priests come in. They are surprised to see The Young Girl still alive and fall on their knees before her. The Young Man rejoins The Young Girl. The Goddess orders golden stairs to come down from the sky. The Blue God flies up the stairs and disappears into the clouds.

## What people thought about the ballet

Diaghilev hoped that _Dieu_ would be a great success, but it was not. People thought that Nijinsky's talent had been wasted. They said that he posed more than he danced. What people liked the most about the ballet was Bakst's sets and costumes. Valery Svetlov wrote in the _Mercure de France_ on 15 May 1912 that _Dieu_ was "a failure in every sense of the word." The ballet was presented three times in Paris in 1912 and three times in London in 1913. Bakst's costumes and set were revived for a week-long Diaghilev Festival directed and staged by Andris Liepa in London, April 2011, with new choreography by Wayne Eagling to music by Scriabin. The role of the Blue God was played by Nikolai Tsiskaridze. That production was also not well received.

## References

- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/apr/14/les-saisons-russes-xxi-review
- http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/blue-god-firebird-les-saisons-russes-du-xxi-si%C3%A8cle-london-coliseum
- http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=9145

## Infobox (ballet)

- **name**: Le Dieu Bleu
- **image**: Le Dieu Bleu 1911.jpg
- **image size**: 250px
- **caption**: Nijinsky as The Blue God
- **alt**: Nijinsky as The Blue God
- **choreographer**: Michel Fokine
- **composer**: Reynaldo Hahn
- **librettist**: Jean Cocteau
Federico de Madrazo y Ochoa
- **based on**: Original story
- **premiere**: 13 May 1912
- **place**: Théâtre du Châtelet
Paris
- **ballet company**: Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
- **characters**: The Young Man
The Young Girl
The Goddess
The Blue God
The High Priest
The Drunken Temple Dancer
- **designer**: Léon Bakst
- **setting**: India
- **created for**: Nijinsky
- **genre**: Mythology
- **type**: Neoclassicism, Neoclassical ballet