page_title: Le Dieu Bleu
section_title: Story of the ballet
hierarchical_section_title: Le Dieu Bleu / Story of the ballet
caption_attribution_description: Эскиз для постановки *Синий бог* Райнальдо Гана. 1912 Centre Georges Pompidou
context_page_description: 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 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.
context_section_description: 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 living, 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.
caption: Set design by Bakst
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