page_title: Ballets Russes
section_title: Dancers
hierarchical_section_title: Ballets Russes / Dancers
caption_attribution_description: Tamara Karsavina. Тамара Карсвина
context_page_description: The Ballets Russes were a company of ballet dancers whose full title was Les Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev. They became extremely famous in Europe in the early part of the 20th century.
  The group was formed and directed by the Russian Sergei Diaghilev. The Ballets Russes had more influence on ballet and ballet music than any other ballet company of their time. The dancers were from Russia, but the group travelled throughout Europe, spending a lot of their time based in Paris. Stravinsky was one of the many composers who wrote ballet music for them.
  Sergei Diaghilev was an impresario who was extremely good at spotting good dancers and helping them to rise to great standards. He had very good taste in art and music and inspired some great composers to write music for his dancers. He got some of the most famous painters of his time to make set designs for his productions.
context_section_description: The Ballets Russes had many famous dancers. Many of them were from the Russian Imperial Theatres and they came to dance for Ballets Russes during the summer months. Some of the great dancers include Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Olga Spessivtzeva, Mathilde Kschessinska, Ida Rubinstein, Bronislava Nijinska, Lydia Lopokova and Alicia Markova.
  The company was particularly influential because they treated male dancers as important. Up until this time the female dancers had much more attention than the male dancers. Among the male dancers were Michel Fokine, Serge Lifar, Léonide Massine, George Balanchine, Adolphe Bolm, and, especially, Vaslav Nijinsky who became the greatest dancer of his time.
caption: Tamara Karsavina, Grand Ballerina of the Tsar's Imperial Ballet, and the Parisian Ballet Russe of Sergei Diaghilev.
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