The Idea of Orientalism
The Ballet Russe was from 1909 to 1929. Diaghilev embraced the modern and exploited the avant-garde. From the dancers, to the stories and to the costumes, The Ballet Russe was exciting, new and revolutionary to performance and costume design. His work was shocking and mysterious which gave them free reign to create beautiful and inspiring work.
When I wandered round the exhibition I noted how over exaggerated the costumes were. The inspirataion of the clothing is so apparent that it gives you a real feel for what orientalism meant at that time. The mongolian-esq robes and the indonesian zig-zag patterns are so beautifully executed that they could be from the original cultures.
Nnjinsky was Diaghilevs most prized ballet dancer. He often played the black slave tempting the white, innocent and beautiful princess, to a mysterious and sexually explicit world. The stories were often over the top views on what South East Asia was like at the time as, nobody knew what these cultures were really like. So it was easy for Dighilev to create these theatrical events and have a constant audience wanting to experience this "New World."
In one of the rooms you can see the most spectacular Picasso piece. It is huge and spans across the entire room, giving you a sense of how important theatre was to the world at that time. It was their cinema, their place to see the most wondrous things from locations of the unknown and that is quite amazing to see.
I thought in general the exhibition was fantastic. It gave me a real interest in ballet that I have never had before. The layout means that you are taken through the history of ballet but after Diaghilev as well, showing the inspiration that modern ballet takes from the revolutionary work of The Ballet Russe.
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