Ballets Russes: Le Spectre de la rose, L'après-midi d'un faune, El sombrero de tres picos, Petrushka

At the beginning of the last century, Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes fostered an unprecedented collaboration between avant-garde painters, musicians, and choreographers that would challenge cultural and artistic conventions and open the door to modernity. From painters like Bakst, Picasso, Matisse, and Derain, to musicians like Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Ravel, and Debussy, to dancers and choreographers like Nijinsky, Massine, Balanchine, and Lifar, Diaghilev brought together both established artists and rising stars to create ballets that were truly unprecedented.

This homage at the Opéra national de Paris combines in one evening four beloved ballets of contrasting yet complimentary characters: the full-blown Romanticism of Weber's Spectre de la Rose, the unbridled eroticism of Debussy's L’après-midi d'un faune, the tragic euphoria of Petrushka, and the Spanish exuberance of El sombrero de tres picos.

Photo: Petrushka © Sébastien Mathé