Editing Sergei Diaghilev (section)

=== Late years ===
After the [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917, Diaghilev stayed abroad. Once it became obvious that he could not be lured back, the new [[Soviet Union|Soviet regime]] condemned him in perpetuity as an especially insidious example of "bourgeois decadence". Soviet art historians wrote him out of the picture for more than 60 years.<ref>Clive James, ''Cultural Amnesia'' (W. W. Norton & Sons, 2007), p. 169.</ref>

Diaghilev made [[Boris Kochno]] his secretary in 1920 and staged [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[The Sleeping Beauty (ballet)|The Sleeping Beauty]]'' in [[London]] in 1921; it was a production of remarkable magnificence in both settings and costumes, but, despite being well received by the public, it was a financial disaster for Diaghilev and [[Oswald Stoll]], the theatre-owner who had backed it. The first cast included the legendary ballerina [[Olga Spessivtseva]] and [[Lubov Egorova]] in the role of Aurora. Diaghilev insisted on calling the ballet ''The Sleeping Princess''. When asked why, he quipped, "Because I have no beauties!" The later years of the Ballets Russes were often considered too "intellectual", too "stylish" and seldom had the unconditional success of the first few seasons, although younger choreographers like [[George Balanchine]] hit their stride with the Ballets Russes.

The start of the 20th century brought a development in the handling of tonality, harmony, rhythm and meter towards more freedom. Until that time, rigid harmonic schemes had forced rhythmic patterns to stay fairly uncomplicated. Around the turn of the century, however, harmonic and metric devices became either more rigid, or much more unpredictable, and each approach had a liberating effect on rhythm, which also affected ballet. Diaghilev was a pioneer in adapting these new musical styles to modern ballet. When Ravel used a [[Quintuple meter|{{music|time|5|4}} time]] in the final part of his ballet ''[[Daphnis et Chloé|Daphnis and Chloe]]'' (1912), dancers of the Ballets Russes sang ''Ser-gei-dia-ghi-lev'' during rehearsals to keep the correct rhythm.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

Members of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes later went on to found ballet traditions in the United States (George Balanchine) and England ([[Ninette de Valois]] and [[Marie Rambert]]). Ballet master Serge Lifar went on a technical revival at the [[Paris Opera Ballet]], enhanced by [[Claude Bessy (dancer)|Claude Bessy]] and [[Rudolf Nureyev]] in the 1980s. Lifar is credited for saving many [[Jewish]] and other minority dancers from the [[Nazi concentration camps]] during [[World War II]]. After dancing with the Ballets Russes in 1925, [[Ruth Page (ballerina)|Ruth Page]] emerged as a founder of her own ballet troupes based in Chicago, including the [[Chicago Ballet|Chicago Opera Ballet]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures/page_essay_meglin.pdf |title=Ruth Page: Early Architect of the American Ballet |author=Joellen A. Meglin |website=www.danceheritage.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913180211/http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures/page_essay_meglin.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/09/obituaries/ruth-page-dancer-is-dead-at-92-proudly-american-choreographer.html |title=Ruth Page, Dancer, Is Dead at 92: Proudly American Choreographer |website=The New York Times |date=9 April 1991 |access-date=2 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.nypl.org/dan/19658 |title=New York Public Library Archives – Ruth Page Collection 1918–70 |location=New York Public Library for the Performing Arts – Jerome Robbins Dance Division |website=archives.nypl.org |access-date=2 March 2021}}</ref>