Secret of the Russian Ballet by Carl Van Vechten

Name: Secret of the Russian Ballet
Author: Carl Van Vechten

In "Secret of the Russian Ballet," Carl Van Vechten argues that the true achievement of Serge de Diaghilew's company lies not in any single virtuoso but in its group-spirit — a collective aesthetic that fuses painting, music, and choreography into unified pictorial drama. He opens by placing the Ballet alongside other group-driven theatrical movements of the era, such as Max Reinhardt's productions, Stanislawsky's Moscow company, and the Irish Theatre movement, before asserting that none matched the Russian Ballet's cultural reach, which he claims extended even into European politics and fashion. Van Vechten traces the company's origin to Paris, where it began not as dance but as an art exhibition of paintings by Bakst and other Russian artists — two seasons still officially counted among the Ballet's history. This origin, he contends, explains why the Ballet remained fundamentally a picture-show in motion, and why its decorative innovations reshaped Western fashion: designers like Paul Poiret, Paul Iribe, and George Barbier, and publications like the "Gazette de Bon-Ton," all drew directly from its color schemes and costume silhouettes, from the crinolines of "Papillons" to the Orientalism unleashed by Bakst's "Sheherazade." He surveys the principal designers — Roerich, Bakst, Fedorowsky, Soudeikine, Golovine, Doboujinsky, Benois, and Gontcharova — crediting each with distinct triumphs: Roerich's barbaric Polovtsian camp for "Prince Igor" and his settings for Strawinsky's "The Sacrifice to the Spring"; Fedorowsky's decorations for "La Khovanchina"; Soudeikine's costumes for Florent Schmitt's "Salome"; and Gontcharova's daring color work for "The Golden Cock." Bakst receives the fullest treatment, culminating in an extended description of "The Legend of Joseph," Richard Strauss's ballet staged on a Veronese-inspired set designed by José-Maria Sert and dressed by Bakst, whose signature touch — exposing the dancers' silk-hosed legs beneath Venetian brocades — Van Vechten highlights as historically authentic rather than merely titillating. Turning to music, he emphasizes that the Ballet elevated serious, even radical modern composition to popular attention, citing Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloë," Debussy's "Jeux," Reynaldo Hahn's "Le Dieu Bleu," Steinberg's "Midas," Tcherepnine's "Narcisse," and above all Strawinsky's "The Firebird," "Petrouchka," and "The Sacrifice to the Spring," which he ranks among the greatest musical achievements of his time. He discusses works adapted from existing concert pieces — Balakirew's symphonic poem "Thamar," Rimsky-Korsakow's "Sheherazade" (produced over the composer's widow's objections), and Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" — comparing critical reception in Chicago, New York, and London, and noting how Nijinsky's staging of "L'Après-midi d'un Faune" scandalized Paris audiences in 1912 despite Debussy's own approval, provoking a public dispute between critic Paul Souday and sculptor Rodin. He then catalogues the lighter, more classically balletic works — "Les Sylphides," "Papillons," "Carnaval," and "Le Spectre de la Rose" — describing their Chopin and Schumann-based scores and Bakst's costuming, and reproduces a London Times account of "Le Dieu Bleu" and its Indian-fantasy setting. The barbaric "Prince Igor" dances receive particular praise for their controlled wildness, quoting a critic on how the choreography evokes the historical menace of the Polovtsian horde. Van Vechten credits choreographer Michel Fokine as the organizing genius behind these effects, explaining how Fokine broke from rigid symmetrical formations to subdivide dancers into interacting groups synchronized with the music's own polyphony, often drawing inspiration from paintings by Veronese, Mantegna, Bellini, and Carpaccio. He also acknowledges Nijinsky's own choreographic ventures — "L'Après-midi d'un Faune," "Jeux," and "The Sacrifice to the Spring" — as strikingly original in their own right. The essay closes with character studies of the two leading dancers. Nijinsky is celebrated at length as a performer of near-superhuman technical control and dramatic depth, singled out for his interpretations in "Petrouchka" (the puppet with a soul), "Sheherazade," "Le Spectre de la Rose," and "Carnaval," and praised as perhaps the greatest stage artist of his era across all performing arts. Tamara Karsavina is described as a lesser beauty than Anna Pavlowa but a superior ensemble artist, notable for her Salome, her Queen in "The Golden Cock," and her restrained performance in "The Legend of Joseph." Van Vechten ends by conceding minor flaws — weak scores or costuming in "Midas," miscasting in "The Legend of Joseph" — as trivial faults within an otherwise triumphant body of work.

By Carl Van Vechten · First published 1915 · Genre: Art Criticism, Dance Criticism, Performance Review · 8,406 words

First lines

Irony certainly directed the workings of fate when it was decreed, in this age of individualism, that the group-spirit should dominate the movements of the theatre, an institution in which, not so many years ago, the individual reigned, his head crowned with bays. Democracy has two effects: it strengthens the individual and it gives him the power to join with other individuals in fostering the growth of his ideals. Thus Max Reinhardt, distinctly individual though he may be, has made his impression through his artists, his actors, and his musicians. So has Stanislawsky of Moscow, who in one instance solicited the services of Gordon Craig. The Irish Theatre movement, which developed so great a genius as Synge and many lesser, but still important, writers, such as T. C. Murray and St. John Ervine, was essentially conceived in the group-spirit. But more than any of these, the most brilliant movement in the theatre of our time, the Russian Ballet (I am referring specifically to the organization under the direction of Serge de Diaghilew) has relied to an extraordinary degree on the group for its effect -- one which, on modern art, music, dancing, stage decorations, and women's fashions, can scarcely be overestimated. I have heard it said, not altogether as a jest, that the Russian Ballet has had an influence on European politics.

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Secret of the Russian Ballet is listed on Textopian as an essay by Carl Van Vechten, dated 1915 CE.

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Work type: Essay
Author: Carl Van Vechten
Date: 1915 CE
Language: English
Genres: Art Criticism, Dance Criticism, Performance Review, Music Criticism, Cultural History
Length: 8,406 words
Structure: 1 section, 44 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)

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Genres

Art Criticism — The work extensively analyzes visual design, color schemes, stage decoration, and the contributions of painters like Bakst, Roerich, and Gontcharova; it frames the Russian Ballet fundamentally as a visual art movement that revolutionized theatrical aesthetics.
Dance Criticism — Provides detailed technical and artistic analysis of choreography, dancer performances, and the innovations of Fokine and Nijinsky in restructuring ballet movement and composition from traditional symmetrical arrangements to dynamic ensemble work.
Performance Review — The author evaluates specific ballet performances, critiquing individual dancers, choreographic execution, and overall artistic success, employing the evaluative mode and personal testimony characteristic of performance journalism.
Music Criticism — Substantial portions analyze the musical compositions used in ballets, discussing composers like Debussy, Stravinsky, and Rimsky-Korsakow, and how music was adapted and reinterpreted for choreographic purposes.