Serguéi Diáguilev (was born in Sélischi-Russia on 1872-1929) was an entrepreneur, art director, critic of Russian art and openly homosexual. He was one of the key men in the renewal of the ballet during the twentieth century. He founded, in Paris (1909), the Ballets Russes, the company that brought together the best dancers and choreographers (Balanchine, Fokine, Karsavina, Massine, Nijinska, Nijinsky), painters (Bakst,Benois, Braque, Derain, Matisse, Picasso) and composers (Debussy, Falla, Prokofiev, Ravel, Satie, Strauss) at the time. The great success of the shows involved the discovery and confirmation of several young artists. One of them was Igor Stravinsky, whose collaboration with Diaghilev did create some of his great contemporary musical repertoire, such as The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring and Pulcinella. Diaghilev made “The Sleeping Beauty” by Chaikovsky in London on 1921, although being popular with the public, was not a financial success. During his last years the Ballets Russes were seen as too intellectual and stylish.
He died in Venice on 1929 and he was buried on the island of San Michele. Three weeks later his brother Valentine was executed in the first Soviet concentration camp.
