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serge léonidovich grigoriev1883-1968 Serge Grigoriev studied at the Imperial Theatre School, St. Petersburg and graduated in 1900. He was a dancer in the Maryinski Theatre from 1900 to 1912 and was the creator of several character rôles. He married the dancer Lubov Tchernicheva in 1909, in the year that he was appointed, on Mikhail Fokine's recommendation, régisseur (stage manager and rehearsal director) in Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He was involved in every aspect of the organization and never missed a rehearsal or performance. He knew each dancer's strengths and weaknesses and helped Diaghilev with casting. He supervised the stage and wardrobe staff, maintaining the scenery and costumes, all with an acute consciousness of the budget. He even regulated the curtain calls! However, as a link between Diaghilev and the company, he sometimes had unpleasant duties, including the dismissal of Vaclav Nijinsky and Léonide Massine. He was certainly the "honest broker" between Diaghilev and the rest of the company. On 17 January 1925, before an important gala performance in honour of the Prince and Princess of Monaco, the whole of the corps de ballet presented Diaghilev with a "round robin" petition, threatening strike action if their pay was not increased. Diaghilev remained resolute and it was only through Grigoriev's diplomacy that a major catastrophe was averted. After Diaghilev's death in 1929, Grigoriev attempted in vain to to keep the troupe together. When this failed, he loyally directed the de Basil Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, ensuring the smooth running of the coming and delighting audiences with a fresh and exciting interpretation of the Diaghilev tradition. Grigoriev was appointed producer, with his wife Tchernicheva, of revivals of Fokine ballets for Sadler's Wells (later Royal) Ballet. He also directed rehearsals of Massine ballets, and staged ballets for the London Festival Ballet, and La Scala, Milan. Although Grigoriev was not himself one of the most famous dancers, he was nevertheless a remarkable mime and character performer. His characterizations in La Boutique fantasque, Le Chant du rossignol (the Nightingale's Song) and Schéhérazade were said to be outstanding. Grigoriev's diary
Extracts from the diary are reproduced in these pages: |
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At
a time when there were no written records of ballets, Grigoriev's attention
to detail, and his notorious phenomenal memory, were invaluable. As
a critic of the day (1940) wrote: "Grigoriev is probably the only
man who knows the history of the Diaghilev troupe from its first performance
to its last... It is extremely unlikely that he will ever write his
memoirs..." Fortunately for the world of ballet, that prediction
proved wrong, and his book The Diaghilev Ballet 1909-1929 is a classic.
Reconstructed from some old notebooks in which he had carefully summarized
information relating to all the seasons ever given by the Diaghilev
ballet, the book is a year by year synopsis of events.
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