léonide massine

1896-1979
Russian-American dancer and influential choreographer, who did much to further the arts of character dance and pantomime.

He was born Léonide Fyodorovich Miassin in Moscow. Massine studied ballet at the Imperial Theater in Moscow, and at the age of 17 he became a protégé of Russian ballet producer Sergei Diaghilev, who took him to Paris and the Ballets Russes. During 1913 Diaghilev dismissed Nijinsky from the company and replaced him with by the 18-year old Massine as a principal dancer and choreographer. In 1915 Massine staged his first ballet, Le Soleil de Nuit, designed by Larionov in his boldest Russian neo-primitive style. Diaghilev, greatly encouraged by the reception of the new ballet said: "You see: given the talent, one can make a choreographer in no time."

In 1917, in cooperation with Picasso, Massine staged Parade, 'the first cubistic ballet'. Plan and libretto were by the French poet and playwriter Jean Cocteau (see Les Six). The ballet marked the beginning of a new stage in the activity of Diaghilev's enterprice. He was the first in the West to stage symbolic ballets, such as La Symphonie fantastique (mus. H. Berlioz, 1919). They manifested the tendency toward allegoric thinking and the action was frequently built on the clash of such as fate, passion and temptation. Massine went on to choreograph other, equally famous works, including The Rite of Spring (1920). The Three Cornered Hat (1919), another Massine ballet, had decor by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and music by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. Massine also worked as a choreographer in cinema, including such films as The Red Shoes (1946).

Massine made his United States debut as a dancer in 1916. Five years later, he left Diaghilev to tour South America with his own company, but he rejoined the Ballets Russes in 1924 and remained with the company until Diaghilev's death in 1929. During the 1930s, Massine created a new genre of dance, the symphonic ballet. In these elaborate productions, Massine attempted to express the musical content of symphonies by such renowned composers as Ludwig van Beethoven and Hector Berlioz.

From 1932 to 1937 Massine danced and choreographed for a company with roots in Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, Les Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, later renamed Ballets Russes de Colonel Wassily de Basil. From 1938 to 1943 Massine was choreographer, dancer, and artistic director of another company with roots in Diaghilev's company, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Massine subsequently worked with the American Ballet Theatre and with various European companies. He also created his own part in the influential British motion picture The Red Shoes (1948), choreographed by Robert Helpman, which helped inspire a young generation of dancers. Massine became a United States citizen in 1944. His autobiography, My Life in Ballet, was published in 1968.