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Born in Moscow in 1896,
Leonide Massine studied acting
and dancing at the Imperial
School in Moscow and had
almost decided to become an
actor when Sergey Diaghilev,
seeking a replacement for Vaslav
Nijinsky, invited Massine to join
his company. After a few months
of study under Italian dancer and
teacher Enrico Cecchetti,
Massine made his Paris debut in
La Legende de Joseph in
1914 and received favourable
comment on his dramatic dance
ability and commanding stage
personality. Diaghilev supervised
his artistic education, taking him
to museums and concerts and
introducing him to such people
as the Russian painter Mikhail
Larionov, the conductor Ernest
Ansermet, and the composer
Igor Stravinsky, all of whom
influenced Massine's approach to
dance. Diaghilev also encouraged
his choreographic talent.
Massine's first work as a
choreographer, Le Soleil de
nuit, was produced in 1915.
Massine extended Michel
Fokine's choreographic reforms
by enriching and clarifying
narration and characterizations.
His ballets incorporated both folk
dance and the demi-caractere
dance, a style that uses classical
technique to perform character
dance. He added variety and
complexity by including
synchronized yet individual or
small-group dance patterns within
the corps de
ballet.
Massine died in 1979. |
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