Le Train Bleu (ballet)
Le train bleu is a one-act ballet choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska to music by Darius Milhaud for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, based on a scenario by Jean Cocteau. The title was taken from the night train called Le Train Bleu, which transported wealthy passengers from Calais to the Mediterranean Sea.
Le train bleu | |
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Darius Milhaud in 1923. | |
Choreographer | Bronislava Nijinska |
Music | Darius Milhaud |
Premiere | 20 June 1924 Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris |
Original ballet company | Ballets russes |
The ballet is set on the fashionable French Riviera and has a sporting theme, with swimmers, tennis players, and weight lifters. Henri Laurens supplied a Cubist beach scene and Coco Chanel[1][2] outfitted the cast in sportswear. The curtain was painted after Deux femmes courant sur la plage, a 1922 work by Pablo Picasso.
The ballet was first performed on 20 June 1924 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, with Nijinska, who played a tennis player based on Suzanne Lenglen, Lydia Sokolova, Anton Dolin and Leon Woizikowski in the leading roles. The orchestra was conducted by André Messager.
Notes
- Histoires de la mode, 2008, p. 153.
- Harris, Dale (September 1989). "Legends: Chanel and Diaghilev". Architectural Digest: 42, 46, and 50.
Richard Buckle's biography of Diaghilev made a mistake in citing the setting as Deauville. Deauville was a fashionable resort in Normandy, and it was not on the line of the Blue Train.
References
- Au, Susan (2002). Ballet and Modern Dance. Thames and Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0500203521
- Grumbach, Didier (2008). Histoires de la mode. Paris: Éditions du Regard. ISBN 978-2-84105-223-3[1]
- New York Times article by Gay Morris, 4 March 1990
- Sjeng Scheijen, "Diaghilev: A Life," Oxford UP, 2009