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<script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://australiadancing.org/subjects/5761.html","20080722070809","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1216710489"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <a name="top"></a> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//SoftQuad Software//DTD HoTMetaL PRO 6.0::19990601::extensions to HTML 4.0//EN" "hmpro6.dtd"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;" charset="windows-1252"> <link rel="STYLESHEET" href="/web/20080722070809cs_/http://australiadancing.org/css/dance_alt.css"> <link rel="Scheme.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"> <meta name="DC.Creator" content="National Library of Australia"> <meta name="DC.Publisher" content="National Library of Australia"> <meta name="DC.Rights" content="〤ommonwealth of Australia, 2001"> <meta name="DC.Title" content="Australia Dancing - Contes russes"> <meta name="DC.Subject" scheme="APAIS" content="Information services; Dance"> <meta name="DC.Description" content="Entry in The Australian Dance Collection: A Directory of Resources"> <meta name="DC.Language" scheme="RFC3066" content="en"> <meta name="DC.Coverage" scheme="LCSH" content="Australia"> <meta name="DC.Date" scheme="ISO8601" content="29-Aug-2007 10:33:38"> <meta name="DC.Type" content="text"> <meta name="DC.Format" content="text/html"> <meta name="DC.Identifier" scheme="URI" content="http://www.australiadancing.org/subjects/5761.html"> <meta name="DESCRIPTION" content="Entry in The Australian Dance Collection: A Directory of Resources"> <title>Australia Dancing - Contes russes</title> <style type="text/css"> @import url(/web/20080722070809cs_/http://australiadancing.org/css/dance.css); </style> </head> <body leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <table class="header3" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" height="55"> <tr> <td height="55"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/"><img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/AD-logo-long.gif" alt="Australia Dancing Logo" width="214" height="55" class="logo" border="0"></a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/" class="yellow">Home</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/people.html" class="yellow">People</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/companies.html" class="yellow">Companies</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/performances.html" class="yellow">Performances</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/apps/ad?action=PublicSearch" class="yellow">Search</a> </td> </tr> </table> <p class="php"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/about.html" class="header">About</a> | <a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/contact.html" class="header">Contact us</a> | <a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/help/" class="header">Help</a></p> <div class="margin" align="LEFT"> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080722070809/http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms9915-2-56" target="_blank"> <img class="subpic" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080722070809im_/http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms9915-2-56-v" alt="Rowell, E. A.: Dancers of the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet in 'Contes russes' [3], 1936 or 1937" border="0"> </a> </p> <h2>Contes russes</h2> <p class="subcaption"> <a class="caption" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080722070809/http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms9915-2-56-v" target="_blank">Rowell, E. A.: Dancers of the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet in 'Contes russes' [3], 1936 or 1937 </a> </p> <p> <a class="second" href="#materials">Research Materials</a> | <a class="second" href="#other">Other Resources</a> </p> <p><em>Contes russes</em> ('Russian Tales', also presented as <em>Children's Tales</em>) was choreographed by Leonide Massine for the Diaghilev Ballets Russes. This work was revived by the de Basil Ballets Russes, premiering at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden on August 7, 1934, and was performed in Australia by de Basil's Monte Carlo Russian Ballet during its 1936/37 tour. The first Australian performance took place at His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne on December 5, 1936.</p><p>Set to music by Anatol Liadoff, with vivid design of scenery and costumes by Mikhail Larionov, <em>Contes russes</em> was a popular ballet that drew on the fantasy of Russian folklore. With characters such as a witch, a cat, a swan princess, a prince, a dragon, a demon and a little house with legs, it was, in the words of original cast member Lydia Sokolova, 'full of fantasy, excitement and humour'. The first section, <em>Kikimora</em>, originally appeared as a short independent work in 1916, with the other two scenes, <em>Bova Korolevich and the Swan Princess</em> and <em>Baba Yaga</em> being added to create the <em>Contes russes</em> that premiered in the Paris season of 1917. For the ensuing London season, Massine added light hearted inserts to link the episodes.</p><p>The premiere Australian performance of the work was reviewed positively in <em>The Age</em>:</p><p>'Three na飗e and charming Russian folk tales協orm the basis of "Contes Russes". Grotesque, heroic, and sentimental by turn, they are overlaid thickly with a gruff humour that is the special property of the Russian peasant.'</p> <strong>Bibliography</strong>: <p>'Fairy Tale Dances: Humour Lends Zest to New Ballets', <em>The Age</em>, 5 December 1936, p. 4; Richard Buckle (ed), <em>Dancing for Diaghilev: the memoirs of Lydia Sokolova</em> (London: John Murray, 1960).</p> <p> <strong>See also: </strong> <a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/subjects/9.html">Ballets Russes Australian tours</a> ; <a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/subjects/4601.html">Massine, Leonide</a> <br><br> <a class="second" href="#top"><img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/top-arrow.gif" border="0" alt="Return to top of page"></img></a> </p> <hr size="1"> <a name="materials"></a> <h3>Research Materials </h3> <p align="left"> <a class="second" href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/apps/ad?action=ViewSubject&id=5761&resourceType=Moving picture#materials">Moving picture</a> | <a class="second" href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/apps/ad?action=ViewSubject&id=5761&resourceType=Picture#materials">Picture</a> | <a class="second" href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/apps/ad?action=ViewSubject&id=5761&resourceType=All#materials">All</a> </p> <hr size="1"> <h3 class="clear"><a name="other"></a>Other resources</h3> <p>Find more about Contes russes in:</p> <ul> <li> Internet - <a class="second" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080722070809/http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&q=dance+Contes+russes&btnG=Google+Search" target="_blank">Google</a> </li> <li> Articles - <a class="second" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080722070809/http://catnyp.nypl.org/search/?searchtype=X&SORT=R&searchscope=4&searcharg=Contes+russes" target="_blank">New York Public Library Dance Collection</a> </li> <li> Pictures - <a class="second" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080722070809/http://www.pictureaustralia.org/apps/pictureaustralia?action=PASearch&mode=search&attribute1=title,creator,subject,date+or+place&term1=Contes+russes" target="_blank">Picture Australia</a> </li> </ul> <p> </p> </div> <p class="phpfooter"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/about.html" class="header">About</a> | <a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/contact.html" class="header">Contact us</a> | <a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/help/" class="header">Help</a></p> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td class="footer"><img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/spacer.gif" alt=" " width="10" height="55" class="logo"> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/" class="yellow">Home</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/people.html" class="yellow">People</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/companies.html" class="yellow">Companies</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/performances.html" class="yellow">Performances</a> <img src="/web/20080722070809im_/http://australiadancing.org/images/dot-gold.gif" alt=" " width="12" height="12"><a href="/web/20080722070809/http://australiadancing.org/apps/ad?action=PublicSearch" class="yellow">Search</a> </td> </tr> </table>  <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20080722070809js_/http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> _uacct = "UA-807909-3"; urchinTracker(); </script> </body> </html>