Programme for the Ballets Russes, for the Paris season in May-June 1912 at the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Hungarian tour of March 1912. It includes the argument of Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, the programme for Saturday 8 June 1912 with cast list and the argument of Daphnis et Chloé, Sheherazade, The Rite of Spring, The Firebird (L’Oiseu [sic] de feu), followed by a page with the argument and cast list for Carnaval and Narcissus, and two pages in Hungarian announcing the programme of the March 1912 tour at the Royal Hungarian Opera.

An exceptional and to our knowledge unrecorded brochure, not listed in institution catalogues or monographs on Serge Diaghilev’s dance company.

Stapled brochure, illustrated with a colour medallion portrait of Nijinsky after Georges Lepape pasted to the upper cover, printed border of the upper cover faded over 3 cm. Decorated with numerous gilt ornaments framing the text.

This document contains an early version of the argument of the Rite of Spring at the time still unfinished by Stravinsky, whose abrupt ending differs from the description given in this programme. Initially planned for the 1912 season, the ballet was first performed in 1913.

It also includes a rare piece of ephemera on the Ballets Russes tour in Budapest in 1912 with a double page in Hungarian presenting the arguments and the cast list of Prince Igor and The Spirit of the Rose, danced by Nijinsky.

This unrecorded programme was most likely printed by Maurice de Brunoff, who that same year issued the official programme for the seventh Ballets Russes season at the Châtelet as a special issue of Comoedia. The cover is indeed almost identical to p. 23 of the official programme, with the tondo portrait of Nijinsky by Lepape (which, in our programme, is mounted rather than printed); the layout is similar and the gilt ornamental frames are identical. Yet this programme differs in numerous respects, which may suggest that it is in fact a mock-up of a version later abandoned: one notes a great many typographical errors, even in the titles (“L’oiseu de feu” p. 8, “sur la musiqeu” p. 7), as well as a systematic absence of accents, and several pages which do not appear in the published programme.

The Ballets russes in 1912: a rite of spring postponed… yet already printed in the programm

The 1909-1910 seasons of the Ballets Russes consisted of an improvised troupe of dancers on leave from the Imperial Russian Theatre, marking the beginning of a freer, more expressive way of dancing charged with emotion. The ballets enjoyed such success with the Parisian public that Diaguilev established a permanent company in 1911.  The presence of The Rite of Spring in a programme dated 1912 is therefore surprising: Stravinsky had nearly completed the first tableau in December 1911, however a delay in the preparation of Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (premièred on 29 May 1912) led to the postponement of the Rite to the following season, in 1913. The text of the argument printed here appears in no programme published at the time of its première. Even more striking, the description of the final dance is decidedly the opposite of the conclusion of the ballet as we know it. In the famous Danse sacrale, the sharp staccato of the orchestra accompanies the apotheosis of the chosen maiden, who dances until she falls dead. By contrast, the present programme describes a decelerando:  “the bride lies rigid, as if in a kind of trance. Suddenly she stirs and begins a dance of religious exaltation. This exaltation becomes frenzy, from frenzy it fades into exhaustion, and the girl expires — the sacrifice is accomplished”.

The Ballets russes in Hungary

The scenic and choreographic revolution of the Ballets quickly spread across Europe, and Budapest enjoyed its dazzling productions twice in 1912: first in March at the Popular Opera, and again at the Royal Hungarian Opera from December into January of the following year. It was during these latter performances that Nijinsky captivated and enchanted the young Romola Pulsky, his future wife, who saw him on stage for the first time. Our programme presents the arguments and cast lists for the dances of Prince Igor and Le Spectre de la Rose in Hungarian, indeed performed during this first series of performances in March 1912. However, it announces dates and a venue differing from those known: 12, 15, 16 and 18 March 1912 at the Royal Opera, instead of 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12 March 1912 at the Popular Opera as recorded in the chronology established by Boris Courrège (Les Ballets russes, cat. exhibition BnF, 2009, p. 256).

The irresistible appeal of programmes

The brochure displays all the hallmarks of these celebrated programmes on thick, satin-finished paper: “Relatively expensive at two francs, the programmes are an artful mixture of designs, photographs and full-page advertisements for luxury products — travel, perfume, restaurants, millinery, Veuve Clicquot Champagne, the grands magasins, and that staple underpinning of the contemporary theatre programme (and female society), corsetry — elite preoccupations.” (Beverly Hart, “Souvenir Programmes”, Diaghilev And The Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: When Art Danced With Music)

Like others, it was intended to include photographs of the dancers and reproductions of costumes, which were not printed but for which the references (“Voir fin du programme de la soirée”) are present in the brochure. In addition to the usual inserts for Champagne, an advertisement for Comoedia illustré (identical to those found in known Ballets Russes programmes) occupies the back cover of this brochure, leaving little doubt as to the origin of this copy published by Maurice de Brunoff.

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An exceptional document, an as yet unknown source contributing to the history of the Ballets Russes which revolutionized Western dance.

As Boris Courrège, who established the chronology of Ballets Russes performances, points out, “programmes are constantly revised and scheduling plans disrupted. The surviving season repertories must therefore be consulted with caution” (Les Ballets russes, cat. exhibition. BnF, 2009, p. 249).

The company also had an influence on the advertising itself: in 1912 Marquise de Sévigné chocolate, which filled the back-page slotfor several seasons, references the style and jewel colours of Bakst. These glossy production values reflect the involvement of Maurice de Brunhoff, co-founder of Vogue and art director of Comœdia Illustré.