Before the Second World War his company split in two with what became known as The Original Ballet Russe under the guidance of Col Wasily de Basil and Rene Blum, and The Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo led by Leonide Massine, both of which were to be hired by American impresario Sol Hurok to tour the United States during the war and post war, at one time simultaneously!

Monaco 1979 – Poulenc’s Les Biches

Many of the members of the Ballet Russes went to on to form their own companies, for example Anna Pavlova, Ida Rubenstein, Adolph Blom, Serge Lifar, Marie Rambert, George Balanchine, Ninette de Valois, and British dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin – thus making Diaghilev the true father of Twentieth Century ballet.

In this 1995 Russian quartet we see the four principal characters in Petrushka, from left The Moor and Petrushka, his rival in love for The Ballerina and hovering over all The Old Wizard who eventually “kills” the puppet boy.

The Russian Fokine issue of 1995 (above) is but one of a handful of particularly beautiful issues from Russia, all designed by Yuri Artsymenev, (who was also responsible for the 2000 Millenium issues) which celebrate the nation’s achievements in staged musical productions, beginning in November 1992 with four stamps for Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker and followed by issues for choreographer Marius Petipa (Jan 1993), for Rimsky-Korsakov in Jan 1994, for choregrapher Alexander Gorsky (Aug 1996) and for composer Paul Glinka (2004).

The two most popular subjects on ballet stamps is Tchiakovsky’s Swan Lake (1877) for which there are currently over a dozen stamps, many of which either show the lovers Siegfried and Odette or The Dance of the Cygnets – and Adolphe Adam’s Giselle (1841)

1992 Russian block celebrating The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.

Ukraine 2004 celebrating Sergei Lifar, who did so much to revive the French ballet scene.

Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova (31 January 1881 (Old Style)/12 February 1881 (New Style) – 23 January 1931) was a famous ballet dancer of the early 20th century.

Pavlova was born in St. Petersburg, Russia two months premature. She later claimed her father had died when she was two years old. She was rejected at the age of eight from the Imperial Ballet School because she was too small for her age and was asked to return when she reached her tenth year. At age ten, she entered the school, and in April 1891 danced in her very first performance as a cupid in Marius Petipa’s A Fairy Tale.

Audiences became enchanted with Pavlova and her frail, ethereal look, which fit the role perfectly, particularly in the scene The Kingdom of the Shades. Pavlova was thin and delicate-looking.

She was considered perfect for romantic roles such as Giselle.

By the mid 1900s she founded her own company and performed throughout the world, with a repertory consisting primarily of abridgements from the Imperial Petipa works, and specially choreographed pieces for herself. The ballet writer Cyril Beaumont described that “her bourées were like a string of pearls”.

Her most famous showpiece was The Dying Swan, choreographed for her by Michel Fokine, danced to The Swan from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.

An image of Anna Pavlova appears in the centre of the 2000 Russian Millennium stamp (above). It was taken from a poster advertising “The Russian Seasons “, series of performances in London and Paris between 1908-1941 presented by Serge Diaghilev.

Anna Pavlova as Giselle in Act I (a.1900)