Le Train Bleu (ballet)

Le train bleu
Darius Milhaud in 1923.
Choreographer	Bronislava Nijinska
Music	Darius Milhaud
Premiere	20 June 1924 Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris
Original ballet company	Ballets russes

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.

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 Woizikovsky in the leading roles. The orchestra was conducted by André Messager.

Sections

• Introduction
• Choeur des poules et des gigolos
• Entrée de Beau-Gosse
• Entrée de Perlouse
• Rentrée de Beau-Gosse
• Choeur des poules et des gigolos (farce des cabines et scène de l'avion)
• Entrée de la championne de tennis et couplets avec Beau-Gosse
• Entrée du joueur de golf et valse avec Perlouse
• Introduction et duo de Beau-Gosse et de Perlouse
• Choeur des poules et des gigolos; Fugue de l'engueulade
• Final du chapeau.

Notes

1. Histoires de la mode, 2008, p. 153.
2. 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. ^[1]

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
• New York Times article by Gay Morris, 4 March 1990

1. Sjeng Scheijen, "Diaghilev: A Life," Oxford UP, 2009