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The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
The Golden Years 1938 to 1944
By Mary Beth Crocker
Whenever the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo came to town, it brought vivid color to
an often gray world.
From 1938 to 1962, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo introduced millions of
Americans — including those in Cincinnati — to ballet, a new, intriguing art form many
had never before experienced. It was only in 1958 that Cincinnati Ballet was
chartered as the "Cincinnati Civic Ballet."
Whether in well-known theaters or tiny opera houses, high school gymnasiums or
military bases, when the "house" lights were turned low and the curtain opened,
gray worlds were suddenly transformed Long dash —even if for only one night Long dash—into brilliantly
colored, lively, happily-ever-after worlds.
The names were distinguished: Principal dancers Alexandra Danilova and Frederic
Franklin. Choreography by Léonide Massine, Agnes de Mille, George Balanchine.
Set designs by Christian Bérard, Eugene Berman, Nathalie Gontcharova.
The ballets were unforgettable: Coppelia, Gaîté Parisienne, The Nutcracker, Rodeo,
The Seventh Symphony, Schéherazadé, Swan Lake.
Through weeks of grueling one-night stands, through snowstorms and train wrecks, the
difficulties of communicating among the 17 nationalities represented in the company and the
life-altering effects of World War II-the vagabond troupe entertained America, igniting a curiosity
about ballet that, for many, led to a lifelong appreciation and long-lasting passion handed down to
the generations of today.
To celebrate the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and its strong Cincinnati connections, the
Cincinnati Art Museum and Cincinnati Ballet are collaborating on a tribute that includes a
museum exhibition that features over 100 drawings of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo costume and
set designs from the museum's collection. The drawings were donated by the Fleischmann
Foundation in memory of Julius Fleischmann, the chief patron for the traveling ballet troupe. The
exhibition runs October 10 - January 12, 2003. The ballet plans a weekend of dance performances
on October 18-19 that will showcase excerpts from ballets associated with the world-famous
company. Frederic Franklin, 88, a former principal dancer and ballet master with the Ballet Russe
de Monte Carlo who has a lengthy history with Cincinnati Ballet, will restage the excerpts,
assisted by Cincinnati Ballet's Johanna B. Wilt. Franklin, artistic director emeritus of the ballet,
also will be honored as he celebrates his 70th year on the dance stage.
"It was the most wonderful thing," says Franklin, about his career with the Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo, which spanned nearly three decades. In fact, when it was launched in 1938, organizers
probably never could have predicted the impact that the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, in its
infancy, would have on the future of ballet in America.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, if it weren't for the patronage of Cincinnati's Julius
Fleischmann, the new art form created by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo would never have
existed, leaving a void in "American ballet's pioneer era," says Janet Light, a dance critic and
writer from Cincinnati whose profile on Fleischmann appears in the CAM's exhibition catalog.
FLEISCHMANN LEGACY
Fleischmann, who served on the board of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, passionately
supported theater, music, art, antiques, literature, and ballet. "Fleischmann's commitment and
philanthropy proved essential in establishing ballet-going as an American habit, for more than any
company of its time, the Ballet Russe [de Monte Carlo] performed on the road for most of its
existence," Light says. "Fleischmann really felt it was his role to bring this to public attention. He
was a person who thought Long dash—not in a frivolous way Long dash —that the arts enhanced life."
Fleischmann was instrumental in organizing the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which drew dancers
from the Monte Carlo Opera Ballet, Colonel Wassily de Basil's Ballets Russes and other artists
recruited by renowned choreographer Léonide Massine, who had left de Basil's company because
of a dispute. (Of note: Several companies that performed in America from 1916 to 1962 used
"Russe" or "Russes" in their titles. The terms are French for the word, "Russian.") Massine was
financially and professionally supported by Fleischmann and Sergei J. Denham, a Russian born
banker with a passion for ballet who wanted to establish a company to showcase Massine's
talents.
Massine served as artistic director; Denham was managing director. Fleishmann continued to
support the company until it disbanded in 1962.
"Denham would later recall that the idea of the Ballet Russe [de Monte Carlo] was born on a
1936 drive between Winding Creek [Fleischmann's 1600-acre country home in Indian Hill] and
Fleischmann's downtown office in Cincinnati's Carew Tower," says Light, who researched
correspondence between Fleischmann and Denham.
"When I read that correspondence, one of the strong impressions that I came away with was their
constant struggle to find [patrons] since the cost of running a ballet company can never be
covered through the price of tickets," she says. "At the time, there was no government support for
the arts and very little philanthropic foundation support. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo really
depended on private individuals like Mr. Fleischmann for its existence."
After rehearsing in Monte Carlo, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo performed there and in London
before sailing to the United States, where its gala premiere in 1938 at the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York launched a 25 week tour to America's bustling cities and remote towns.
A TRAVELING TROUPE
The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo took a risk when it launched its American tour. The territory
was uncertain because no one knew if American audiences would like or even understand ballet.
Dance historian Jack Anderson, a New York Times dance critic who also wrote an essay about
the history and artistic significance of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo for the CAM's exhibition
catalog, says there were indeed Americans who didn't understand the art of ballet. There were reports
of calls to the box office asking, "What language is tonight's performance?" and others complaining
that the orchestra was so loud during the ballet that they couldn't hear a word of it.
In some communities, Anderson writes, "The dancers had to deal with prudish audiences
unaccustomed to the sight of men and tights and women in short skirts."
More often, audiences eagerly anticipated the arrival of the company. Calendars were marked,
tickets were sold and social events were planned around the performances. "For some of these
small towns, the only other experience that could possibly be akin to [the Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo performances] was Technicolor films," explains Light. "These productions were so beautiful
and so beautifully presented and so wonderfully done, they opened a new world."
No matter how popular the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was becoming, it took World War II to
instill more desire and demand for the dance form. "We had successful tours during the war and
made a lot—as much as a ballet could make," explains Franklin, who performed in Cincinnati the
day that Pearl Harbor was bombed. "Audiences wanted to get away from the news. They wanted
entertainment."
Anticipation for the first appearances of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in Cincinnati - on March
17-19, 1939 - was enormous. Double-billed with the Cincinnati Symphony at Music Hall, the
troupe arrived by special train with "carloads of scenery, several thousand pairs of slippers, trunks
full of costumes and other paraphernalia," according to The Cincinnati Enquirer, which published
a 12-page section, filled with sophisticated photographs of company dancers. After the
performances, which were followed by gala parties and balls, newspaper society columns were
filled with details that included a Who's Who of Cincinnati society and, most important, what they
wore. A chic frock of black was topped by a wide collar of ermine. A chic dinner gown in tones
of hyacinth and lavender was worn with a fitted jacket. A gown of the softest blue chiffon was
most becoming to her chestnut hair. Writes The Cincinnati Post, after a social event: "The
principals and cast of the Ballet Russe, whose magic performances last night, thrilled the large
audience which thronged in Music Hall."
In a typical 40-week season, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo could be booked for nearly 200
performances in 80 to 90 different areas, which represented every state in the mainland, says
Light.
Franklin refers to the early tours as ballet's "covered wagon" days. Franklin, whose keen memory
makes him a human encyclopedia of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, remembers traveling to 110
cities in four months.
"They were one-night stands," he says. "I loved it. We had our own train, our own diner, our own
sleeping cars. It was a very different kind of life. If it was a long [tour schedule], we'd get on the
train at 8 in the morning, travel through the day, get into the town about 4, do the performance
and get back on the train to go to the next town."
The dancers, most of whom were from Russia and Europe, learned that America—especially the
West—is boundless. "I remember when we were going through Texas—it took forever," laughs
Franklin. "So I remember asking, 'When will we be out of Texas?' The answer? 'Not for three
days.' '"
Year after year, the troupe returned to many of the same cities and towns. "We had friends in all
of the towns where we did more than one performance - Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Cincinnati," says Franklin. "The other towns were a blur."
Like Franklin, Helen Murielle Greenberg, another former corps de ballet dancer with Ballet Russe
de Monte Carlo who now lives in Cincinnati, has hazy memories of most one-night performances.
She remembers that Pueblo, Colo., for example, was a "tiny" town with nothing but dirt roads.
Because the stage in the municipal auditorium was too small to accommodate the large company,
a number of dancers were cut from the performance.
She remembers the hazards in the small theaters unaccustomed to handling a large, professional
company. "In the opera houses, the stages were full of trap doors, ridges," explains Greenberg.
"You always had to make adjustment for stages—some were totally slippery, hazardous like ice."
In Lansing, Mich., Greenberg danced a solo role and "my legs slipped from right under me. Now,
you can laugh about it, but there was always a sense of dread when you knew the stage was so
treacherous."
Of course, there were complaints from fellow dancers during those arduous trips, she says. "It
wasn't easy. But because you're a dancer and you are devoted to your art, you do what you have
to do. The reward was always in the performing and [especially in small cities], you got the sense
that you were making a big impression."
Greenberg says she was actually recruited by Franklin when he was ballet master of the Ballet
Russe de Monte Carlo and she joined in 1948, the year it launched its 10th anniversary season
at the Metropolitan Opera with a repertoire of 22 ballets.
Because it was the practice at that time for dancers to adopt Russian names as stage names—in
order to appear more exotic—Greenberg's name was changed to Elena Lane, the one she was
known for during her first professional job in Jerome Robbins' High Button Shoes on Broadway.
"I was 18 or 19 when I joined the company, and for anyone to be exposed to the performers who
came before me, who had experienced working with the original choreographers, who had been
doing these roles for years to bring the tradition of Russian theater to America, it was a
tremendous inspiration," says Greenberg.
BALLET'S GENEOLOGY
The popularity of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo—not only in Cincinnati but throughout the
U.S.—goes back to 1909 when Serge Diaghilev, a Russian arts administrator known for
his creativity, assembled a group of Russian dancers in St. Petersburg and called the company, the
Diaghilev Ballets Russes.
The Diaghilev company performed in Paris, Monte Carlo and London, before traveling to
America in 1916 and 1917. After the first performance in Cincinnati in 1916, a column appeared
in The Cincinnati Post proclaiming that, "Nothing more artistic has been offered here in a
generation."
"If anybody studies the history of the ballet, they know about the Ballets Russes [companies],"
explains Victoria Morgan, artistic director of Cincinnati Ballet. "Those ballets are a major
influence in how an entire world of ballet developed."
Morgan maintains the reason that the Diaghilev Ballets Russes stood out so prominently was that
Diaghilev, "in his genius," managed to hire the top talent in the artistic world—fledgling, before-
they-became-famous artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, or composers like Claude
Debussy and Igor Stravinsky.
The Diaghilev Ballets Russes disbanded in 1929 following Diaghilev's death, but its influence
continued to impact successor companies, including the new Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. To
publicize its first performance in Cincinnati—in 1939—The Cincinnati Enquirer called the Ballet
Russe de Monte Carlo the "finest practitioner of the ballet in the world and comparable in every
way to the Russian ballet of the great Diaghilev."
FAR-REACHING TALENTS
It was understood that the Ballets Russes represented—not only lavish costurnes and sets—but
dancers with exceptional talent and skill and a diverse repertoire that enticed ballet-goers to return
year after year.
Overall, the style of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a "vivid, presentationalistic manner of
dance," according to dance historian Anderson. "As one dancer put it, the company allowed
performers to step on stage and say—with their dancing—'I am I, and here I am.' "
Yet, because of the varied repertoire, the dancers had to be extremely accomplished and versatile
enough to dance a variety of styles created by a variety of choreographers. They had to be actors.
They had to be comedians. They had to dance as a team.
"That's what people liked about it. As a dancer, appearing in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King
and I on Broadway. "But you had to adapt to the different dance styles. You had to adapt to
whatever the story line was whether it was Rodeo or Gaîté Parisienne. We were all
characters as if in a play."
"Every dancer in those character ballets saw their role as a gem of characterization," agrees Light.
"The whole stage came alive. It was so theatrical. Dancers of that generation, whether principals
or corps de ballet, saw their parts as important. Every person who was on stage was contributing
to the theatricality and to the excitement of it."
The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo maintained consistent high quality. "Their principal dancers
appeared in small towns as well as big cities," Anderson writes. "Even such great stars as prima
ballerina Alexandra Danilova and Frederic Franklin performed with the same verve and attention
to detail in high-school auditoriums that they displayed in leading opera houses, never simplifying
makeup or choreography because they were tired or suspected that the audience might not know
the difference. No wonder such dancers were loved."
The performers were determined and dedicated to make each performance as good as their last—no
matter the size of the audience, the condition of the theater or the area of the country, Anderson says.
Greenberg speculates the company's commitment was the result of being together every day for
months. "It was a family-like experience because you established a kind of camaraderie with this
group of people," she says. "The Ballet Russe [de Monte Carlo] was like a family."
Cincinnati Magazine, Special Projects Editor
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