1919 – World premieres of La Boutique fantasque and Le tricorne, by the Ballets Russes

La Boutique fantasque and Le tricorne

Set in an enchanted toy shop in the 1860s, Léonide Massine’s La Boutique fantasque was one of his happiest and most effervescent works, danced to Ottorino Respighi’s arrangement of some of Gioachino Rossini’s piano pieces and charming designs by André Derain. It was staged by Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1947 and The Royal Ballet Touring Company in 1968.

The product of a summer spent in Spain and having taken lessons in Spanish dancing from Felix, Léonide Massine created Le tricorne in a remarkable collaboration with composer Manuel de Falla and artist Pablo Picasso, making perhaps the most successful depiction of Spain on the ballet stage. It was staged by Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1947 and Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1994.