Modern Movement How the Ballets Russes Revolutionized Dance

"If your idea of ballet is a flurry of tutus and toeshoes, a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington will expand your vision. "Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes" shows the revolutionary impact a group of dancers, composers, artists and choreographers made on classical dance at the start of the 20th century."

"The exhibit features silver and red painted designs for costumes, gold- and pearl-encrusted princely robes, a flat curtain conceived by Pablo Picasso, and a film of the Russian dance company's most famous — and controversial — dance,The Rite of Spring. Choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky to music by Igor Stravinsky, the dance was scandalous when it was first performed in 1913."