''Le train bleu'' is a one-act

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

choreographed by

Bronislava Nijinska Bronislava Nijinska (; pl, Bronisława Niżyńska ; russian: Бронисла́ва Фоми́нична Нижи́нская, Bronisláva Fomínična Nižínskaja; be, Браніслава Ніжынская, Branislava Nižynskaja; – Febr ...

to music by

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

for

Serge Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

's Ballets Russes, based on a scenario by

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

. The title was taken from the night train called ''

Le Train Bleu The ''Calais-Mediterranée Express'' was a French luxury night express train which operated from 1886 to 2003. It gained international fame as the preferred train of wealthy and famous passengers between Calais and the French Riviera during th ...

'', which transported wealthy passengers from Calais to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. The ballet is set on the fashionable French Riviera and has a sporting theme, with swimmers, tennis players, and weight lifters.

Henri Laurens Henri Laurens (February 18, 1885 – May 5, 1954) was a French sculptor and illustrator. Early life and education Born in Paris, Henri Laurens worked as a stonemason before he became a sculptor. From 1899 to 1902, he attended drawing class ...

supplied a

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

beach scene and

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

outfitted the cast in sportswear. The curtain was painted after ''Deux femmes courant sur la plage'', a 1922 work by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. 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 Lydia Sokolova (1896–1974) was an English ballerina. She trained at the Stedman Ballet Academy and learned from accomplished dancers including Anna Pavlova and Enrico Cecchetti, and was a prominent member of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes fr ...

, Anton Dolin and Leon Woizikowski in the leading roles. The orchestra was conducted by

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

Notes

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

References

* Au, Susan (2002). ''Ballet and Modern Dance''. Thames and Hudson Ltd. * Grumbach, Didier (2008). ''Histoires de la mode''. Paris: Éditions du Regard.
''New York Times'' article by Gay Morris, 4 March 1990
{{Pablo Picasso Ballets by Darius Milhaud Ballets by Bronislava Nijinska Ballets by Jean Cocteau Ballets designed by Coco Chanel 1924 ballet premieres Works about rail transport