Mia Slavenska

Ballets russes -- Ballets Russes is an intimate portrait of a group of pioneering artists -- now in their 70s, 80s and 90s -- who gave birth to modern ballet.

Unearthing a treasure trove of archival footage, filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have fashioned a dazzling and entrancing ode to the revolutionary 20th-century dance troupes that performed under the Ballets Russes banner. Ballets Russes maps the Diaghilev-era beginnings in turn-of-the-century Paris -- when artists such as Nijinsky, Balanchine, Picasso, Matisse and Stravinsky united in an unparalleled collaboration -- to the halcyon days in the 1930s and '40s, when the Ballets Russes astonished American audiences with artistry never before seen, to the 1950s and '60s when rising costs, rocketing egos, outside competition and internal mismanagement brought the last of the revered Ballets Russes companies to its knees. Directed with consummate invention and infused with juicy anecdotal interviews from many of the companies' glamorous stars, Ballets Russes treats audiences to a rare glimpse of the remarkable dancers, choreographers, composers and designers who transformed the face of dance for generations to come.

The legendary Ballets Russes troupe gave Russian dancers who were never allowed to grace the stage in their home country a chance to shine, especially in the 1930s and '40s, when the company achieved worldwide renown. But even as early as the 1900s, it had been a showcase for such big-name talents as George Balanchine and Vaslav Nijinsky. When the '50s hit, though, the enchantment began to fade in the harsh light of fiscal realities.

Ballets Russes is an intimate portrait of a group of pioneering artists -- now in their 70s, 80s and 90s -- who gave birth to modern ballet.

Ballets Russes is an intimate portrait of a group of pioneering artists -- now in their 70s, 80s and 90s -- who gave birth to modern ballet.