Exhibition Theater Art & Design XX-XIX

"Theater Art & Design XIX – XX "

Historical and Art exhibition

«Portrait of Ninette de Valois»

Artist Rinat Kuramshin

The historical and artistic exhibition "Theatre Art and Design XIX - XX" was organized as part of the VALOIS FEST program in London, marking the anniversary of Ninette de Valois, an iconic figure in world choreography. She was one of the outstanding figures who shaped the history of ballet in the 20th century. Ninette de Valois danced in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and later founded the Royal Ballet of Great Britain. She was also involved in the creation of the national ballets of Ireland, Canada, Australia, Turkey, and Iran.

The exhibition features paintings and graphic works, costume and set designs, porcelain, glass, and metal design objects, posters, photographs, books, and other items reflecting developments in the fields of theater design, music, and choreography in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Throughout her life, Ninette de Valois devoted herself to the art of dance, demonstrating the continuity of 19th-century theatrical traditions and supporting innovative achievements in 20th-century music and choreography. From childhood, she absorbed the mastery of the finest dancers, including Anna Pavlova, prima ballerina of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre of Russia, who later moved to London and founded her own ballet company. A turning point in Ninette de Valois's life was her time with Sergei Diaghilev's company. She said that she learned how to manage a ballet company while working with Diaghilev. Throughout her tenure as director of the Royal Ballet, she drew on the knowledge and experience gained from her time with the eminent impresario. The renowned "Russian Seasons," organized in Europe, Great Britain, and the United States over 100 years ago, provided a powerful impetus for the development of the performing and visual arts worldwide.

Kevin O'Hara, Director of the Royal Ballet:
“Ninette de Valois is an iconic figure in the history of British and Turkish ballet. At The Royal Ballet we owe our existence to the entrepreneurial spirit and indomitable will of Madame Valois. The same artistry, vision and leadership have allowed this art form to flourish in Turkey, where its influence remains just as strong.

As we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the birth of this remarkable woman, it is wonderful to see how VALOIS FEST inspires so many young people through showcasing the legacy of Ninette de Valois and promoting the bright future of ballet and choreography.”

In this regard, one section of the exhibition was dedicated to Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons. Diaghilev's introduction to Western countries began at the 1906 Salon d'Automne in Paris, where he opened an exhibition of Russian fine art. He then combined the achievements of Russian artists in the fields of theater design and costume design for the opera Boris Godunov. Finally, in 1909, Diaghilev presented the first performances of the Ballets Russes. Throughout its existence, from 1906 to 2029, the Russian Seasons were a magnet for talented individuals. Diaghilev's ballets are known to have enjoyed tremendous success in London. The company's key productions were presented between 1911 and 1921 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the London Coliseum Theatre, and the Alhambra Theatre. These performances had a profound influence on English ballet and brought fame to Russian art in Britain. Many British artists attended the "Russian Seasons" performances and were delighted by the sets and costumes created by Diaghilev's artists for the ballets and operas.

Mikhail Baryshnikov, Artistic Director, Baryshnikov Arts Center:
“It was a great honor for me to meet her in person during my performance at the Royal Ballet. Her talent and vision for the future of not only this company, but the entire ballet today remains unsurpassed. Congratulations to all participants of VALOIS FEST 2023 for their dedication and emerging talent. May this experience be useful and fruitful. A few tips: don't try to re-dance the choreographic material. Try to understand why you dance and perform with an open heart. Good luck to all festival participants. Seeing the magnificent portraits and artwork at the VALOIS FEST exhibition, I was pleased to remember our meetings with Ninette de Valois and other wonderful people from the Royal Ballet."

The British studio Kingsley's co-organized the exhibition "Theatre Art and Design XIX - XX."" The company is notable for the fact that among its original founders were artists and members of the Royal Academy of Arts who were personally acquainted with the participants of Sergei Diaghilev's "Russian Seasons." Kingsley's always sought to establish close contacts with British, European, and Russian artists who created works on themes of theater, music, and dance. This collaboration resulted in the creation of engravings, lithographs, and silkscreen prints on themes of theater, music, and dance. The studio also produced objects in porcelain, ceramics, glass, and other materials. The art objects presented at the exhibition vividly reflected the innovative experiments in theater, music, dance, and fine art of the era.

According to the organizers, the portrait of Ninette de Valois by artist Rinat Kuramshin became the main exhibit of the exhibition. The exhibition stands were also decorated with portraits of Valois's contemporaries, including Sergei Diaghilev, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, Marie Rambert, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, George Balanchine, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev and other choreographers, ballet dancers, and theater figures. Among Valois's contemporaries were outstanding composers: Edward Elgar, Ralph Williams, Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich and others. The organizers of VALOIS FEST, with the support of partners, managed to assemble a large collection of historical artifacts and works of art reflecting the development of theater, dance, and music in the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibition featured works by famous artists Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Leon Bakst, Georges Barbier, William Russell Flint, Laura Knight, Walter Ernest Webster, Umberto Brunelleschi and Jean-Gabriel Domergue, Robert Demachy, Georges Barbier, Doris and Anna Zinkeisen, Zinaida Serebryakova, Adolphe de Meyer, Adolphe Munzer, Ray Kingsley, Rinat Kuramshin, Konstantin Lomykin and others. Some artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Leon Bakst, Georges Barbier, collaborated with Diaghilev's Russian Ballet. Other artists created sets and costumes for various theaters and ballet companies.

Susan Jaffe, American Ballet Theatre, Artistic Director:
“VALOIS FEST demonstrates respect for Ninette de Valois and other outstanding figures who have made significant contributions to world culture and the arts. I express my gratitude to the organizers and partners of the VALOIS FEST project for their desire to support young talents. I hope that for many young dancers, participation in VALOIS FEST will become an incentive for further professional growth. I wish them to perform successfully at the Festival events and continue to improve their skills in choreographic art. As a woman and director of one of the world's largest ballet companies, I take great inspiration from Ninette de Valois's outstanding example of visionary leadership."

The curators of the exhibition "Theatre Art and Design XIX - XX" are designer Ray Kingsley and artist Rinat Kuramshin. In the process of preparing and forming the collection of exhibits for the exhibition, Ray Kingsley and Rinat Kuramshin collaborated with art collectors, museum specialists, theater directors and managers, specialists from music and dance companies from the UK, Russia and other countries. Many famous people provided unique artifacts, items from their personal property, as well as art objects from corporate and private collections. Thanks to the joint efforts of many people, the exhibition has acquired international status, arousing interest in many countries. The organizers express special gratitude to the following people: Kevin O'Hara - Director of the Royal Ballet; Susan Jaffe - Artistic Director of the American Ballet; Mikhail Baryshnikov - Artistic Director of the Baryshnikov Arts Center; Nima Kianne - Founder and Artistic Director of Les Ballets Persans; Natalia Zilber - Director of the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet; Carlos Prado - Artistic Director of Companhia Nacional de Bailado (National Ballet of Portugal); Tan Sagturk - General Director of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet Theatre; Alexander Sovostyanov - Director of Astana Ballet; Galym Akhmedyarov - Director of Astana Opera; Saifiddinzoda Kamoliddin Sharofiddin - Director of the Tajik State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Sadriddin Aini; Jane Farrell - Chairman of the Association of Russian Ballet and Theatre Art, Prince Dmitry Lobanov-Rostovsky - Advisor to the auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's, member of the Union of Benefactors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, philanthropist, art collector.

Prince Dmitry Lobanov-Rostovsky, Advisor to the auction houses Christies and Sothebys, Member of the Association of Benefactors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, philanthropist, art collector:
“The VALOIS FEST exhibition provided rich and varied information about the multifaceted talent of Ninette de Valois, as well as about the amazing world of ballet, to which she devoted her entire life. I was interested in the section of the exhibition dedicated to the Russian Ballet of Sergei Diaghilev. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety of exhibited paintings and graphic works by Rinat Kuramshin. I really liked the portraits of choreographers, ballet dancers, opera singers, and composers. Bravo to you for bringing us so much pleasure with your paintings. I will be glad to have a number of your works in our collection.”

The VALOIS FEST events demonstrated both the classical traditions and modern achievements in the performing and visual arts. The organizers hope that the VALOIS FEST events will contribute to the development of professional, cultural and business ties between theater workers, choreographers, dancers, musicians, designers and artists from different countries.

See more greetings from Partners and Honored guests of VALOIS FEST

Some historical facts

Dame Ninette de Valois made her debut in London when she was 16 years old. Following Anna Pavlova, she danced "The Dying Swan" and received the nickname «Little Pavlova».
At the age of 21, she became the prima ballerina of the Beecham Theatre's Opera Ballet Company, performing at the Theater Royal, Covent Garden. In 1923, de Valois joined the Ballets Russes, a renowned ballet company founded by the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev. Later in her life, Valois said that everything she knew about how to run a ballet company she learned from working with Diaghilev.

In 1926, she founded the Academy of Choreographic Art in London, largely based on the traditions of the Russian ballet school. Five years later, at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, Ninette de Valois organized the first ballet company in England. After the Second World War, the overgrown Saddlers Wells Ballet moved to the Covent Garden Opera House, and in 1956 the troupe received state status and became known as the Royal Ballet of Great Britain. Elizabeth II herself became the patron of the troupe.

Tan Sağtürk, Turkish State Opera and Ballet Theater, General Director:
“VALOIS FEST is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the cultural legacy of Ninette de Valois, a great choreographer, teacher and dance company director. The festival is also a chance for talented young dancers to show their abilities and gain recognition. This event allows us to popularize the beauty of dance and raise the prestige of the art of ballet throughout the world. By forming partnerships with companies, patrons and sponsors, VALOIS FEST is a great example of how international collaboration can create a better future for dance and theater arts."

After 32 years as director, Ninette de Valois retired in 1963 and was succeeded by Frederick Ashton. However, she remained closely involved with the Royal Ballet School until the early 1970s and, even after that, was frequently seen in its classrooms. In 1977, she supervised a new production of The Sleeping Beauty for the Royal Ballet.

Throughout the years, she was also a patron of the the Irish National Ballet and Iranian National Ballet. She sent trusted colleagues to help Canada, Australia and Turkey set up national ballet companies too.

She urged John Cranko to take on the directorship of the Stuttgart Ballet, and sent Celia Franca to Canada in 1951, where she founded its National Ballet. In 1963 she persuaded Peggy van Praagh to become director of the Australian Ballet.

Royal Opera House. London

State Opera and Ballet. Ankara

Ninette de Valois is a chevalier of several Britain’s and foreign orders and a winner of various awards. She was awarded The Order of Merit (Britain’s highest honour). She received an Irish Community Award, a Turkish Honour of Merit, the Dutch Erasmus Prize, the French Legion of Honour and countless honorary doctorates for her contributions to culture.

Ninette de Valois exerted a great deal of influence on the development of ballet in Turkey. In 1947, she was invited by the Turkish Government to research the possibility of establishing a ballet school in the country and subsequently she visited the country to open a school following the same model as her ballet school in London. At the beginning, very few people took this project seriously, but the school did become firmly established and led to development of the Turkish State Ballet. Ninette de Valois established the first ballet school in Turkey. Formed as the ballet school of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet in Istanbul, the school was later absorbed into and became the School of Music & Ballet at Ankara State Conservatory, a department of the Hacettepe University.

She was granted degrees of Doctor of Literature of Oxford and Doctor of Music at London University. Ninett de Valois organized an educational system and raised the Brittain’s Royal Ballet to a level of acknowledged ballet leaders. Having retired, Ninett de Valois actively promoted reconstruction of the Covent-Garden building. She wrote the Come Dance with me biography, the Step by Step, the Travelling to the World of Ballet, she also wrote poems and prose.

The exhibition "Theatre Art and Design XIX - XX" presents rich and varied information about the many-sided talent of Ninette de Valois, as well as about the wondeful world of ballet, to which she devoted her whole life.