Leonide massine biography of christopher robin

What intrigues me the most about Leonide Massine is the conflict between the image of the gifted dancer and choreographer and the somewhat inapproachable, certainly Missing: christopher robin.

What intrigues me the most about Leonide Massine is the conflict between the image of the gifted dancer and choreographer and the somewhat inapproachable, certainly difficult to get along with man. The son of two musicians at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Massine grew up inundated with art and music. He remained with the company, as dancer and later as choreographer, until By that time, his attachment to another female dancer had caused a rift in his relationship with Diaghilev, who fired him out of jealousy.

As luck would have it, Massine was able to find contracts that took him on successful tours to South America and London until , when he returned to Paris on a commission from the Comte Etienne de Beaumont. Above all, despite his prominent position he exhibited a kind of fascinating insecurity. Similar arguments could be made for the other great names of and beyond — Picasso, Stravinsky, Diaghilev….

Born in Moscow in , Léonide Massine received his ballet training at the renowned Imperial Theatre School.

For the most part, it seems fair to assume that Massine was honestly pursuing artistry rather than a kind of flagrant social statement, although the same cannot necessarily be said of his fellows. Massine: a Biography. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, Bakst, Leon.