Massine biography

Moscow, 1895–Borken, Germany, 1979

The dancer and choreographer Léonide Massine was one of the most prominent members of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company in the 1920s and subsequently of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, beginning in 1930.

During this time, he created several iconic modern ballets, collaborating with writers, artists, and musicians associated with the modern movement. Through his artistic connections, Massine amassed an important collection of Cubist and Futurist works, and himself became the subject of artworks by the avant-garde.

Massine trained at the Imperial Theatre School in Moscow before joining the Ballets Russes as a dancer in 1914.

He became a protégé of Sergei Diaghilev, the troupe’s impresario, who instilled in Massine an appreciation for modern art and offered him the chance to become a choreographer in 1915. Through Diaghilev, Massine became acquainted with many important figures of modern art and began incorporating innova