'Deliciously entertaining.' Financial Times

'Scintillating . . . fizzes with balletic energy.' Daily Mail

'Gripping . . . bursting with extraordinary characters and anecdotes.' Sunday Telegraph

'An extraordinary tale, enthrallingly told.' Gramophone

Such was the credo of the ruthlessly manipulative and resourceful Serge Diaghilev - the Russian impresario who created the modern art form of ballet. Commissioning such legendary names as Nijinsky, Fokine, Stravinsky and Picasso, he produced a series of radically original works that had a revolutionary impact throughout the Western world. Off stage there was scandal and sensation, collaboration and competition, tempestuous affairs and a wild carousel of mayhem.

The Ballet Russes left a matchless artistic legacy, ending with the abrupt death of Diaghilev in 1929. But the achievements of its heroic prime would continue to set the standards for the next era.

Rupert Christiansen is currently dance critic for The Spectator. He was dance critic for the Mail on Sunday from 1995 to 2020, and has written on dance-focused subjects for many publications in the UK and USA, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's, the Observer, the Daily Telegraph, the Literary Review, Dance Now and Dance Theatre Journal. He was opera critic and arts correspondent for the Daily Telegraph from 1996 to 2020, and is the author of a dozen non-fiction books, including The Pocket Guide to Opera and The Complete Book of Aunts (both published by Faber). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1997 and, since 2016, has been Collaborating Research Scholar at Keble College, Oxford. He lives in London.