Bust of Prominent Russian Choreographer Set Up in Parisian Chatelet Theatre

The Parisian Chatelet Theatre on Thursday will hold a grand ceremony setting up a bust of prominent Russian choreographer Sergei Dyagilev (1872-1929) made by Russian sculptor Levon Lazarev.

The bust was given to the theatre and the city by St.Petersburg and is a symbol of France's gratitude for the work of Dyagilev who in May 1909 organized the first festival of Russian ballet art in the French capital.

"The Fame of Sergei Dyagilev's Russian Ballet became the real aesthetic breakthrough of the 20th century," reads the official communique of the Parisian Mayor's Office. "He worked with such great composers and artists as Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso." The ceremony will be attended by Parisian Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, St. Petersburg governor Vladimir Yakovlev and Russian Ambassador to France Alexander Avdeyev.

"This event is held within the celebrations in Paris of the forthcoming St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary," the Mayor's Office emphasized in the communique.