Publication Of The Book "dyagilev's Russian Ballet Troupe In Spain"

To mark the International Dance Day, the book Dyagilev's Russian Ballet Troupe in Spain was published in Madrid. The book presentation took place on Sunday and was attended, among other guests, by Andres Amoros, director general of the institute of theatrical arts and music and a well-known literary critic, who said that "the book is the first serious study of the great influence exerted by Sergei Dyagilev and his troupe on the development of Spanish dance as well as Spain's entire cultural environment at the beginning of last century." Among other things, the book presents for the first time unique pictures and photographs of performances and activities of Dyagilev's ballet troupe in Spain. Dyagilev's troupe stayed in Spain from 1916 to 1925. The troupe was regularly touring the country and its every performance was invariably marked with a great success. Dyagilev himself was closely acquainted with the leading figures of Spain's artistic and literary community. In the years following Dyagilev's departure from Spain, some members of his troupe, such as Valentina Kashuba and some other Russian ballet dancers chose to stay in Spain and continued to exert a significant influence on the development of the Spanish ballet. Maya Plisetskaya, a famed Russian ballerina, and her cousin Azariy Plisetsky, a well-known choreographer, were teaching at a ballet school in Madrid in the 1990s. Many of their former students are now among leading dancers at the most renowned ballet stages of the world.