The conference
Academic conferences tend to be, well, academic, but "The Spirit of Diaghilev" wasn't. Lynn Garafola in her keynote address anticipated two themes that would emerge: the pervasive influence of the Ballets Russes on the future of dance, and Diaghilev's creation of an art "infused with queer sexuality and spotlighting men." De Valois established the Royal Ballet, Lifar headed the Paris Opera Ballet, and Balanchine created New York City Ballet — and those institutions in turn have influenced the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Sacre reconstructor Millicent Hodson argued that choreography as we know it was born with the Ballets Russes. In some sense, modern dance as we know it was born with the Ballets Russes; with its blunt gestures and pigeon-toed steps, its anti–ballet æsthetic, Nijinsky's Sacre made anything seem possible.
As for Diaghilev's homosexuality, you wouldn't think that would be news; yet when Garafola made her offhand remark, there was a surprised whisper of "Really?" behind me. Noting the relative lack of discourse about Diaghilev's private life, biographer Sjeng Scheijen asked everyone to consider his role in the acceptance of homosexuality in Europe, not to mention the role of homosexuality in his art. Those are subjects that deserve exploration, and so are the ballets that Phoenix critic Marcia Siegel spotlighted in her segment on historical reconstruction, works like Bronislava Nijinska's Le Train Bleu and Balanchine's La Chatte, dances that still look new.
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Long-lasting launch pad, Smaller, bigger, better, Russian revel?, More 
- Long-lasting launch pad
Of the nearly 70 ballets that made up the repertory of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, only a few inhabit our stages today. But the Diaghilev adventure still inspires legions of choreographers, antiquarians, archivists, scholars, and gossips.
- Smaller, bigger, better
Is Boston in the midst of a ballet boom? You could certainly believe that if you attended Boston Ballet’s fourth annual season-opening gala last Saturday.
- Russian revel?
The Russians are coming!
- More new than old
Artistic director Mihailo "Misha" Djuric has a polished ensemble of dancers and impressive choreographers at the Festival Ballet Providence.
- Dancing ballet or not
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Celebrity Series program at the Cutler Majestic last weekend could have been a primer of the ways not to dance ballet.
- Crowning glory
In 1967, George Balanchine created Jewels for New York City Ballet, and in short order this evening-length triptych — Emeralds , Rubies , and Diamonds — became the crown jewel of 20th-century dance.
- More Jewels
Get your Jewels bearings
- Diaghilev days
The Ballets Russes come to town
- Smaller is better
Next fall, Boston Ballet will move all its performing operations to the Opera House from Citi Performing Arts Center's immense and unfriendly Wang Theatre.
- Not so great
Way back in 1977, PBS gave us a Nutcracker with a difference: Mikhail Baryshnikov as an electrifying Nutcracker/Cavalier and willowy Gelsey Kirkland as an older-than-usual Clara, as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
- Adam and Eve
A day at New York City Ballet that starts with a matinee of Coppélia and ends with a Balanchine evening might seem to offer merely the contrast between classic and modern, old and new.
- Less
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Dance
, Culture and Lifestyle, New England Conservatory of Music, Bronislava Nijinska, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, New England Conservatory of Music, Bronislava Nijinska, Wadsworth Atheneum, Bradley Schlagheck, Alexandre Benois, Leonide Massine, Serge Lifar, Millicent Hodson, Peter Ustinov, Less
