This unique symposium will bring together artists, academics, critics and practitioners to celebrate the centennial of the Ballets Russes and its resonance today. The conversation will touch upon local currents in the arts that relate to the legacy of the troupe and its forward-thinking approach to interdisciplinarity. A special focus will treat the 100th anniversary of Sergei Diaghilev’s company as an opportunity to consider the role of the artist as Global Citizen. We will examine the extraordinary cultural encounters that the Ballets Russes triggered as they traversed the globe and learned to market themselves and their aesthetic as a truly international, collaborative experiment … one that provoked audiences to reimagine the ballet.

The keynote speaker for this symposium is Lynn Garafola, professor of dance at Barnard College, Columbia University. Guests include Sally Rousse, James Sewell Ballet; Maria Zavialova, The Museum of Russian Art; Stuart Pimsler, Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater; Phillip Gainsley, frequent commentator for The Minnesota Orchestra; Camille LeFevre, arts critic for MinnPost; Colleen McQuillen, Department of Slavic and Baltic Languages & Literatures, University of Illionois, Chicago; and Macalester arts and humanities faculty.

For more information, email the project curator Rachel Perlmeter or Professor Julia Chadaga.