Serge Lifar — choreographer with roots in the Russian Empire
Serge Lifar was a Ukrainian-born French ballet dancer and choreographer who trained under Diaghilev and became the dominant figure in French ballet for four decades as director of the Paris Opera Ballet. He revived French classical ballet and choreographed over 200 ballets.
Tracing the roots — Kiev
Born in Kyiv (Russian Empire) in 1905 and trained at Bronislava Nijinska's school before joining Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, Lifar brought the full weight of the Russian classical tradition to France. His 27-year tenure as director of the Paris Opera Ballet (1929-1958, with wartime interruption) transformed French dance and enshrined the Russian school at the heart of Western ballet.
Russian ballet diaspora in France.[web:22]
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Kiev. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.