Russian Constructivism, ballet and dazzle camouflage

Ballets Russes performers

During the years 1909 through 1929, there flourished a popular European ballet company, known as the Ballets Russes or the Russian Ballet. Beginning in Paris, it performed throughout Europe, and toured in North and South America. Despite its name, the company did not perform in Russia, where the Russian Revolution was ongoing. It was wildly popular and much talked about because of the highly unusual manner in which it made use of choreography, costumes, music, as well as strangely stylized poses in dance.

Coincident to some extent with the Ballets Russes was the rise of Russian Constructivism, a branch of Modernist abstract art, of which the leading practioners were El Lizzitsky, Alexandr Rodchenko, Vladimir Tatlin, and others, both men and women.

They saw themselves not as “artists” but as something more akin to architect-designers, or what might be called “constructors.” It was not their intention to imitate or “make images of” existing phenomena, but to invent or “construct” new configurations, that tended to resemble abstract diagrams. When one compares iconic examples of Russian Constructivism—such as El Lizzitsky’s famous self-portrait with a compass, or his photograph of a hand with a compass (shown here)—with the all but abstract poses of performers in the Ballets Russes, their resemblance is undeniable.

El Lizzitsky, self-portrait photomontage

 

At the time, others saw a connection between the stylized movements of dancers in the Ballets Russes and the colorful, geometric designs that were applied to merchant ships as camouflage during World War I (called “dazzle camouflage”). In a 1918 news story about ship camouflage, it was said that some of the camouflaged ships in the war zone were “made up like [the] Russian ballet.” Another journalist described dazzle painting as “a Russian toy shop gone mad.”

One of the funniest portrayals of the Russian Ballet was a cartoon (shown here) by British artist W.K. Haselden that appeared in the Daily Mirror on November 24, 1924. Titled “Twentieth century ballet for everyday use,” it illustrates how peculiar daily life might be if everyone moved about in the manner of Ballets Russes performers. It is poking fun at the famous performers of course, but it is clear that the cartoonist admires them. The caption at the bottom reads: “The return of the delightful Russian Ballet suggests a new form of amusement for country-based parties. The advantage would be that the costumes would be [at hand and ready to use].”

There is available online a two-hour film documentary on the Ballets Russes. Of late, I have been building a series of digital montage artworks that commemorate the Ballets Russes, as in the example below. But I also talk about Russian Constructivism (and El Lizzitsky) in my own video on the Bauhaus and problem-solving. 

Ballet Russes digital montage © Roy R. Behrens 2023