Parade

Parade is a one-act ballet associated with one of the most ambitious multidisciplinary collaborations of the early twentieth century. It was created for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes during the First World War, with a scenario by the French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau, music by Erik Satie, choreography by Léonide Massine, and sets and costumes by Pablo Picasso. The work premiered on May 18, 1917, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with Ernest Ansermet conducting the orchestra and Massine performing as a dancer. The ballet presents a deliberately modest and contemporary subject rather than a mythological or aristocratic one. Three groups of entertainers attempt to persuade passers-by to enter an indoor show, but their promotional performance fails to attract the audience they want. Cocteau's concept drew on popular forms of entertainment, including Parisian music halls, fairgrounds, street performance, and American silent cinema. By bringing these everyday and commercial amusements into the prestigious world of ballet, Parade challenged prevailing assumptions about what was suitable for elite theatrical art. The project developed through a complicated wartime production process. Cocteau had conceived the idea after hearing Satie's Trois morceaux en forme de poire and initially wanted to build a ballet around that music. Satie declined to reuse the earlier compositions and instead wrote a new score. Cocteau supplied the scenario and added several theatrical sound effects, including a typewriter, foghorn, milk bottles, and a pistol. These unusual elements contributed to the work's intentionally modern, noisy, and provocative character. Diaghilev eventually approved the production after discussions involving Misia Edwards, an influential supporter and adviser connected to the Ballets Russes. Massine, who had become a leading dancer and choreographer within the company, was assigned the choreography after Vaslav Nijinsky's departure from Paris. Picasso created the visual world of the ballet, including a curtain depicting performers at a fair and large Cubist costumes that restricted the dancers' movement. The Italian Futurist Giacomo Balla assisted Picasso with aspects of the curtain and other design work. The premiere was highly controversial. Some members of the audience booed, hissed, and shouted, and the disturbance reportedly approached a riot before enthusiastic applause prevailed. Picasso's Cubist designs were a particular source of hostility. The controversy nevertheless helped establish Parade as a defining example of avant-garde performance. Guillaume Apollinaire described the work as a form of 'surrealism' in his 1917 program note, using a term that would later become central to a major artistic movement. The ballet's significance extends beyond its original production. It represented the first collaboration between Satie and Picasso and the first ballet work for each of them. Its score also included a ragtime section that was later adapted for piano and achieved an independent life. Parade received its English premiere in London on November 14, 1919, at the Empire Theatre. Although the original Ballets Russes production belongs to the history of early modernism, the ballet continues to be revived and studied as a work that brought popular culture, visual experimentation, mechanical sound, and cross-disciplinary authorship into ballet.

Parade emerged from the artistic networks surrounding Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes during the First World War. Jean Cocteau is generally associated with the original concept. After hearing Erik Satie's Trois morceaux en forme de poire, Cocteau imagined a ballet scenario that would use music in a theatrical setting. Satie did not permit the existing pieces to be reused, so a new score was developed around Cocteau's scenario. The scenario depicts a publicity parade in which several groups of performers try to draw spectators into an indoor show. This simple plot allowed the collaborators to incorporate material from popular entertainment, including music halls, fairs, street spectacles, and silent-film conventions. The work therefore rejected the expectation that ballet should rely on elevated subjects, romantic narratives, or historical fantasy. Its setting and dramatic energy were drawn from modern urban life. Production took place under difficult wartime conditions. Cocteau traveled between the artistic planning process and the Belgian front, while the project required the support of people close to Diaghilev. Misia Edwards played an important role in persuading Diaghilev to back the production. Once the project had been accepted, Léonide Massine was appointed choreographer. Massine was then a principal dancer of the Ballets Russes and had assumed a major creative position after Vaslav Nijinsky's departure from Paris. Pablo Picasso was commissioned to design the sets and costumes. His Cubist approach produced one of the ballet's most memorable features: large, rigid costumes that substantially limited the dancers' mobility. Picasso also designed the curtain, which portrayed performers gathered at a fair before a show. Giacomo Balla, associated with Italian Futurism, assisted with elements of the curtain and related visual work. The combination of Cubist design, dance, music, and literary scenario made Parade an unusually integrated modernist project. Satie's score was itself unconventional. Cocteau added sound-producing objects and effects, including a typewriter, a foghorn, milk bottles, and a pistol. These sounds were intended to evoke modern life and theatrical surprise, though Satie was reportedly unhappy with some of the additions. The score also contained a ragtime episode, reflecting the production's interest in contemporary popular culture. That section was later arranged for solo piano and became successful outside the complete ballet. The Paris premiere took place at the Théâtre du Châtelet on May 18, 1917. Ernest Ansermet conducted, Massine danced, and the production presented the combined work of Cocteau, Satie, Picasso, and the Ballets Russes. The reception was sharply divided. Hostile spectators shouted and hissed, and the disturbance nearly became a riot. Picasso's designs and the production's departure from established ballet aesthetics were especially provocative. At the same time, other observers recognized the work's originality. Guillaume Apollinaire's program note characterized it as a kind of surrealism, anticipating terminology that would later be adopted by the Surrealist movement. The premiere also generated a personal and legal controversy. Music critic Jean Poueigh reviewed the ballet unfavorably. Satie responded with an insulting postcard, leading Poueigh to sue. During the proceedings, Cocteau caused further disruption by repeatedly shouting the disputed insult and was arrested; Satie was sentenced to a brief period of imprisonment. This episode became part of the ballet's scandalous public identity. Parade was performed in London at the Empire Theatre on November 14, 1919, giving the work an English premiere and extending its influence. Its historical importance rests not only on its individual score or choreography but also on its model of collaborative authorship. It brought together a composer, poet, choreographer, painter, designer, and theatrical company around a single work. Later assessments have treated it as a major turning point in modern performance, particularly because it incorporated popular entertainment, mechanical sound, Cubist design, and street imagery into a prestigious ballet context.

• 2013

  Recognized in a performance-art ranking

  [1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  Complex ranked Parade twentieth among notable works of performance art.

• 1919

  English premiere in London

  [1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  The Ballets Russes presented Parade at the Empire Theatre in London on November 14.

• 1917

  Parade premieres in Paris

  [1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  The ballet premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet on May 18, with the Ballets Russes and Ernest Ansermet conducting.

• 1917

  Apollinaire introduces the term 'surrealism' in the program

  [1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  Guillaume Apollinaire described the production as a kind of surrealism in his program note, before Surrealism became an established artistic movement.

• 1916

  Initial piano version is prepared

  [1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  A first version of the music was prepared for piano and dedicated to Misia Edwards during the early development of the project.

An avant-garde modernist ballet that combines dance, music, visual art, poetry, popular entertainment, and theatrical spectacle.

• Ballet · 1917

  Parade

  The central one-act ballet depicts performers attempting to attract an audience to an indoor show. Its modernist identity comes from the combination of Cocteau's scenario, Satie's score, Massine's choreography, and Picasso's Cubist designs. The work incorporates popular entertainment and street-life references rather than relying on traditional ballet subjects.

• Classical music score · 1917

  Parade orchestral score

  Erik Satie's score uses a theatrical and modern sound world, including unconventional sound effects added during the production process. A ragtime section forms one of its most recognizable passages. The score exists both as the accompaniment to the ballet and as an important early example of Satie's work for the stage.

• Piano music

  Parade ragtime adaptation

  The ragtime material from the ballet was later adapted for solo piano and developed an independent performance life. Its popularity helped separate part of the musical material from the full theatrical production.

• 1917

  Controversial Paris premiere

  The first performance produced a divided and disorderly response. Some spectators booed, hissed, and shouted, objecting particularly to Picasso's Cubist costumes and the ballet's unconventional mixture of popular entertainment and avant-garde art.

  Source

• 1917

  Satie–Poueigh legal dispute

  After critic Jean Poueigh published an unfavorable review, Erik Satie sent him an abusive postcard. Poueigh sued, and the case resulted in Satie receiving a short prison sentence. Jean Cocteau was arrested after repeatedly disrupting the court proceedings.

  Source

Read more

• 1917

  Introduce Cubist and popular-culture elements into balletProduct launch

  Background

  The production sought to depict contemporary street entertainment and to move beyond conventional elite ballet subjects.

  Action taken

  The creators used Picasso's Cubist costumes and sets, Cocteau's theatrical scenario, Massine's choreography, and mechanically produced sound effects.

  Aftermath

  The result attracted strong opposition at the premiere but became recognized as a landmark of modernist performance.

  Source

• 1916

  Commission a new score rather than reuse existing musicStrategy

  Background

  Cocteau initially connected the ballet idea with an existing work by Satie, but Satie declined permission to reuse his earlier compositions.

  Action taken

  Satie composed new music for Cocteau's scenario, establishing an original score for the production.

  Aftermath

  The new score became a central part of the ballet's modernist character and included a distinctive ragtime passage.

  Source

• 2013

  Parade is ranked among notable works of performance art[1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Complex placed Parade twentieth in a ranking of significant performance-art works, emphasizing its break with traditional ballet and theatrical conventions.

• 1919

  Parade receives its English premiere in London[1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Other

  The Ballets Russes presented the ballet at London's Empire Theatre, extending the work's cultural impact beyond its controversial Paris debut.

• 1917

  Parade premieres at the Théâtre du Châtelet[1]Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Other

  The Ballets Russes presented Parade in Paris with music by Erik Satie, choreography by Léonide Massine, a scenario by Jean Cocteau, and designs by Pablo Picasso.

1. 1Parade (ballet)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2PGT Services Partners with Capacity Management Tech Company, Paradeprweb.com