In Ballet Russes (2005), filmmakers Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine interview dancers at a 2000 reunion of two competing ballet troupes, the Original Ballet Russe and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The camerawork highlights the physical expressiveness and theatricality of older ballet dancers who recall their dancing days in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The interviews, along with captivating archival footage of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes and its successor companies, tell the story of how ballet moved into the forefront of 20th century modernism. New ballets were choreographed in collaboration with contemporary composers, such as Igor Stravinsky; the artists designing the sets and costumes included Pablo Picasso. Key figures in ballet over the past hundred years, such as George Balanchine (second still) and impresario Sol Hurok (bottom still), come to life in the film.
