Theatre Costume
1921 (made)
Costume for the Buffoon in Chout The Tale of the Buffoon Who Outwits Seven Other Buffoons (Chout being the French phonetic equivalent of the Russian word for ‘buffoon’). Chout was a ballet in six scenes based on a Russian folk tale from the Urals. Essentially a satirical tale from Perm region Chout concerns a wily peasant who dupes a rich merchant, a priest and his wife. Prokofiev deleted the religious element and played up the hero’s seven foolish neighbours who believe a so-called magic whip that can restore a person to life after killing them.
The ballet had a gestation period of five years from Prokofiev being commissioned to compose the score and the production was created by Mikhail Larionov and Thadée Slavinsky. It was the brightly-coloured, cubist-style set which received most praise although there were some reservations as it was so busy that that the dancers themselves were not always clearly seen. Chout was first performed by the Ballets Russes on 17 May 1921 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique, Paris and it remained in the company’s repertoire until 1924. The costumes executed by Maison Jove under the direction of Mme Bongard. It is interesting to compare this costume with the Larionov's design for it dated 1915 (E.283-1961) in which the dancer is masked. The mask would have hampered the dancers movements and in the executed costume Larionov has moved the 'face' to the back of the costume.
Slavinsky cast himself in the leading role and Cyril Beaumont’s verdict on Chout was that ‘The best part of the production was the setting, the rest fell flat…The music was a medley of folk airs and jazz rhythms. The ballet itself had a few good moments when Slavinsky danced the character steps which he had devised for himself as the Buffoon, but as a whole the choreography was disconnected and lacked design’.
In 1922, shortly after Bronislava Nijinska rejoined the Ballets Russes, she took on the role of the Buffoon and completely re-animated the ballet. Theatre critic , Florence Gilliam noted that as the Buffoon Nijinska was 'a marvel of spontaneous humour reinforced with an amazing comic gift in pantomime'.
The ballet had a gestation period of five years from Prokofiev being commissioned to compose the score and the production was created by Mikhail Larionov and Thadée Slavinsky. It was the brightly-coloured, cubist-style set which received most praise although there were some reservations as it was so busy that that the dancers themselves were not always clearly seen. Chout was first performed by the Ballets Russes on 17 May 1921 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique, Paris and it remained in the company’s repertoire until 1924. The costumes executed by Maison Jove under the direction of Mme Bongard. It is interesting to compare this costume with the Larionov's design for it dated 1915 (E.283-1961) in which the dancer is masked. The mask would have hampered the dancers movements and in the executed costume Larionov has moved the 'face' to the back of the costume.
Slavinsky cast himself in the leading role and Cyril Beaumont’s verdict on Chout was that ‘The best part of the production was the setting, the rest fell flat…The music was a medley of folk airs and jazz rhythms. The ballet itself had a few good moments when Slavinsky danced the character steps which he had devised for himself as the Buffoon, but as a whole the choreography was disconnected and lacked design’.
In 1922, shortly after Bronislava Nijinska rejoined the Ballets Russes, she took on the role of the Buffoon and completely re-animated the ballet. Theatre critic , Florence Gilliam noted that as the Buffoon Nijinska was 'a marvel of spontaneous humour reinforced with an amazing comic gift in pantomime'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 4 parts. (Some alternative part names are also shown below)
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| Brief description | Costume for the Buffoon in Mikhail Larionov and Thadée Slavinsky's ballet Chout designed by Larionov, Diaghilev Ballet, 1921. |
| Physical description | Four-part costume for the Buffoon in Larionov and Slavinsky's ballet Chout designed by Mikhail Larionov, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes 1921. Asymmetric caned and skirted sleeveless gilet in turquoise blue flannelette and scarlet cotton, appliqued on back with mask in lemon-yellow, oxblood and white. The left back is striped horizontally in varying shades of pink and magenta cotton. Baggy, knee length trousers of peacock blue flannelette applique with wired spiky asymmetric pattern of orange and magenta cotton. Hessian shirt, the neck dull yellow flannelette, one sleeve scarlet, the other pink appliqued with dogtooth patterns in grey and grey-green. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Owned by the Diaghilev and de Basil Foundation Ltd then purchased at Sotheby auction at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 19 December 1969 by Richard Buckle's Friends of the Museum of Performance Lot 82. Hammer price £160. Donated to V&A. |
| Summary | Costume for the Buffoon in Chout The Tale of the Buffoon Who Outwits Seven Other Buffoons (Chout being the French phonetic equivalent of the Russian word for ‘buffoon’). Chout was a ballet in six scenes based on a Russian folk tale from the Urals. Essentially a satirical tale from Perm region Chout concerns a wily peasant who dupes a rich merchant, a priest and his wife. Prokofiev deleted the religious element and played up the hero’s seven foolish neighbours who believe a so-called magic whip that can restore a person to life after killing them. The ballet had a gestation period of five years from Prokofiev being commissioned to compose the score and the production was created by Mikhail Larionov and Thadée Slavinsky. It was the brightly-coloured, cubist-style set which received most praise although there were some reservations as it was so busy that that the dancers themselves were not always clearly seen. Chout was first performed by the Ballets Russes on 17 May 1921 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique, Paris and it remained in the company’s repertoire until 1924. The costumes executed by Maison Jove under the direction of Mme Bongard. It is interesting to compare this costume with the Larionov's design for it dated 1915 (E.283-1961) in which the dancer is masked. The mask would have hampered the dancers movements and in the executed costume Larionov has moved the 'face' to the back of the costume. Slavinsky cast himself in the leading role and Cyril Beaumont’s verdict on Chout was that ‘The best part of the production was the setting, the rest fell flat…The music was a medley of folk airs and jazz rhythms. The ballet itself had a few good moments when Slavinsky danced the character steps which he had devised for himself as the Buffoon, but as a whole the choreography was disconnected and lacked design’. In 1922, shortly after Bronislava Nijinska rejoined the Ballets Russes, she took on the role of the Buffoon and completely re-animated the ballet. Theatre critic , Florence Gilliam noted that as the Buffoon Nijinska was 'a marvel of spontaneous humour reinforced with an amazing comic gift in pantomime'. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.761&C-1980 |
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| Record created | July 1, 2009 |
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