Page of a sketch book showing a preliminary sketch of Karsavina in the Valse in Les Sylphides, Diaghilev Ballet Russes. Sketch by Valentine Gross c 1910

Diaghilev Ballets Russes Les Sylphides, choreographed by Fokine and decor by Benois was first premiered in Paris at Théâtre du Châtelet on 02 June1909, according to Diaghilev and The Golden Age of The Ballets Russes 1909 - 1929, edited by Jane Pritchard, first published by V&A Publishing in 2010. However, Richard Buckle indictes in his book Nijinsky on Stage, published in London by Studio Vista in 1971, that the preminary sketches of Les Sylphides by Valentine Gross are likely to had been drawn in Theatre de l'Opera in 1910 or in Théâtre du Châtelet in 1912 (p. 19).

The sketches are part of the Valentine Gross Archive (THM/165), held by the V&A Department of Theatre and Performance. Valentine Gross Archive contains research material and artwork, including sketches, studies, drawings, pastels and illustrations. Only the artwork materials have been catalogued with museum numbers and given item level descriptions found in the Search the Collections webpage.

Valentine Gross, a.k.a. Valentine Hugo, was a French art student in Paris in the 1910s. She became a ballet enthusiast, illustrator, researcher and painter. Valentine Gross witnessed annual seasons of Diaghilev Ballets Russes in Paris and made preminary sketches during performances and rehearsals between 1909 and 1914. She later worked them up into pencil or coloured drawings of various degrees of finish including illustrations and paintings.

Some of the sketches feature in the book Nijinsky on Stage by Richard Buckle, published in London by Studio Vista in 1971. This sketch features in the book on page 28.