Stage photograph of dancers in La Pastorale, performed by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1926.

Pastorale was described as an ultra-modern ballet but it suffered from an over-complex plot by Boris Kochno. It shows events while a film is being made in the countryside. On a hot day a telegraph boy arrives on a bicycle and decides to bathe in the river. While bathing, a girl steals his post bag for a joke. Unaware of this the telegraph boy falls asleep and awakes to find a film crew making a film. He flirts with the star and confusion sets in as villagers come to find the reason for the lack of mail. Finally the Young Lady who caused all the chaos leaves with the Telegraph Boy on his bicycle.

Pastorale received a mixed press in London and members of the audience even booed its first performance. Choreographically the high spot of the ballet was the pas de deux for The Star and The Telegraph Boy in which George Balanchine developed turns in arabesque for the ballerina supported by her kneeling partner.

The work was first performed by the Ballets Russes on 29 May 1926 at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt (Paris), and was later performed at His Majesty's Theatre (London) in June of the same year. The final Ballets Russes performance of this work took place at the Royal Opera House London (London), on 23 July 1929.