Bronislava Nijinska


Photograph

Vera Nemchinova and Anton Dolin in Les Biches. Photographer unknown, undated. Howard D. Rothschild collection on Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev. b MS Thr 414.2 (31). Bequest, 1989.

Les Biches

Bronislava Nijinska’s ballet Les Biches (The House Party) was originally conceived by Diaghilev, with music by the fashionable French composer Francis Poulenc and costumes, décor, and curtain by the illustrator and artist Marie Laurencin. It became a favorite work in the Ballets Russes repertory and was performed a total of 101 times. Now, Poulenc’s score is heard frequently on the concert stage.