René Blum (ballet)
| René Blum | |
|---|---|
| Born |
René Blum 13 March 1878 Paris, France |
| Died | September 1942 (aged 64) Auschwitz, Poland |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | opera and ballet impresario |
| Known for | Founder of the Ballet de l'Opéra at Monte Carlo |
| Relatives | Léon Blum (brother) |
| Awards | Croix de Guerre |
René Blum (13 March 1878 – September 1942) was the founder of the Ballet de l'Opéra at Monte Carlo and was the younger brother of Prime Minister Léon Blum.
Blum was born in Paris.
At the turn of the 20th century he was an editor at the Parisian literary journal Gil Blas and a popular theatre critic.
During World War I, Blum served in the Battle of the Somme. He saved threatened artwork from Amiens Cathedral and earned the French Croix de guerre.
He became director of plays and operettas at Monte Carlo in 1924, where Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes was based. In 1931, Blum was hired by Louis II, Prince of Monaco, to create a ballet company that would continue the work and legacy of the late Diaghilev (who had died in 1929). In 1932, with the help of financier Serge Denham, Blum and Colonel W. de Basil formed the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
Blum and de Basil fell out in 1934, and their Ballet Russes partnership dissolved. Blum kept ballet alive in Monte Carlo. In short order, he hired choreographer Bronislava Nijinska. After Nijinska left, Blum hired Michel Fokine. In 1937, Blum and former Ballet Russes choreographer Léonide Massine acquired financing from Julius Fleischmann, Jr.'s World Art, Inc. to create a new ballet company. In 1938, their new company was allowed to regain the name Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (although the company fled for the United States in 1939, and was thereafter mostly based in New York City).
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