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Salvador Dalí and Dance

Salvador Dalí and dance
Dali Allan Warren.jpg
Dalí in 1972
Native name Salvador Dalí
Residence Figueres
Nationality Spanish

The Spanish artist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) is known above all as a surrealist painter: however, he also created or contributed to a number of ballets, and dance is a motif often found in his painting.


Dalí as an artist was inspired by different people and aspects of his life; dance specifically was of great significance in his work and life. His involvement with ballet was at its greatest in the period 1938–1944, between the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Dalí claimed in 1974, that he had created 28 ballets, and according to Fleur Cowles, he contributed to more than 20 ballets, although most had little success and resulted in financial loss. Some of the ballets include Tristán Loco (with two versions, one in 1938 and the other in 1944) and the trilogy Bacanal-Laberinto-Sacrificio (1939–1941), on which he collaborated with Léonide Massine (a principal dancer and choreographer in the Ballets Russes).

Bacanal was considered scandalous after its debut in New York in 1939. The script, costumes and set design were all by Dalí. The theme of this ballet centered on King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his visions as he was losing his mind. Dalí placed a huge swan center stage from which the dancers entered the scene.

The second ballet, Laberinto, debuted in New York’s Metropolitan Opera House on October 8, 1941. The script, scenery and wardrobe were all designed by Dalí. This ballet was about the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur, which Dalí intended to be an allegory of modern life. The dancers were dressed as roosters who reproduced an authentic cock fight. However, two of Dalí’s original ideas for this ballet were not showcased: one of them was to destroy a grand piano and place the debris on the stage, the other was to symbolize the death of the Minotaur with a cooked calf head that the dancers would eat on stage.


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