TopFoto Blog

0268730 - The National Trust Village of Chiddingstone, Kent,
24 January 1958 ©John Topham / TopFoto

Next month in history
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In 1909, Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes burst onto the world stage in Paris and dance was changed forever. Nijinksky, Stravinsky, Bakst, Pavlova…the talent Diaghilev nurtured in every sphere was stratospheric, and today’s celebrities pale to nothing in comparison. Achingly glamorous, tempestuous and iconoclastic, they broke free from the constraints of the Russian Imperial Ballet and the world responded with worship and, in 1913, riots. 2010 will see a major retrospective of the Ballet Russes art and design at the Victoria and Albert Museum to celebrate the centenary year.

TopFoto has a huge selection on the Ballet Russes’s vibrant history, but in this gallery we mainly focus on the period to Diaghilev’s death in 1929.

Click for the Ballet Russes

hip0022885 - Iskander‘, costume design for the ballet ‘La Peri‘ c.1913 ©Art Media / HIP / TopFoto
rv1042-16 - Vaslav Nijinsky in ” The blue God ” 1912 ©Harlingue / Roger-Viollet / TopFoto
rv1294-6 - Serge Diaghilev © Roger-Viollet / TopFoto

TopFoto is often asked for images to put a smile on people’s faces.
Here are a few of our recent favourites, we hope you enjoy them.

Have a lovely day.

Looking for an image? requests@topfoto.co.uk

Click to Smile

imw0025909 - Parking sign in Roswell, New Mexico, USA ©The Image Works / TopFoto
0847031 - 6 year old Penny Briggs of Chelsea believes in getting to the bottom of things as she tries her luck at the Lucky Dip 1966 ©Topham / TopFoto