Founded by the Russian impressario Sergei Diaghilev in 1909, the Ballets Russes played a role of fundamental importance in the development of early twentieth-century modernism. In the course of its twenty-year history, Diaghilev employed the most exciting and forward-thinking artists, composers and choreographers of the time to create over 100 ballets which not only revolutionized the language of dance and reformulated the role of the performing arts by bring modernism onto the stage but also charted a new step forward in inter-disciplinary creation, using the medium of ballet to bring to fruition Richard Wagner’s concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk (‘total art work’).