him to audition for the choreographer, Mikhail Fokine. After the audition in St. Petersburg, Massine joined Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. Ballets Russes From 1915 to 1921 Massine was the principal choreographer of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Following the departure of Vaslav Nijinsky, the company's first male star, Massine became the preeminent male star and took over Nijinsky's roles. His first ballet, in 1915, called Le Soleil de Nuit, used Russian folklore elements. The ballet Parade premiered at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, on 18 May 1917. The ballet is based on a libretto by Jean Cocteau. Parade is about a group of circus performers trying to lure a reluctant audience into the tent before the show begins. The sets and costume designs were by Pablo Picasso, who designed large cubist structures for the dancers to wear. The score was composed by Erik Satie, who used sounds from an airplane's engine, pistol shots, and a ship's siren to accompany the music. Le Tricorn, better known as The Three Cornered Hat, premiered at the Alhambra Theater in London, on 22 July 1919. Manuel de Falla composed the score and Pablo Picasso designed the sets and costumes. Massine's collaborators, all Spanish, helped to make this ballet more authentic to its subject matter. Le Tricorn was a triumphant success. The story was inspired by the novel El sombrero de tres picos (1874) by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. In order to authentically depict the Spanish character dances, Massine carefully studied the authentic Spanish character dance style. Col. de Basil's Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo When George Balanchine left de Basil's company in 1933, Massine replaced him as resident choreographer. Massine's ballets during this period were reminiscent of Fyodor Lopukhov's Tanzsymphonia, in that an emphasis on the music drove the choreography. He continued to use symphonic music by well-known composers. In 1932 he created to libretto by Boris Kochno, scenic design was by Joan Miró. In 1933, Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, Les Présages, using Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. This caused a furor amongst musical purists, who objected to a serious symphonic work being used as the basis of a ballet. Undeterred, Massine continued work on Choreartium, set to Brahms' Fourth Symphony, which had its premiere on 24 October 1933 at the Alhambra Theatre in London. Massine also choreographed a ballet to Hector Berlioz's 1830 Symphonie Fantastique and danced the role of The