Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

Throughout history, innovations which initiated cultural movements often began in music, art and/or literature. These trends often lead to new movements such as romanticism, impressionism, expressionism, post-impressionism, modernism. In one particular instance, for one moment in history, ballet was the instigator that sparked the development of new artistic genre that was, from its inception, called surrealism. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ballet “Parade”, this argument postulates that “Parade” was the first surrealist work of art and defined the surrealist movement. Challenging the accepted convention by art historians that surrealism was founded in 1924 with André Breton’s manifesto and journal, this paper will argue that the collaborative invention in “Parade”, produced by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1917, preceded the established/accepted timeline and authorship of the movement. “ Parade” was one of the most important and innovative performance art pieces of the 20th century. The sound score included a typewriter, fog horn, and gun shot, and costumes took on visual absurdity with an oversized cardboard horse and twelve-foot high sculptures. The ballet was cornucopia of scenes and characters caught in a visual warp between the everyday life and the subliminal manipulations of logic. Pablo Picasso’s cubist costume designs, Erik Satie’s quirky musical score, and Léonide Massine’s unconventional movement reflected the social and political climate and helped to establish the newest artistic movement. Historical evidence will be provided to support the argument that “Parade” defined the surrealist movement in the arts and made a global impact on the art world.