In May 1909, Paris was buzzing with stories about a company of young Russian dancers who had just hit town. There was Ida Rubinstein, parading around with a panther on a lead and drinking champagne ...

In Proust's rather newsy big novel, Mme Verdurin does not simply have her salon, she does not simply throw her party, her "Wednesdays": she puts them together "like a bird building its nest". She may ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The Church publishes the Monitor ...

In August 21 1929 a funeral barge set off from the Grand Hotel on the Lido for the little island of San Michele, where the city of Venice has buried its dead since the beginning of the 19th century.

A Pavlova, a Nijinsky, a Picasso! These names, now generic for high artistic achievement, all once worked for a man whose name has also become generic, Diaghilev—the greatest impresario in the history ...

The Rite of Spring In 1910, Igor Stravinsky began writing a work to be called The Sacrifice. This was the core of the towering orchestral masterpiece Le Sacre du Printemps presented in Paris at the ...

An array of events are being presented in conjunction with the National Gallery of Art's ambitious "Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced With Music" exhibit, which showcases ...

Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter From a childhood bereavement that shaped his character to his rise to the top of the European art scene, here are five things to know ...