Mercure (ballet)

Mercury (Léonide Massine) slays Apollo (Boris Lisanevich) in the 1927 London revival of Mercure

Mercure (Mercury, or The Adventures of Mercury) is a 1924 ballet with music by Erik Satie. The original décor and costumes were designed by Pablo Picasso and the choreography was by Léonide Massine, who also danced the title role. Subtitled "Plastic Poses in Three Tableaux", it was an important link between Picasso's Neoclassical and Surrealist phases and has been described as a "painter's ballet."[1][2]

Mercure was commissioned by the Soirées de Paris stage company and first performed at the Théâtre de la Cigale in Paris on June 15, 1924. The conductor was Roger Désormière.

  1. ^ Michael C. FitzGerald, "Making Modernism: Picasso and the Creation of the Market for Twentieth-century Art", University of California Press, 1996, pp. 133-151.
  2. ^ Rollo H. Myers, "Erik Satie", Dover Publications, Inc., NY, 1968, p.105. Originally published in 1948 by Denis Dobson Ltd., London.