Diaghilev and The Ballet Russe at the V&A

This afternoon we went to see the exhibition about Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Of course, since it's the last day of the exhibition it was rather crowded, ridiculously crowded.

There were some very nice exhibits on show, mainly costumes and drawings of stage designs and sets as well as a bit of a history lesson of Diaghilev's life. There were also a few sets of telly screens dotted around to show whatever they were showing - I ignored them (read on). It was quite an eclectic mix of exhibits and that's probably the best way to show something about Diaghilev since he wasn't an artist in the normal sense of the word - his art was in pulling together the right talent to create something spectacular and special.

There were some gorgeous costumes and, to be frank, some shabby ones. In a way, that's only to be expected since these costumes were worn every night on stage, sweated into, packed away in trunks to be transported to the next venue in the next country so it's hardly surprising that some showed the wear and tear. And I suspect that's where some of my frustration with the exhibition lies - the lighting. The whole exhibition was poorly lit, using spotlights and shadows too much, which I can only assume is because some of the costumes aren't pristine, otherwise, there's no reason for the generally dim lighting.

My favourite costume was the one designed for Nijinski's Blue God in 1912 by Leon Bakst for a ballet called Le Dieu Bleu based, I think, on stories about Krishna. The costume was gorgeous, with sunburst details and jewels and can't have been the easiest thing to dance in. I also enjoyed some of the set designs, particularly the designs for The Firebird by Natalia Goncharova that were beautifully stylised and colourful. Diaghilev used designs and pictures from the leading artists of the time, mixing the fine arts with the more mundane to create his own art.

The downside of the exhibition was the poor lay-out. I've already mentioned the poor lighting which was generally annoying. The use of video screens with a narrator to explain something or other (I ignored them all) could have been inspiring if the screens weren't sited to cause log-jams of people - some sitting and standing to watch the screen while others had to struggle to get past to see the next bit of the exhibition. Whoever planned the layout had very poor spatial awareness or understanding of the likely traffic flows. This led to people-jams every so often in some of the galleries and open spaces in others - a better design would have smoothed this out. The other disappointing thing was the merch in the shop - where were all the postcards of the costumes or the catalogue? No, I don't want to buy clothing or jewelry "based on" the designs of the costumes, I want to buy a catalogue or postcards of what I've just seen, thank you.

But, despite the crowds, it was an enjoyable exhibition that you can't now see because it closed today, sorry!