In 1909 when Diaghilev decided to bring a small company of dancers to Paris, he did this by bringing the great opera star Chaliapin to share the program. Diaghilev had a hard time getting enough money to get this project to Paris. For some reason Nicholas II didn't like the idea and refused Diaghilev any financing for his project.

When the French refused the Russians permission to perform at the Grand Opera, Diaghilev arranged for the concert to take place at the Theatre du Chatelet, ignoring the place's frivolous reputation and stage that was absolutely unsuitable for major productions. Diaghilev undertook to reconstruct the theater and had the work done in practically no time.

On May 18, 1909 three and a half thousand people thronged the renovated Theatre du Chatelet, among them Cabinet Ministers, diplomats, aristocrats, writers, composers and artists. Black ties, jewelry-studded gowns, and ... a deafening success!

Diagilev presented the most colorful scenes from Russian operas and a number of one-act ballets. The singers were much appreciated, but the biggest praise went to the dancers, especially the unbelievably synchronous corps de ballet and, of course, to the great dancers Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. The French also loved the Polovtsian Dances from Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor.

Diaghilev had to arrange the seasons during the dancers yearly time off, and once the season was accomplished in Paris, he had to get them back to St. Petersburg before their season started.

Diaghilev collaborated with the most famous artists, composers, and dancers of the period: artists like Alexandre Benois, Leon Bakst, Nicolas Roerich, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse. He got composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussey and Erik Satie, to name a few, to compose new music for the ballet. He encouraged Mikhail Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Leonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska and George Balanchine to choreograph new ballets for the company.

Diaghilev never went to sleep without thinking of some way to get enough money to spawn a new ballet. After his death in 1929, the company that he had worked so hard to create disbanded. It took until 1933 before another company could get the funding and leadership to start a new season, using many of the dancers that had been with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. There were a number of companies springing up, some with more success than others. Bad management and the lack of funding was the reason that these ballet companies fell by the way side.