In 1926 Diaghilev collaborated with Surrealist artists Joan Miro and Max Ernst on a radical and unconventional production of Romeo and Juliet that astounded ballet audiences around the world. The experience was so profound for Miro that he would go on to design further costumes for the Ballets Russes in the years to come. Diaghilev had first started planning a true-to-text traditional production of Romeo and Juliet to be performed in Monte Carlo in the 1920s, with music composed by the up-and-coming English composer Colin Lambert, and set designs by Lambert’s friend Christopher Wood. But somewhere along the line Diaghilev had a dramatic change of heart, deciding instead to break with convention and try something more daring and unconventional. His new concept was to tell the story of a ballet company rehearsing Romeo and Juliet, which he titled Romeo at Juliette: Projet de Scene (Romeo and Juliette: Behind the Scenes). He needed sets and costumes that would reflect the same spirit of playful experimentation, so he abandoned Wood’s designs, instead inviting the renowned Surrealists Joan Miro and Max Ernst to step in. 

Even before taking up work with Diaghilev, Miro was fascinated by the transient movement of dancers, which he had tried to capture with slim, elemental lines and bold streaks of colour in works such as Dancer, 1925. When starting out with the Ballets Russes, Miro and Ernst revelled in the informality of Diaghilev’s backstage theme, choosing to keep the stage itself as plain and simple as possible. Ernst painted curtains to represent night and day, while Miro included a brightly painted front cloth. Onto the stage itself Miro introduced unexpected items such as coat racks, a pink dressing gown, ballet barre and towel rails, along with a glowing, phosphorescent star to light up the darkness. Miro treated the dark backdrop of the stage much like a sheet of paper or canvas, into which various collaged elements could be introduced, mirroring the language of his abstract Surrealist paintings. The costumes Ernst and Miro designed were equally as experimental – characters were dressed in the colourful, comfortable clothing of a rehearsal room rather than any elaborate or ornate costume, making a sharp break with ballet convention.

The show’s premiere at the Theatre de Monte Carlo was surprisingly well received, but it was the performance in Paris that caused the wildest uproar. Members of the Surrealist group criticised Miro and Ernst of selling out to capitalism, storming the theatre with an angry shower of catcalling, whistling and violent protest, which ended when police stormed the theatre. Diaghilev revelled in the scandal and sensationalism, which acted as a powerful promotional tool for the Ballets Russes, and helped bring the work of Miro and Ernst to a wider audience.