In 1911, Ballet Russes producer Sergei Diaghilev hoped to present Nijinsky's ballet "L'Après-midi d'un faune" (). It was not ready for the stage, so he needed another ballet to take its place. That ballet was the idea of writer Jean-Louis Vaudoyer. In 1910, he had sent an idea for a ballet to Ballets Russes set and costume designer Léon Bakst. His idea was based on "Le Spectre de la rose", a verse by Théophile Gautier, and "Afforderung zum Tanz", a work for piano by Carl Maria von Weber. Diaghilev liked Vaudoyer's idea. He thought it could easily take the place of "Faune". He put Vaudoyer's idea into development at once. Diaghilev liked the idea of a ballet based on Gautier's "Spectre" because it could be tied to the centennial of Gautier's birth.