The Rite of Spring these works Diaghilev recruited the choreographer Michel Fokine, the designer Léon Bakst and the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Diaghilev's intention, however, was to produce new works in a distinctively 20th-century style, and he was looking for fresh compositional talent. Having heard "Feu d'artifice" he approached Stravinsky, initially with a request for help in orchestrating music by Chopin to create the ballet "Les Sylphides". Stravinsky worked on the opening "Nocturne" and the closing "Valse Brillante"; his reward was a much bigger commission, to write the music for a new ballet, "The Firebird" ("L'oiseau de feu") for the 1910 season. Stravinsky worked through
The Firebird leader. The lead role was fanced by Michel Denard. The Mariinsky Ballet performed the original choreography at Covent Garden in August 2011, as part of their Fokine retrospective. The National Ballet of Canada created a version of the "Firebird" for television, occasionally rebroadcast, in which special effects were used to make it appear that the Firebird is in flight. On 29 March 2012, the American Ballet Theatre premiered the ballet with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, starring Misty Copeland. The ballet centers on the journey of its hero, Prince Ivan.