The Rite of Spring (MacMillan) "made a brave musicianly and tasteful attempt" while questioning whether "the stage can really be its home – that remains unproven"; "dance and dancers" described it as "a singular and signal triumph"; Mason's performance was judged "brilliantly done", "one of British ballet's most memorable performances". In "The Times" John Percival commented that ever since Nijinsky's original attempt in 1913 "The Rite" had been waiting for a choreographer who could make it work on stage, and MacMillan's was the most successful version to date: "Mr MacMillan's invention can never have been more musical or assured. Time and time again Stravinsky's music,
Picasso and the Ballets Russes travel back to the land of human beings" after spending time with Diaghilev. Diaghilev, however, valued Picasso's work, and the drop curtain he created for "Le Train Bleu" - the painting of which was completed not by Picasso, but by Prince Alexander Schervashidze - was deemed so impressive that Diaghilev used it as the logo for the Ballets Russes. The writer Jean Cocteau, who introduced Picasso to Diaghilev, wrote the scenario for "Parade", and was Picasso’s neighbor in Rome said, "Picasso amazes me every day, to live near him is a lesson in nobility and hard work ... A badly