He was offered a commission by choreographer Léonide Massine of the Ballet Theatre of New York to design the sets and costumes for his new ballet, "Aleko." This ballet would stage the words of Alexander Pushkin's verse narrative "The Gypsies" with the music of Tchaikovsky. The ballet was originally planned for a New York debut, but as a cost-saving measure it was moved to Mexico where labor costs were cheaper than in New York. While Chagall had done stage settings before while in Russia, this was his first ballet, and it would give him the opportunity to visit Mexico. While there he quickly began to appreciate the "primitive ways and colorful art of the Mexicans," notes Cogniat. He found "something very closely related to his own nature", and did all the color detail for the sets while there. Eventually, he created four large backdrops and had Mexican seamstresses sew the ballet costumes.