Serge Lifar and the Question of Collaboration with the German Authorities under the Occupation of Paris (1940–1949)

This article examines the political and artistic activities of dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar at the Paris Opéra during and immediately after the occupation of Paris. Although Lifar was cleared of charges of collaborationism with the German authorities after the war, the question of collaborationism has arisen again in light of the rehabilitation of his aesthetic by the Paris Opéra and other dance companies. Using archival materials usually ignored by dance scholars, this article examines Lifar's political activities, his political convictions, and his political ambitions. His theory of ballet as set forth in La Danse: les grands courants de la danse académique (1938) and two of his successful ballets of this period – Joan de Zarissa (1942) and Suite en blanc (1943) – are discussed in light of his politics.