The ballet company Ballets Russes created a sensation in Western Europe in the early years of the 20th century, due to the great vitality of Russian ballet, as compared with what was current in France at the time. It became the most influential ballet company in 20th century, and that influence, in one form or another, has lasted to this day.

Ballets Russes was established by the impresario Serge Diaghilev in 1909 who ran it until his death in 1929.

The dancers and choreographers associated with it included George Balanchine, Alexandra Danilova , Michel Fokine, Tamara Karsavina, Serge Lifar , Alicia Markova, Leonide Massine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova and Lydia Lopokova.

Designers included Bakst, Braque, Picasso, Tchelitchev , and Utrillo.

Composers included Debussy, Milhaud, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Ravel, Satie, Respighi, Richard Strauss, and, most notably, Igor Stravinsky, whom Diaghilev spotted when he was virtually unknown and whose career he launched.

A list of the ballets premiered by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes include (see also: Category of Ballets Russes productions):

• Les Sylphides (1909)
• The Firebird (1910)
• Shakheresada (1910)
• Le Spectre de la Rose (1911)
• Petroushka (1911)
• Daphnis et Chloé (1912)
• L’Après-midi d’un Faune (1912)
• The Rite of Spring (1913)
• Josephs-Legende (1914)
• El sombrero de tres picos ("The Three-Cornered Hat") and Parade (1917)
• La Boutique Fantasque (1918)
• The Song of the Nightingale and Pulcinella (1920)
• Les Biches (1923)
• The Prodigal Son (1929).

After Diaghilev's death the company's property was claimed by creditors, and the dancers were scattered. In the subsequent years, the company (in name only) was revived as the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (with which the names of George Balanchine and Tamara Toumanova are associated) and as the Original Ballet Russe .