The article reveals the role of the Russian ballet in the cultural pattern at the turn of the 20th century. Purpose of the article is to determine the direction of development of interaction between national choreography and artistic and imaginative interpretation of its synthetic whole against a background of complex and ambiguous processes taking course at critical stages of the Russian culture, based at the existing visual materials of archive and museum funds. An aspect of art review was selected, allowing consideration of the diverse options of synthesis of ballet and plastic arts. The attraction of the visual arts to "balletness" and the tendency of Russian choreography to rely on images of painting, graphics and sculpture characteristic to the turn of the century are two sides of the single process. In this context, the Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company, being saturated with expressive plastic spectacular imagery, served as the bright frame for the last stage of the Russian Silver Age.