Fokine, Michel, 1880-1942

Mikhail Fokine, Russian dancer, choreographer, teacher, and ballet director, was born in St. Petersburg May 5, 1880. He was trained at the Imperial Theatre School, St. Petersburg where he graduated in 1898. He was a dancer and choreographer at the Maryinsky Theatre and teacher at the Imperial Theatre School. His choreography for the Maryinsky included The Dying Swan for Anna Pavlova and Le Pavillion d'Armide. From 1909-1912, Fokine was chief choreographer for Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev, producing such works as Polovtsian Dances, Les Sylphides, Cléopâtre, Le Carnaval, Sheherazade, Firebird, and Le Spectre de la Rose. Leaving Diaghilev 1n 1912, and eventually Russia, in 1918, he pursued work, mainly in Scandinavia, before settling in New York in 1923. As a free-lance choreographer and dancer, often with his wife Vera Fokina (née Antonova), he worked for the Metropolitan Opera House, Hippodrome, and the Ziegfeld Follies, and in other cities such as Boston and Philadelphia. He continued to recreate his older works and stage new ones in Europe and South America. Founder of the Fokine School in New York City in 1921, he and Fokina had one son, Vitale who became a ballet teacher. Fokine died in New York, August 22, 1942.

From the guide to the Michel Fokine papers, 1914-1941, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

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