Mikhail fokine biography

Born in 1880 in Saint Petersburg, Michel Fokine studied dance, music and painting. He joined the Maryinsky Theatre in 1898, and was named Principal dancer in 1904. From 1901, he taught dance. He created his first piece, Acis and Galatea, in 1905. Diaghilev commissioned him various pieces for the Russian Ballets’ tours. An independent choreographer, Fokine also worked in France, Great-Britain and in Scandinavia. In 1923, he settled in the United-States where he opened a school in New York in 1921 and founded his ballet company in 1922. He came back in Europe for a tour and was then invited to collaborate with Ida Rubinstein (1931), the Monte-Carlo Ballets (1936-1937) and Colonel Basil’s Russian Ballets (1938-1939). His works enjoyed a resounding success: The Dying Swan (1907), Les Sylphides (1908), Carnaval, The Firebird, Scheherazade (1910), Petrushka, Le Spectre de la rose (1911), Le Dieu bleu,Daphnis et Chloé (1912). He died in 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 Swanfor 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