Michel Fokine Research Paper
DANC 100-6
Research Assignment
Michel Fokine
When ballet director Sergei Diaghilev ordered a young artist to “astonish” him, he was setting the tone of his own temperament as well as that of the twentieth century modern art in general. Diaghilev greatly valued imaginative, creative choreography and strongly encouraged it within his Ballets Russes to five of the biggest ballet choreographers of the century, including Michel Fokine. All of Diaghilev’s early triumphs were choreographed pieces by Fokine, as the Diaghilev company allowed him to stage any ballets he desired (Anderson). Michel Fokine, originally Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokine, was born in April of 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was born into a prosperous middle-class family and …show more content…
Ballet reflects an alliance of the arts involved: music, scenery, dance, costuming. Unified composition is used for the plot.
Michel Fokine stated, “These are the chief rules of the new ballet (Anderson).” After Fokine left Russia in 1918, he made his home in New York City. He worked for several companies in the United States and Europe and created new ballets, but none of them were as successful as his earlier work. Fokine was known to have clear and complete ideas. Tamara Karsavina, a Russian ballerina during Fokine’s time, called Fokine “extremely irritable and had no control of his temper.” This may be true, but she also said dancers became devoted to him (“Michel Fokine”). Michel Fokine was a strong dancer, but will be remembered mostly for his changes in ballet. Until his death in 1942, Fokine had built his reputation as the father of modern dance. He was a renaissance man, accomplished musician, painter, philosopher, an intellectual, and is seen as the finest dancer of his generation. All of these contributions to his diverse background, his focused personality, and his five principles of the new ballet are reasons Michel Fokine’s ballets are still in the repertoire of most ballet
Research Assignment
Michel Fokine
When ballet director Sergei Diaghilev ordered a young artist to “astonish” him, he was setting the tone of his own temperament as well as that of the twentieth century modern art in general. Diaghilev greatly valued imaginative, creative choreography and strongly encouraged it within his Ballets Russes to five of the biggest ballet choreographers of the century, including Michel Fokine. All of Diaghilev’s early triumphs were choreographed pieces by Fokine, as the Diaghilev company allowed him to stage any ballets he desired (Anderson). Michel Fokine, originally Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokine, was born in April of 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was born into a prosperous middle-class family and …show more content…
Ballet reflects an alliance of the arts involved: music, scenery, dance, costuming. Unified composition is used for the plot.
Michel Fokine stated, “These are the chief rules of the new ballet (Anderson).” After Fokine left Russia in 1918, he made his home in New York City. He worked for several companies in the United States and Europe and created new ballets, but none of them were as successful as his earlier work. Fokine was known to have clear and complete ideas. Tamara Karsavina, a Russian ballerina during Fokine’s time, called Fokine “extremely irritable and had no control of his temper.” This may be true, but she also said dancers became devoted to him (“Michel Fokine”). Michel Fokine was a strong dancer, but will be remembered mostly for his changes in ballet. Until his death in 1942, Fokine had built his reputation as the father of modern dance. He was a renaissance man, accomplished musician, painter, philosopher, an intellectual, and is seen as the finest dancer of his generation. All of these contributions to his diverse background, his focused personality, and his five principles of the new ballet are reasons Michel Fokine’s ballets are still in the repertoire of most ballet