The Washington times., 1919-11-20
BY J. MACH.

There is a threefold announcement
in New York for next Monday OF IN
terest to music in America. 1T Is the
premiere in this country of "Aphro-
dite," the Paris sensation from the
Theater Renaissance, styled "a ro-
nance of manners in ancient Egypt,
fl ON the celebrated novel. OF Pierre
Louys, the play by Pierre Frcndaye
and George c. Hazelton, with a COM
rany of 300"
Michel Fokine. the great me- 7ter OF
the late imperial ballet of Pet. ograd,
designer also of the mammoth ballets-
Of the Diaghileff Russian ballet, as we
know it, and himself the foremost
exponent of this art today, mas been
brought to America to stage the bal
let for "Aphrodite."
The Century Theater, New York
city, is the scene of this novelty Of
play. ballet, music-with the elaborate
scenes that now make master back
grounds Of these three united arts.
That $40 for an orchestra seat IL asked
for the opening performance speaks
somewhat of the Importance Of this
production in the annals OF the
drama.
The music is by Henri Fevrier. CON-
poser of the opera "Monna Wanna
and Anselm Goetx, and the ccmbina-
ture choreography. or new music, Of
scenes that have also brough. over
the artists, Philip and Joseph Harker,
famous scenic artists of London, 10
looked forward to as one of the most
important news items of the theatrical
season.
"Oeeans Of Motion,
Michel Fokine revolutaonized the
art of choreography in Europe, and.
with the aid Of Leon Bakst as the
scenic artist-as one writer puts it
he splashed whole oceans of motion
and color into all the CAPITALS nf
Europe" In fact. it was those two
| artists who evolved the marvellous
stage settings and rich coloring which
| has become symbolic of the modern
Russian ballet.
All lovers of music. art and dancing
know that Michel Fokine is probably
| without peer in the world in his
own particular field. A Temperament
tai Russian now thirty-six yeais of
| age Michel Fokine for the last fif y IN
years has been the artistic sensation
/ of Russia and all European capitals.
Some years ago, when he was dancing
i in Paris with the Imperial Russian
Ballst, the late Oscar Hammerstein
tried to secure him to come to New
| York, and at the same time the Net
ropolitan had an agent in Paris vainly
negotiating with the celebrated
Russian. Fokine's terms then were |.
| A deposit of s250.o0o to be made in
his name in bank in Petrograd, the
entire sum to be paid before he set
sail for America and to represent his
/ salary for season OF twenty weeks
| during the grand opera season.
Neither Hammerstein nor the Met
/ ropolitan would agree to deposit the
| money in advance. as each rightly
| felt that even though Fokine was
worth the great salary he demanded,
II was poor business to pay anyone
such an enormous sum in advance of
the actual sailing. The incident is
related merely to show the extraordi-
nary value which has been placed
| upon Fokfne's services by emf -ent
authorities. and to give one an idea
of the enormous income Fokine must
have received up to the time the war
cast cloud over all Europe.
Michel Fokine is a native Of Petro-
grad, who became a pupil of the I'm
/ perial Russian Ballet school when he
/ was seven years of age. At the age
Of twenty-one he was such an expert
! and wonderful dancer that he was
| placed in charge of the Imperial Rus
sian ballet school when he was seven
years of age. At the age Of twenty
one he was such an expert and won
derful dancer that Hhe was placed in
| charge OF the Imperial Russian Bal
let. He became the favorite
dancer of the Car and of the court at
Petrograd. His fame spread to Paris
and London and other European CAPT
tails, and on successful visits to those
! cities he was acclaimed as the great
! est of all Russian dancers.
Taught Nijinski.
| Fokine was the instructor of Min
ski, Bolm, Pavlowa and Mordkin. Be-
| fore his time the Italian school of
dancing had prevailed in all European
/ ballets. The Italian school meant n
| lot of young women in fluffy white
| ballet skirts and tights. pirouettIng
! together and all performing the same
| identical movements simultaneously.
! Fokine changed all this. He planned
/ ballets in which every individual
! dancer did something different from
| the others. and he combined perfect
| harmony of movement with the mu-
! sical score so that every note of
! music had it's corresponding move
ment on the part Of one or more of
! the dancers.
Many of the ideas for Folxine's bal.
| lets were derived from pictures. But
Fokine also learned how to contro.
/ movement and how to preserve bal
ance from pictures. In the Academia
| di Belle Arti in Venice there is u
room devoted to large paintings by
Gentle Bellini and Vittore Carpacclo
depicting events in Venetian history.
In one Of them is a procession, and
study OF the different groups of
marchers and bystanders will give
you an excellent idea of the effective
and pictorial intricacy of a Fok:ne
ballet In "The Legend of Joseph"
Fokine attains one of his most thrill
ing effects in the last scene, where
tho bapdm a idepa of the refused pob;-