Evening star., 1961-07-23
Fokine Enriches Ballet Legend
FoKINE: MEMOIRS OF 4

FOKINE: MEMOIRS OF. A
BALLET MASTER. Trans
lated by Vitale Fokine.
(Little, Brown; $7.5oJ
Although Michel Fokine
died nearly twenty years ago,
these memoirs, assembled
and translated by his son,
Vitale, are the first adequate
account that we have had
Of his life and career. They
are, therefore, an extremely
welcome and important addi-
tion to the photography of
the ballet.
Fokine was a prolific
photographer, and q high
percentage Of his eighty-one
ballets remain in the roper
toire of companies all over
the world. His ideas and
innovations have had q pro-
found influence on our pres
ent-day concept of the ballet
as an art form.
Russian Ballet
In spite Of this he is per-
haps the least known or least
remembered Of the almost
legendary crew who trans
planted the Russian ballet
from Petersburg to Paris in
1909.
The personality of the i'm
persario was so flamboyant
that there is still q tendency
to lump together the indi-
vidual work Of the creative
artists involved and label the
result "Diaghilev ballet"
Fokine, needless to say, took
an extremely dim view Of this,
a fact which becomes in
creaSingly clear as he dis
cusses the events leading UP
to his break with Diaghilev.
He Is commercially restrain
ed in his account of the
disaStorous career Of NijinSky
as a choreographer, but when
he takes off his kid gloves
and sails into Diaghilev, he
is superb!
With Stravinsky
The memoirs are most
Illuminating when Fokine
describes the composition of
his early works: SyIphides,
Scheherezade, Firebird, Pc
trOuchka, and DaphniS and
Chloe. Reading his joyful
"reminiscences Of his first
collaboration with Stravinsky,
1t Is distressing to recall the
composers recent cold
hearted appraisal that
"Fokine was easily the most
diSagreeable man I have ever
worked with. In fact. with
Glazounov, he was the most
diSagreeable man I have ever
met" This typical Stravin-
skyism was written after
Fokine's death, but Fokine
had obviously read and
mulled over earlier Stravinsky
comments about his work.
When he goes into detailed
explanations Of this or that
specific moment in Firebird
or PetrOuchka, he is obvi-
ously answering Stravinsky's
later-day criticisms of the
choreography.
Fokine died before he had
brought his memoirs COM
pletely up to date. The later
facets Of his career are de-
scribed by his son. At this
point the book says. Vitale
Fokine, an obviously devoted
and admiring son, as he had
every reason to be, writes
with an unfortunate chip on
his shoulder. His efforts to
convince the reader that his
father was a great man (even
to telling us how many tele-
grams the family received
when he died!D are not neces-
sary. The point does not
need proving.
Washington Incident
Nor does Vitale's fury at
any stumbling block in his
fathers artistic path make
for the writing Of objective
history. He recalls, for ex-
ample, a 27-year-old Incl
dent that occurred when the
Fokine Ballet was expert
menting with appearances as
the stage show in movie
houses. He relates with in
dignation how in Washing
ton, D. c. Cat what is now
the Capitol and was then the
Fox Theater), the audience
at the first performance
"jeered and screamed OBJ
scenities" at the dancers. On
this account, he adds, "the