Michel Fokine (1880-1942)
Born in St. Petersburg, he achieved the rare distinction of entering the Imperial Ballet directly as a soloist. By 1908 he had arranged the famous solo dance "Le Cygne" for Anna Pavlova , but had already become disillusioned with the traditional forms of choreography which were deep rooted in the Imperial Theatre. He envisaged a ballet conceived as an artistic unity and not as a series of dances strung together.
He said ;
"Dancing should be expressive , it should not degenerate into mere gymnastics".In 1909 Diaghilev employed him , for whom he created many classic ballets including "The Firebird", "Petrouchka", "Le Spectre de la Rose". In fact between 1909 and 1914 while in Diaghilev’s employment he produced 15 ballets.
After disagreements with Diaghilev he returned to Russia and created various new works for the Mariinsky Theatre , but left after the war. From then he devised ballets for many companies including those of Anna Pavlova , Ida Rubinstein and finally for the Ballet Theatre New York , where he died in 1942.
Fokine is widely recognized as the founder of the principles of the choreographic revolution , bringing it into the 20th century and re-establishing ballet as a respected art form in Western Europe.