Michel Fokine — choreographer with roots in the Russian Empire
Michel Fokine was a Russian-American choreographer born in St. Petersburg who became the father of modern ballet. Working with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, he created The Firebird, Petrushka, Scheherazade, and The Dying Swan for Anna Pavlova — revolutionising ballet by replacing decorative spectacle with dramatic expression.
Tracing the roots — St. Petersburg
Born in St. Petersburg in 1880 and trained at the Imperial Ballet School, Fokine was the artistic revolutionary of Russian ballet — insisting that every movement must serve the drama, that costumes must be historically accurate, that the corps de ballet must act, not just decorate. His emigration after the Revolution brought his reforms to the world.
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St. Petersburg. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.