Mikhail Fokine in St. Petersburg 1912-18

Abstract

But it was an incomplete return. Fokine had already left Russia inwardly and would never be able to return wholeheartedly. Essentially, Fokine's last Petersburg period was a breathing-space before he continued his wanderings in pursuit of that extraordinary and uplifting sense of fulfilment and happiness which he discovered in the Paris seasons and would never again recapture. Diaghilev had helped him to find his wings. With Fokine, he soared upon a wave of triumphal successes during the initial seasons. But thereafter Diaghilev preferred to soar alone and make his own decisions about where to go. He could be enraptured by the talent of someone else, particularly if he could be party to the triumphs attained; above all he prized his own prophetic gift for discovering talent. His mysterious gift was for awakening creative powers in people, but he liked to control these powers he brought into life.