Le Spectre de la Rose

This work, which Karsavina calls "blessed," was meant to be a trifling fill-in ballet, a brief contrast to the other works on the program, and its success took everyone by surprise. It was created spontaneously in two or three rehearsals, in what Karsavina remembers as a blissful mood, and even Diaghilev was calm about the entire production. The only moments of discord occurred when Bakst insisted on including a caged canary in the decor; wherever he hung it, it interfered with the dance--hence expediting its elimination. One fault found in this duet, which helped many audiences further understand and see Fokine's reforms, is that few of the many performers who have since attempted the roles have been able to achieve the fresh, spontaneous, dreamlike quality of Karsavina and Nijinsky. In writing of the poetic dancing of the latter, Fokine laments the apocryphal stories of his final leap and insists that this great artist needs nothing more than the truth told about his portrayal of "a spirit. . . a hope. . . a fragrance that defies description."

Michel Fokine by Dawn Lille Horwitz. 1985. Pages 30-1.