Sokolova's memories of Le Spectre de la rose

I enjoyed watching Fokine dance, and I loved to see him with Karasvina in Le Spectre de la rose. It was an entirely different sensation from watching Nijinsky. Nijinsky had been such a myth, and he had that miraculous elevation, so that one was dazzled by his performance and never thought of analysing or criticising it. Fokine danced with a complete understanding of the music and of the steps he had invented to go with it. Nijinsky had been sexless -- an elfin thing. Fokine dancing with Karsavina was very much the lover. When the beautiful Karsavina dance Le Spectre with Nijinsky, she seemed to show a certain detachment, as if he was merely a dream to her, and when he floated out of the window she really woke up. When she danced the same ballet with Fokine there seemed to be a secret affinity between them. I used to say to myself, 'He loves her. I know he does.' When he leaned over her as she slept in her chair and he brushed her forehead with a kiss, just before his exit leap, you could almost hear him think, 'Wake up and remember me.'

Dancing for Diaghilev by Lydia Sokolova. 1960. Pages 52-3.