Film of Mikhail Fokine - Famed Ballets Russes Dancer and Choreographer

Here are two fragments of film footage of the legendary Ballets Russes dancer and choreographer, Mikhail Fokine (1880-1942). In the first clip, he is conducting a mixed dance class out-of-doors in the sunshine. With his training canes, the maestro seems a seriously no-nonsense kind of teacher. He conducts his class with great authority and as though he knows exactly what is is about. In the second clip, we see him walking in Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower on a frosty winter day in the late 1920s or early 1930s. He get a sense of him as elegant and dapper, with the confident assurance of a man of the world. Enjoy!