Irine Folkine

[ViolinConcerto]

I received a link to this obituary from a North New Jersey paper.

She had a very full and interesting life. She was born in Russia:

Fokine was born into the ballet world in Vologda, Russia. Her mother, Alexandra Fedorova, was a prima ballerina at the Marinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, and danced in the first performance ever of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker."

Her involvement with ballet was lifelong as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Here are two more quotes:

Fokine, like her uncle, was also a prolific choreographer and created more than 40 original ballets which, in addition to the studio's annual spring concert, have also been performed in Germany, Poland, Colombia and Venezuela. She was one of the choreographers chosen for the "Pavlova Celebration" tour. The legendary Anna Pavlova was Irine Fokine's godmother.

Fokine's studio was the training ground for many successful dancers. Her success stories include Eric Tamm at the American Ballet Theater; Amanda Hankes with New York City Ballet; and Kristine Bendul starring in "Come Fly Away" on Broadway.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Thanks to the Irine Fokine's preserved Nutcracker, the memories of its choreography being passed to her-(and to Alicia Alonso)- by Mme.Fedorova are still alive and reproduced. Thanks to Fedorova-(who danced in the original production)-, as one of two links, we Cubans have the SPF PDD just as it was staged by her for the Denham's company in 1940 and later on taught to her young student Alicia Alonso. The other link used by Alonso to create her version was that of Markova, who taught her the Pas as she had danced it in its very first incarnation outside Russia in 1934 at the Vic-Wells via Sergueev's staging. Both versions were identical.

RIP, Irine Fokine.

[Quiggin]

Thanks to Fedorova, as one of two links, we Cubans have the SPF PDD just as it was staged by her for the Denham's company in 1940 and later on taught to her young student Alicia Alonso.

It may also come through Alexandra Danilova who saw the originals and transmitted a significant amount of 19c classical Russian choreography to France and the US - "Coppelia" most notably. The video clip of Danilova's Sugar Plum Fairy variation looks uncannily like Lorena Feijoo's, especially the quick recto/verso transitions.