MICHEL FOKINE’S BALLETS IN THE BALKANS (YUGOSLAVIA, 1920-1939)
In Yugoslavia (the Kingdom of Serbians, Croatians and Slovenians), in three National Theaters (in Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana), one could see eleven ballets staged by M. M. Fokine in between the two World Wars, predominantly due to the efforts of his successors: E. D. Polyakova and M. P. Fro- man, including nine shows staged for Diaghilev’s Saisons Russes before WWI. The sequence of shows staged in Yugoslavia was as follows: La Sylphide (1920), Scheherazade and Le Spectre de la rose (1921), Le Papillon and the Polovtsian Dances (1922), Petrushka and Tamara (1923), Carnival (1924), the Fire- bird (1928), Daphnis et Chloé (1931). In addition, there was a show staged for the Ballets Russes de Colonel W. de Basil: The Little Golden Cockerel (1939). Information presented in the article is based upon research conducted by the Author in theater archives of Belgrade and Zagreb.