Fokine, Mikhail Mikhailovich (25 April 1880, St. Petersburg; 22 August 1942, New York), choreographer , called Michel Fokine in Western Europe and America, studied at the Imperial Ballet Academy from which he was graduated in 1898 to become a member of the Maryinski Theatre. He was raised to the rank of first soloist here in 1904 and choreographed his first ballets almost immediately. Fokine’s reputation as a dancer and choreographer was quite impressive by 1909, and Serge Diaghilev invited him…