Carla Fracci & Paolo Bortoluzzi in Mikhail Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose ….

Michael Fokine’s 1911 ballet Le Spectre de la Rose tells the story of a young woman who returns from a ball and brings home a rose. She falls asleep in a chair and dreams of dancing with the spirit of the rose until the spirit disappears with a spectacular leap through the window and she awakes.

Vaslav Nijinsky in Micheal Fokine’s Spectre de la Rose, 1911. Ballet Russe

Mr. Fokine created the work to feature only two dancers. He described the intimate stage setting as “a tiny room, the two walls of which meet together in an upstage corner, leaving but little room for dancing. The difficulty lay in confining the dance to such a small space.”

Vaslav Nijinsky & Tamara Karsavina in Micheal Fokine’s Spectre de la Rose, 1911. Ballet Russe

The dancers in the original cast were two of the most admired dancers of the early twentieth century, Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina.

Le Spectre de la Rose

Choreography by Michel Fokine

 Music by Carl Maria von Weber

Orchestrated by Hector Berlioz

Sets & Costumes by Léon Bakst

Premiere: April 19, 1911,

Théâtre de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo