uld not be done.

Her season with the Russians was terminated in very short order, and
Lydia Lopoukova, who happened to be in America, and who, indeed, had
already been engaged for certain roles, was rushed into her vacant
slippers. Now Mme. Lopoukova had charm as a dancer, whatever her
deficiencies in technique. In certain parts, notably as Colombine in
_Carneval,_ she assumed a roguish demeanor which was very fetching. As
La Ballerine in _Petrouchka,_ too, she met all the requirements of the
action. But in _Le Spectre de la Rose_, _Les Sylphides_, _The Firebird_,
and _La Princesse Enchantee_, she floundered hopelessly out of her
element.

Tchernicheva, one of the lesser but more steadfast luminaries of the
Ballet, in the roles for which she was cast, the principal Nymph in
_L'Apres-midi d'un Faune_, Echo in _Narcisse_, and the Princess in _The
Firebird_, more than fulfilled her obligations to the ensemble, but her
opportunities in these mimic plays were not of sufficient importance to
enable her to carry the brunt of the performances on her lovely
shoulders. Flore Revalles was drafted, I understand, from a French opera
company. I have been told that she sings--Tosca is one of her roles--as
well as she dances. That may very well be. To impressionable spectators
she seemed a real _femme fatale_. Her Cleopatre suggested to me a
Parisian _cocotte_ much more than an Egyptian queen. It would be
blasphemy to compare her with Ida Rubinstein in this role--Ida
Rubinstein, who was true Aubrey Beardsley! In Thamar and Zobeide, both
to a great extent dancing roles, Mlle. Revalles, both as dancer and
actress, was but a frail substitute for Karsavina.

The remainder of the company was adequate, but not large, and the
ensemble was by no means as brilliant as those who had seen the Ballet
in London or Paris might have expected. Nor in the absence of Fokine,
that master of detail, were performances sufficiently rehearsed. There
was, of course, explanation in plenty for this disintegration.
Gradually, indeed, the Ballet as it had existed in Europe had suffered a
change. Only a miracle and a fortune combined would have sufficed to
hold the original company intact. It was not held intact, and the war
made further inroads on its integrity. Then, for the trip to America
many of the dancers probably were inclined to demand double pay.
Undoubtedly, Serge de Diaghilew had many more troubles than those which
were celebrated in the public pri