When Michel Fokine’s ballet Petrouchka premiered in 1911, none of the (largely white) audience members in Paris objected to the big, dumb puppet being portrayed as a Moor in blackface. Stravinsky’s music was stirring, Fokine’s choreography was ground-breaking, and Alexandre Benois’ sets and costumes were transporting. Nijinsky’s portrayal of Petrouchka, the puppet with a human […]