Last night was the Private View. Among the guests were several descendants of dancers and choreographer who worked with Diaghilev’s company.Isabelle Fokine was looking at an exhibit when the woman beside said to her son ‘this is a picture of my grandmother’; so the granddaughter of Fokine met the granddaughter of Karsavina. As Isabella later said ‘It seemed quite strange as we both realized that if Karsavina had said ‘yes’ when my grandfather proposed, neither one of us would be here’. The signage is not yet up to say the exhibition continues from one gallery to the next so a few visitors were a little lost and many had no idea the exhibition was going to be as large as it is.
There was a good turn-out for the press launch. In fact all week we are showing members of the press around and their enthusiasm has been encouraging. We have become aware that it really does take at least a couple of hours to see the exhibition properly. I keep being asked which my favourite object is which I find impossible to answer, it’s the variety of the material which makes it such an exciting exhibition. I can do my favourite area which as to be ‘the props store’ into ‘the Firebird experience’.