, 1907 Vaslav Nijinsky was born in 1889 or 1890 Eleanora, along with her two brothers and two sisters, was orphaned while still a child. She started to earn a living as an extra in Warsaw's
Grand Theatre Ballet (Polish:
Teatr Wielki), becoming a full member of the company at age thirteen. In 1868 her talent was spotted and she moved to Kiev as a solo dancer. Tomasz Niżyński also attended the Wielki Theatre school, becoming a soloist there. At age 18 he accepted a soloist contract with the
Odessa Theatre. The two met, married in May 1884 and settled into a career with the traveling Setov opera company. Tomasz was
premier danseur, and Eleanora a soloist. Eleanora continued to tour and dance while having three children, sons Stanislav (born 29 December 1886 in
Tiflis) and Vaslav; and daughter
Bronislava ('Bronia', born 8 January 1891 in
Minsk). She had
depression, which may have been a genetic vulnerability shared in a different form by her son Vaslav. After Josef Setov died about 1894, the company disbanded. Thomas attempted to run his own company, but was not successful. He and his family became itinerant dancers, the children appearing in the Christmas show at
Nizhny Novgorod. In 1897 Thomas and Eleanora separated after Thomas had fallen in love with another dancer, Rumiantseva, while touring in Finland. Eleanora moved to 20
Mokhovaya Street in
St Petersburg with her children. She persuaded a friend from the Wielki Theatre, Victor Stanislas Gillert, who was at the time teaching at the
Imperial Ballet School, to help get Vaslav into the school. He arranged for the noted teacher
Enrico Cecchetti to sponsor the application. Bronia entered the school two years after Vaslav. Their elder brother Stanislav had had a fall from a window when young and seemed to have suffered some brain damage. Vaslav and Bronia, just two years apart, became very close as they grew. As he got older, Stanislav became increasingly mentally unstable and would have fierce tantrums. He was admitted to an asylum for the insane in 1902.
Imperial Ballet School . The middle act was originally choreographed by Michel Fokine as L'animation de Gobelins'' for the 1907 Imperial ballet school student show, and was performed by the new Ballets Russes on its opening night in Paris, 1909. In 1900, Nijinsky joined the Imperial Ballet School, where he initially studied dance under
Sergei Legat and his brother
Nikolai. He studied mime under
Pavel Gerdt; all three men were principal dancers at the
Imperial Russian Ballet. At the end of the one year probationary period, his teachers agreed upon Nijinsky's exceptional dancing ability and he was confirmed as a boarder at the school. He appeared in supporting parts in classical ballets such as
Faust, as a mouse in
The Nutcracker, a page in
Sleeping Beauty and
Swan Lake, and won the Didelot scholarship. During his first year, his academic studies had covered work he had already done, so his relatively poor results had not been so much noted. He did well in subjects which interested him, but not otherwise. In 1902 he was warned that only the excellence of his dancing had prevented his expulsion from the school for poor results. This laxity was compounded through his school years by Nijinsky's frequently being chosen as an extra in various productions, forcing him to be away from classrooms for rehearsals and to spend nights at performances. He was teased for being Polish, and nicknamed "Japonczek" for his faintly Japanese looks at a time Russia was at war with Japan. Some classmates were envious and resented his outstanding dancing ability. In 1901 one of the class deliberately caused him to fall, leading to his
concussion and being in a coma for four days. became his teacher in 1902, and awarded him the highest grade he had ever given to a student. He was given student parts in command performances in front of the
Tsar of
Paquita,
The Nutcracker and
The Little Humpbacked Horse. In music he studied piano, flute,
balalaika and accordion, receiving good marks. He had a good ability to hear and play music on the piano, though his sight reading was relatively poor. Against this, his behaviour was sometimes boisterous and wild, resulting in his expulsion from the school in 1903 for an incident involving students shooting at the hats of passers-by with catapults while being driven to the Mariinsky Theatre in carriages. He was readmitted to the school as a non-resident after a sound beating and restored to his previous position after a month's probation. In 1904, at the age of 14, Nijinsky was selected by the great choreographer
Marius Petipa to dance a principal role in what proved to be the choreographer's last ballet, ''La Romance d'un Bouton de rose et d'un Papillon''. The work was never performed due to the outbreak of the
Russo-Japanese War. On Sunday, 9 January 1905, Nijinsky was caught in the
Bloody Sunday massacre in St. Petersburg, where a group of petitioners led by
Father Gapon attempted to present their petition to the Czar. Soldiers fired upon the crowd, leading to an estimated 1000 casualties. Nijinsky was caught in the crowd on
Nevsky Prospect and propelled toward the
Winter Palace. Imperial cavalry troops charged the crowd, leaving him with a head wound. The following day, he returned to the scene with a friend whose sister was missing. She was never found. Nijinsky became calmer and more serious as he grew older, but continued to struggle to make friends, something which would persist throughout his life. His reserve and apparent dullness made him unappealing to others except when he danced. in the
Bluebird (ballet) pas de deux: "when those two came on, good Lord! I have never seen such a public. You would have thought their seats were on fire." The 1905 annual student show included a
pas de deux from
The Persian Market, danced by Nijinsky and
Sofia Fedorova. Oboukhov amended the dance to show off Nijinsky's abilities, drawing gasps and then spontaneous applause in the middle of the performance with his first jump. In 1906, he danced in the Mariinsky production of Mozart's
Don Giovanni, in a ballet sequence choreographed by
Michel Fokine. He was congratulated by the director of the Imperial Ballet and offered a place in the company although he was a year from graduation. Nijinsky chose to continue his studies. He tried his hand at choreography, with a children's opera,
Cinderella, with music by another student,
Boris Asafyev. At Christmas, he played the King of the Mice in
The Nutcracker. At his graduation performance in April 1907, he partnered
Elizaveta Gerdt, in a pas de deux choreographed by Fokine. He was congratulated by
prima ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska of the Imperial Ballet, who invited him to partner her. His future career with the Imperial Ballet was guaranteed to begin at the mid-rank level of
coryphée, rather than in the corps de ballet. He graduated second in his class, with top marks in dancing, art and music.
Early career Nijinsky spent his summer after graduation rehearsing and then performing at Krasnoe Selo in a makeshift theatre with an audience mainly of army officers. These performances frequently included members of the Imperial family and other nobility, whose support and interest were essential to a career. Each dancer who performed before the Tsar received a gold watch inscribed with the Imperial Eagle. Buoyed by Nijinsky's salary, his new earnings from giving dance classes, and his sister Bronia's employment with the ballet company, the family moved to a larger flat on Torgovaya Ulitsa. The new season at the Mariinsky theatre began in September 1907, with Nijinsky employed as
coryphée (instead of in the
corps de ballet) on a salary of 780 roubles per year. He appeared with Sedova,
Lydia Kyasht and Karsavina. Kchessinska partnered him in
La fille mal gardée, where he succeeded in an atypical role for him involving humour and flirtation. Designer
Alexandre Benois proposed a ballet based upon ''Le Pavillon d'Armide
, choreographed by Fokine to music by Nikolai Tcherepnin. Nijinsky had a minor role, but it allowed him to show off his technical abilities with leaps and pirouettes. The partnership of Fokine, Benois and Nijinsky was repeated throughout his career. Shortly after, he upstaged his own performance, appearing in the Bluebird
pas de deux from the Sleeping Beauty'', partnering Lydia Kyasht. The Mariinsky audience was deeply familiar with the piece, but exploded with enthusiasm for his performance and his appearing to fly, an effect he continued to have on audiences with the piece during his career. In subsequent years, Nijinsky was given several soloist roles at the Mariinsky. In 1910,
Mathilde Kschessinska selected Nijinsky to dance in a revival of Petipa's
Le Talisman. Nijinsky created a sensation in the role of the Wind God Vayou.
Ballets Russes '' A turning point for Nijinsky was his meeting the Russian
Sergei Diaghilev, a celebrated and highly innovative producer of ballet and opera, as well as art exhibitions. He concentrated on promoting Russian visual and musical art abroad, particularly in Paris. The 1908 season of colorful Russian ballets and operas, works mostly new to the West, was a great success, leading him to plan a new tour for 1909 with a new name for his company, the now famous
Ballets Russes. He worked closely with choreographer
Michel Fokine and artist
Léon Bakst, and later with other contemporary artists and composers. Nijinsky and Diaghilev became lovers for a time, and Diaghilev was deeply involved in directing and managing Nijinsky's career. Nijinsky became the company's star male dancer, causing an enormous stir amongst audiences whenever he performed. In ordinary life, he appeared unremarkable and was withdrawn in conversation. At the same time, the Ballets Russes gave Nijinsky the chance to expand his art and experiment with dance and choreography; he created new directions for male dancers while becoming internationally famous.
1909 opening season During the winter of 1908/9, Diaghilev started planning for the 1909 Paris tour of opera and ballet. He collected a team including designers
Alexandre Benois and Léon Bakst, painters
Nicholas Roerich and
Konstantin Korovin, composers
Alexander Glazunov and
Nikolai Tcherepnin, regisseurs and Alexander Sanine and other ballet enthusiasts. As a friend and as a leading dancer, Nijinsky was part of the group. His sister wrote that he felt intimidated by the illustrious and aristocratic company. Fokine was asked to start rehearsals for the existing ''Le Pavillon d'Armide
and for Les Sylphides, an expanded version of his Chopiniana
. Fokine favoured expanding the existing Une Nuit d'Egypte'' for a ballet. Diaghilev accepted the idea of an Egyptian theme, but he required a comprehensive rewrite based on new music, by which Fokine created a new ballet
Cléopâtre. To round out the program, they needed another ballet. Without sufficient time to compose a new work, they decided on a suite of popular dances, to be called
Le Festin.
Anna Pavlova, Karsavina and Nijinsky were chosen as principal dancers. Fokine insisted that Ida Rubenstein would appear as Cleopatra, and Nijinsky insisted that his sister should have a part. Fokine noted Nijinsky's great ability at learning a dance and precisely what a choreographer wanted. Diaghilev departed for Paris in early 1909 to make arrangements, which were immediately complicated on the day of his return, 22 February 1909, by the death of
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who had sponsored an application by Diaghilev for an imperial subsidy of 100,000 roubles for the tour. at the
Venice Lido, 1910 Rehearsals started on 2 April at the
Hermitage Theatre, which the company had been granted special permission to use, along with loans of scenery. No sooner had rehearsals started that the permission was withdrawn, disappearing as had the imperial subsidy. Diaghilev managed to raise some money in Russia, but he had to rely significantly on
Gabriel Astruc, who had been arranging theatres and publicity on behalf of the company in France, to also provide finance. Plans to include Opera had to be dropped because of the lack of finances, and logistical difficulties in obtaining necessary scenery at short notice and for free. Diaghilev and Nijinsky travelled to Paris ahead of the rest of the company. Initially Nijinsky stayed at the Hôtel Daunou. He moved to the Hôtel de Hollande together with Diaghilev and his secretary, Alexis Mavrine, before the arrival of the others. Members of the company had noticed Diaghilev keeping a particularly proprietorial eye on Nijinsky during rehearsals in Russia. They took the travel arrangements and accommodation as confirmation of a relationship. Prince Lvov had visited Nijinsky's mother in St Petersburg, telling her tearfully that he would no longer be taking a special interest in her son, but he advanced a significant sum to Diaghilev towards the tour's expenses. Mavrine was known to have been Diaghilev's lover, but left the tour together with Olga Pedorova shortly after it had begun. The season of colorful Russian ballets and operas, works mostly new to the West, was a great success. The Paris seasons of the Ballets Russes were an artistic and social sensation; setting trends in art, dance, music and fashion for the next decade. Nijinsky's unique talent showed in Fokine's pieces such as ''Le Pavillon d'Armide
(music by Nikolai Tcherepnin); Cleopatra
(music by Anton Arensky and other Russian composers) and a divertissement La Fête
. His expressive execution of a pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty'' (
Tchaikovsky) was a tremendous success.
Later seasons In 1910, he performed in
Giselle, and Fokine's ballets
Carnaval and
Scheherazade (based on the orchestral suite by
Rimsky-Korsakov). His portrayal of "
Petrushka," the puppet with a soul, was a remarkable display of his expressive ability to portray characters. His partnership with
Tamara Karsavina, also of the
Mariinsky Theatre, was legendary, and they have been called the "most exemplary artists of the time". In January 1911 he danced in
Giselle at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg for the Imperial Ballet, with the Tsarina
Alexandra Feodorovna in attendance. His costume, which had been designed by Benois and used in Paris before, caused a scandal, as he danced in tights without the then-common trousers. He refused to apologize and was dismissed from the Imperial Ballet. It is possible that he was not altogether unhappy about this development, as he was now free to concentrate on the Ballets Russes.
Ballets choreographed by Nijinsky '' (1911) Nijinsky took the creative reins and choreographed ballets which pushed boundaries and stirred controversy. His ballets were ''
L'après-midi d'un faune (The Afternoon of a Faun'', based on
Claude Debussy's ''
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune) (1912); Jeux (1913); and Till Eulenspiegel (1916). These introduced his audiences to the new direction of modern dance. As the title character in L'après-midi d'un faune'', in the final tableau, he mimed masturbation with the scarf of a nymph, causing a scandal; he was defended by such artists as
Auguste Rodin,
Odilon Redon and
Marcel Proust. Nijinsky's new trends in dance caused a riotous reaction at the Théâtre de Champs-Élysées when they premiered in Paris. In
The Rite of Spring (
Le Sacre du Printemps), with music by
Igor Stravinsky (1913), Nijinsky created choreography that exceeded the limits of traditional ballet and propriety. The radically angular movements expressed the heart of Stravinsky's radically modern score. Violence broke out in the audience as
The Rite of Spring premiered. The theme of the ballet, based on pagan myths, was a young maiden who sacrificed herself by dancing until she died. The theme, the difficult and challenging music of Stravinsky, and Nijinsky's choreography, led to a violent uproar; Diaghilev was pleased with the notoriety. That same year, Nijinsky conceived
Jeux as a flirtatious interaction among three males, although Diaghilev insisted it be danced by one male and two females.
Marriage Nijinsky's work in choreographing ballets had proved controversial. They were time-consuming to rehearse and badly received by critics. Diaghilev asked him to begin preparing a new ballet,
La Légende de Joseph, based on the Bible. Aside from Nijinsky's difficulties, Diaghilev came under pressure from financial backers and theatre owners who wanted productions more in the style of previous successful work. Although Diaghilev had become unhappy with Fokine's work, thinking he had lost his originality, he returned to him for two new ballets, including
Joseph. Relations between Diaghilev and Nijinsky had deteriorated under the stress of Nijinsky's becoming principal choreographer and his pivotal role in the company's financial success. Diaghilev could not face Nijinsky to tell him personally that he would no longer be choreographing the ballet
Joseph, but instead asked his sister Bronia Nijinska to deliver the bad news. The company was to embark on a tour of South America in August 1913. Nijinska, who had always worked closely with her brother and supported him, could not accompany the tour because she had married in July 1912 and become pregnant. In October 1912 their father had died while on tour with his dance company, causing another stress for the siblings. Diaghilev did not accompany the South American tour, claiming he had been told that he would die on the ocean. Others have suggested the reason had more to do with wanting to spend time away from Nijinsky and enjoy a holiday in Venice, "where perhaps adventures with pretty dark-eyed boys awaited him". Nijinsky set sail on a 21-day sea voyage in a state of turmoil and without the people who had been his closest advisers in recent years. The tour party included
Romola de Pulszky, whose father Count Charles Pulszky was a Hungarian politician, and mother Emilia Márkus was a noted actress. In March 1912 the recently engaged Romola was taken to see the Ballets Russes in Budapest by her prospective mother-in-law and was greatly impressed. Nijinsky had not been performing, but she returned the following day and saw him: "An electric shock passed through the entire audience. Intoxicated, entranced, gasping for breath, we followed this superhuman being... the power, the featherweight lightness, the steel-like strength, the suppleness of his movements..." Romola broke off her engagement and began following the Ballets Russes across Europe, attending every performance she could. Nijinsky was difficult to approach, being always accompanied by a 'minder'. However, Romola befriended
Adolf Bolm, who had previously visited her mother, thereby gaining access to the company and backstage. She and Nijinsky shared no common language; she spoke French but he knew only a little, so many of their early conversations involved an interpreter. When first introduced to her, he gained the impression she was a Hungarian prima ballerina and was friendly. Discovering his mistake, he ignored her thereafter. Romola did not give up. She persuaded Diaghilev that her amorous interests lay with Bolm, that she was rich and interested in supporting ballet. He allowed her to take ballet lessons with
Enrico Cecchetti, who accompanied the troupe coaching the dancers. Nijinsky objected to her taking class with the professionals. Cecchetti warned her against becoming involved with Nijinsky (describing him as "like a sun that pours forth light but never warms"), but Diaghilev's endorsement meant that Nijinsky paid her some attention. Romola took every opportunity to be near Nijinsky, booking train compartments or cabins close to his. She was likely warned that he was homosexual by
Marie Rambert, whom Romola befriended and who was also in love with Nijinsky. As a devout Catholic, she prayed for his conversion to heterosexuality. She referred to him as
Le Petit, and wanted to have his child. Romola and Nijinsky did not share accommodations until after the season was safely underway, when she was eventually invited to join him in separate bedrooms in his hotel suite. She "almost cried with thankfulness" that he showed no interest in making love on their wedding night. Still, the couple had two daughters together,
Kyra and Tamara Nijinska.
Dismissal from Ballets Russes On returning to Paris, Nijinsky anticipated returning to work on new ballets, but Diaghilev did not meet him. Eventually he sent a telegram to Nijinsky informing him that he was no longer employed by the Ballets Russes. Nijinsky had missed a performance in Rio when Romola was ill, and only in the case of a dancer's own illness, certified by a doctor, was the dancer allowed to miss a performance. Diaghilev also usually dismissed dancers who married. This was perhaps beside the point, since Nijinsky had never had a contract, nor wages, all his expenses having been paid by Diaghilev. His mother also received an allowance of 500 francs per month (other senior dancers had received 200,000 francs for a six-month season). Fokine was re-employed by Diaghilev as choreographer and premier danseur, accepting on the condition that none of Nijinsky's ballets would be performed.
Leonide Massine joined the company as the new attractive young lead for
Joseph. The Ballets Russes had lost its most famous and crowd-pulling dancer, but Nijinsky's position was even more difficult. He appears not to have appreciated that his marriage would result in a break with Diaghilev's company, although many others immediately expected this would be the result. The Ballets Russes and the Imperial Russian ballet were the pre-eminent ballet companies in the world and uniquely had permanent companies of dancers staging full-scale new productions. Nijinsky now was "an experimental artist. He needed roles that would extend his gifts, and above all, he needed to choreograph. For these things he did need the Ballets Russes, which at that time was the only forward-thinking ballet company in the world." Bronia was still in St Petersburg following the birth of her child, and Nijinsky asked her to be part of his new company. She was glad to do so, being concerned at how well he could cope without his customary supporters. When she arrived, there was friction between her and Romola: Bronia was critical that the new central figure in her brother's life showed so little organisational ability; Romola resented the closeness between brother and sister both in their shared language and in ability to work together in dance. The final company had only three experienced dancers: Nijinsky and Bronia plus her husband. Scenery was late, Fokine refused to allow the use of his ballets, there was inadequate time to rehearse, and Nijinsky became "more and more nervous and distraught". Diaghilev came to the opening night in March 1914. The audience divided between those who had never seen ballet, who objected to the delays necessary for scene changes, and those who had seen Nijinsky before, who generally felt something was lacking ("He no longer danced like a god"). On another night, when the orchestra played music during the scene change so as to calm the audience, Nijinsky, having expressly banned this, flew into a rage and was discovered half dressed and screaming in his dressing room. He had to be calmed down enough to perform. He jumped on a stagehand who had flirted with Romola ("I had never seen Vaslav like that"). A new program was to be performed for the third week, but a packed house had to be told that Nijinsky was ill with a high temperature and could not perform. He missed three days, and the management had had enough. The show was cancelled, and Nijinsky was left with a considerable financial loss. Newspapers reported a nervous breakdown. His physical vulnerability had been aggravated by the great stress. all interceded on his behalf. Nijinsky arrived in New York on 4 April 1916. The tour had already started in January with a number of problems:
Faun was considered too sexually explicit and had to be amended;
Scheherazade, including an interracial orgy, did not appeal to Americans; and ballet aficionados were calling for Nijinsky. Romola took over negotiations, demanding that Diaghilev pay Nijinsky for the years he had been unpaid by the Ballets Russes before he would dance in New York. This was settled after another week's delay by a down payment of $13,000 against the $90,000 claimed, plus a fee of $1000 for each performance in America. Negotiations with
Otto Kahn of the New York
Metropolitan Opera led to an additional tour of the US being agreed to for the autumn. Kahn did not get on with Diaghilev and insisted Nijinsky should manage the tour. Massine and Diaghilev returned to Europe, leaving Nijinsky to dance and manage a company of more than 100 for a salary of $60,000. Nijinsky was also to prepare two new ballets. Rehearsals for
Till Eulenspiegel did not go well; Nijinsky's poor communication skills meant that he could not explain to dancers what he wanted. He would explode into rages.
Pierre Monteux, the conductor, refused to take part in performances because he did not want to be associated with failure. Nijinsky twisted his ankle, postponing the season's opening for a week and his own appearance by two weeks. Rehearsals for
Eulenspiegel had not been completed, and it had to be improvised during its first performance. It was still well received, and Nijinsky's performance in
Faun was considered better than Massine's. As the tour progressed, Nijinsky's performances received steady acclaim, although his management was haphazard and contributed to the tour's loss of $250,000. in Paris, showing year of birth as 1889. The statue, donated by a Russian group from Perm, without the family's permission, shows Nijinsky in character as the puppet
Petrushka. His last professional public performance was during a South American tour, with pianist
Arthur Rubinstein in a benefit in
Montevideo for the
Red Cross on 30 September 1917, at age twenty-eight. Rubinstein wept when he saw Nijinsky's confusion that night. It was around this time that signs of his
schizophrenia had become apparent to members of the company, including Bourman. Nijinsky and his wife moved to
St. Moritz,
Switzerland, where he tried to recover from the stresses of the tour. From 1947, Nijinsky lived in
Virginia Water, Surrey, England, with his wife. He died from kidney failure at a clinic in
London on 8 April 1950 and was buried in London. In 1953, his body was moved to
Montmartre Cemetery in Paris and reinterred beside the graves of
Gaétan Vestris,
Théophile Gautier, and
Emma Livry. ==Legacy==