Vaclav nijinsky

1890-1950
Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations. Considered among the great male dancers in history, Nijinsky had remarkable technical powers; his grands jetés, for example, created the illusion that he was suspended in midair.

Nijinsky was probably born in 1890 in Kiev, where his parents were on tour. His mother, Eleonora Nicolaevna Bereda and his father, Thomas Lavrentievitch Nijinsky were dancers from Poland. They danced in theatres, opera houses, circuses and carnivals throughout the Slavic countries. Vaclav was the middle child. His elder brother, Stanislav, fell out of a window when a child and damaged his brain, as a result of which he became violent and disruptive and had to be institutionalised. His younger sister, Bronislava Nijinska, was later to become a famous dancer and choreographer in her own right.

Le Spectre de la Rose

Vaclav was dancing with his parents' troupe in Kiev by the age of three and at four had his first public success. His father supervised his dance training, but when Vaclav was eight, his father left the family and went off with another woman by whom he had a child.

Eleonora moved to St Petersburg and enrolled Nijinsky at the Imperial Ballet School in 1907. This was difficult for Nijinsky as he didn't speak Russian well (he had a strong Polish accent). His mother was protective of him and he was picked on by the other boys. Later he had academic and social problems. Nevertheless, as a dancer he was outstanding. He was not tall, about 5'4", but before he was 18, he had partnered Anna Pavlova in Don Giovanni.

After graduation, having gained a reputation for a virtuoso technique, he joined the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet and made his first professional appearance in 1907. At first he came under the aristocratic patronage of Prince Pavel Lvov, but after about a year he became the protégé of Sergei Pavlovitch Diaghilev.

Nijinsky in Giselle, Paris, 1910

In 1908, both Nijinsky and his sister were contracted to appear in Paris for Diaghilev. Nijinsky's debut at La Pavilion d'Armide made him an instant celebrity. The Ballets Russes performances created a vogue for all things Russian. In 1911, Nijinsky joined Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on a permanent basis, having been dismissed from the Imperial Ballet after appearing as Albrecht in Giselle in the costume he had worn in Paris, which he had been specifically instructed not to wear as it was considered skimpy and unsuitable for Russian audiences.

Nijinsky was the first to portray the leading roles in Les sylphides (1909) and Schéhérazade (1910) and Diaghilev commissioned Petrushka and Le Spectre de la Rose for him with choreography by Fokine. He also encouraged Nijinsky to choreograph his own ballets, L'Apres-midi d'un faune (1912), Jeux (1913) and Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) (1913). They were radical by contemporary ballet standards. L'Apres-midi was booed on its first night, but Diaghilev masterminded the publicity and ensured a subsequent sell-out.

Le sacre du printemps caused riots at the first performance. It had caused anger in production as well. When Nijinksy discovered that his sister, who was to dance the Sacrifice, was pregnant he became violent and nearly killed her husband, Alexander Kotchetovsky. Diaghilev said (in 1913) that "I can no longer endure Nijinsky's unpredictable behaviour and violent outbursts."

Arthur Grunenberg. Etching of Nijinsky in Schéhérazade, Berlin, undated.

In 1913, when the troop went to South America, Diaghilev did not. A young Hungarian countess, Romola de Pulszka, did go. She had been following Nijinsky for 18 months, but she did not speak either Russian or Polish. Somehow this did not prove to be a problem and she married Nijinsky in Buenos Aires without telling his family or Diaghilev. She became pregnant almost immediately and Nijinsky became ill "in sympathy" and missed a performance in Rio. This gave the provoked Diaghilev a reason to sack him. It was almost impossible for a solo dancer to get work without an impresario to support him. In 1914 Nijinsky had a nervous breakdown.

Although furious when told he had a daughter not a son, as soon as he saw his child Nijinsky was delighted with her and was a fond parent.

In 1916, he was invited back to tour the USA with the Ballets Russes. Nijinsky choreographed what was to be his last ballet, Till Eulenspiegel, in which he danced the title role. Unfortunately, the choreography was not finished on opening night and so the dancers had to make it up. Against all odds it was a success.

From 1919 onwards, Nijinsky became increasingly mentally ill and was forced to retire. His wife took him to Switzerland where he was in and out of psychiatric hospitals for the remainder of his life. Nijinsky wrote about his inner conflicts and obsessions in four notebooks, which were published in heavily edited versions during the years after he dropped out of public life. His second daughter was born in 1920.

In 1948 the couple moved to Sunningdale, Berkshire while Romola applied for British citizenship. In 1950, Nijinsky died in the London Clinic. At his funeral mass at St James', Spanish Place, his pall bearers included Frederick Ashton, Michael Somes, Serge Lifar and Anton Dolin. He was buried in London, but later re-interred at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. In 1995 the first unexpurgated version of the notebooks, Cahiers: version non expurgée (The Diary of Vaclav Nijinsky, 1999) was published.

Main picture: Nijinsky in Jeux. 1913, Paris.