Nijinska, Bronislava (redirected from Bronislava Fominitshna Nizhinskaya)

Nijinska, Bronislava (brônē`sləvə nyīzhēn`skə), 1891–1972, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer; sister of Vaslav Nijinsky. She studied at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg and then joined the Maryinsky Theatre. In 1909, she moved to Diaghilev's Ballet Russe, where she danced in the entire repertory. Although she left the company to teach during World War I, she returned in 1921 as a choreographer. She later choreographed for numerous European and American companies. Her ballets Les Noces (1923) and Les Biches (1924) are frequently performed.

Bibliography

See her Early Memoirs (1981).

---

Nijinska, Bronislava

 orig. Bronislava Fominitshna Nizhinskaya

(born Jan. 8, 1891, Minsk, Russia—died Feb. 21, 1972, Pacific Palisades, Calif., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She trained at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg and joined the Mariinsky Theatre company in 1908. She danced with the Ballets Russes in Paris from 1909, as did her brother, Vaslav Nijinsky. She choreographed several ballets for the company, including Les Noces (1923), The Blue Train (1924), and Les Biches (1924). During the 1920s and 1930s she created works for other companies, including her own (1932–37). In 1938 she moved to Los Angeles, where she opened a school, and she continued to work as a guest choreographer into the early 1960s.