Nijinsky, Vaslav

Nijinsky, Vaslav (vəsläf` nyĭzhēn`skē), 1890–1950, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer; brother of Bronislava Nijinska. Nijinsky is widely considered the greatest dancer of the 20th cent. and was ballet's first modernist choreographer. He entered the Imperial Ballet School, St. Petersburg, in 1900 and made his debut in 1907. He traveled to Paris (1909) and, as premier danseur in Diaghilev's Ballet Russe, was the first to dance the leading roles in Petrouchka, Les Sylphides, Scheherazade, and The Spectre of the Rose, all choreographed by Fokine, and in ballets he himself choreographed—The Afternoon of a Faun (1912), The Rite of Spring (1913, for which Stravinsky composed the famous score), Jeux (1913), and Till Eulenspiegel (1916). Nijinsky developed a system of dance notation that was not deciphered until 1984; since then a number of his reconstructed ballets have been performed. Often considered the greatest male dancer of the 20th cent., Nijinsky was noted for his intensity and eroticism as well as for his superb technique, particularly his jeté and elevation. His relationship with Diaghilev was stormy, ending bitterly when the dancer married. In 1919, Nijinsky's career was abruptly terminated by disabling schizophrenia. He lived in retirement in England and Switzerland until his death.

Bibliography

See his 1919 diary, ed. by his wife, R. Nijinska (1936, rev. ed. 1963, unexpurgated tr. ed. by J. Acocella, 1998); biographies by R. Nijinska (1933 and 1952, repr. 1968) and R. Buckle (1971); studies by L. Kirstein (1975), B. Van Norman (1986), and M. Hodson (1996); catalog for the exhibition "Nijinsky: Legend and Modernist" (2000).

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Nijinsky, Vaslav

 orig. Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky

Nijinsky in Spectre de la rose.

(credit: Courtesy of the Dance Collection, the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, Roger Pryor Dodge Collection)

(born March 12, 1890, Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire—died April 8, 1950, London, Eng.) Russian ballet dancer. After early lessons from his parents, famous dancers with their own company, he and his sister, Bronislava Nijinska, trained further in St. Petersburg, and he joined the Mariinsky Theatre company in 1907. With his spectacular leaps and unrivaled grace, he was an immediate success, dancing leading roles in Giselle, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty, often with Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina. In 1909 he joined the new Ballets Russes, and he created many roles in Michel Fokine's ballets, including Carnaval, Les Sylphides, Le Spectre de la rose, Petrushka, and Daphnis and Chloe. In 1912–13 he choreographed The Afternoon of a Faun, Jeux, and The Rite of Spring, all of which caused scandals. His marriage in 1913 led to his dismissal from the company by his mentor, Sergey Diaghilev. He continued to perform but with less success. His intensifying mental illness led to his retirement in 1919, and he lived mostly in mental institutions in Switzerland, France, and England until his death. His status as a legend is unequaled in the history of dance.