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Lecture 10
Vaslav Nijinsky: the first male
star of the ballet
Born
in Kiev 1890
Died
London 1950
Trained:
Imperial
School of
Dancing:
St.Petersburg
1898-1907
Both his parents were celebrated
Dancers
His
father gave him his first lessons and he performed with his parents, brother and
sister until he started his training in St.Petersburg
Nijinsky: fact file
•
1907: After a brilliant school career under the instruction of Enrico
Chechetti he joins the Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg as a soloist.He dances
the classics.
•
1909: He joins Sergey Diahilev’s Ballet Russes. Michel Fokine is the
principal choreographer
Fokine creates for Nijinsky
•
Le Spectre de la rose
•
Petrushka
•
Scheherazade
Serge Grigoriev: Rehearsal Director of the Ballet Russes.
"May the 19th, 1909, was a great day in
the history of the Russian Ballet of Serge Pavlovich Diaghilev; for it was on
that day that it gave its first public performance. Thus began an enterprise
that was destined to last twenty years: to create an enormous repertoire; to
bring up several generations of wonderful dancers; to raise the art of ballet to
great heights; and to diffuse it all over the world."
Nijinsky partnered some of the great ballerinas: Anna Pavlova
Tamara Karasina
During the period:
1907-1911
•
Nijinsky performed with Mariinsky, the Bolshoi and the Ballet Russes!
However Nijinsky’s legend is without a doubt linked to Diaghilev
Without the driving force of
Diaghilev
…the
talent of Nijinsky would never have been seen outside of Russia..
Legend has it that Diaghilev
manipulated Nijinsky’s departure from the Mariinsky Theatre
…apparently
Nijinsky danced without a ‘dance support’… and was fired!
Whatever
the truth is about stories such as this there is little doubt that Diaghilev had
a strong influence on Nijinsky!
…they
were lovers!
Nijinsky’s relationship with
Diaghilev was a ‘love hate’ one
…there
are a good many references to Diaghilev in his famous Diary that is now
re-issued and re-evaluated.
The Diary is now seen as a unique
study of an artist entering into insanity..
…he
wrote it in less than a week
He had a nervous breakdown at the
age of 29 in 1919
…he
never recovered!
He
was further diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia
He died in London in 1950
•
Marie Rambert founded her ballet company and school for Nijinsky at the
Mercury theatre
His Choreographies include:
•
1912: L’Apres-midi d’un faune
•
Jeux
•
Le Sacre du printemps
•
Till Eulenspiegel
Features of his work:
A
rejection of his ballet training is evident…the use of ‘turn in’ rather
than ‘turn out’
Diaghilev supervised most of his
work, he took him to galleries and museums and showed him the Greek Friezes and
Greek statues amongst other things
…Isadora
Duncan also influenced him, he had seen her perform
Some of Nijinsky’s collaborators.
Stravinsky: Music
Costume. Bakst and Benois
The legend of Nijinsky relies not only in the fact that he was a virtuoso
‘dancer noble’ but also on the fact that the Ballet Russes fused a number of
Art forms together…to produce a phenomenon.
There is little doubt that scandal and glamour were also part of the allure
of the Ballet Russes
Nijinsky was probably the first male icon of the ballet. His life reflects
the demands, sacrifices and strains that are possible in the ballet world as
well as the rewards …in the case of Nijinsky immortality!
None of his work remains intact. We have re-creations only.
His work was judged highly original and provocative at the time.
The Royal Ballet recently (April 2000) revived a number of the Ballet Russe's
works including some of Nijinsky's ... Rite of Spring and Afternoon
of a Faune are still in the rep of a number of dance companies and
are often reworked and re-visited in a number of ways .... the spirit of
Nijinsky could be said to dance on...
Nijinsky's ability as a star ... directly influenced the work that was
produced ... in turn his abilities influenced future dance content and
audience expectation... the status of the male dancer was elevated by Nijinsky.
The perceived male dancers sexual orientation and temperament was also
set by Nijinsky. This it could be argued was part of his drawing power as
a star and could be seen as a separate issue though clearly linked to his
artistic achievements in terms of him 'speaking' to or from in part at least a
culturally suppressed gay perspective.
His life and work take on added 'meaning' with this gay perspective coupled
to his drift into madness.
Reference List
Diaghilev (Buckle)
The Nijinsky Diary (Nijinsky)
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