NIJINSKY

Original title: 
NIJINSKY
Agegroup: 
Adults
Cast: 
6m, 4f
Author: 

This is the story of Vaslav Nijinsky, the young and brilliant but headstrong premier danseur and aspiring choreographer of the Ballets Russes.

A turning point for Nijinsky was his meeting Sergei Diaghilev, a celebrated and highly innovative producer of ballet and opera as well as art exhibitions, who concentrated on promoting Russian visual and musical art abroad, particularly in Paris.

Nijinsky and Diaghilev became lovers for a time, and Diaghilev was heavily involved in directing and managing Nijinsky's career. In 1909, Diaghilev took a company of Russian opera and ballet stars to Paris featuring Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova.

The season of colorful Russian ballets and operas, works mostly new to the West, was a great success. It led Diaghilev to create his famous company the Ballets Russes with choreographer Michel Fokine.

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), Till Eulenspiegel (1916). In The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps), with music by Igor Stravinsky.

Nijinsky created choreography that exceeded the limits of traditional ballet and propriety. For the first time, his audiences were experiencing the futuristic, new direction of modern dance. Unfortunately, Nijinsky's new trends in dance caused a riotous reaction at the Théâtre de Champs-Élysées when they premiered in Paris.

As the title character in L'après-midi d'un faune, the final scene during which he mimed masturbation with the scarf of a nymph, caused a scandal. Violence broke out in the audience as The Rite of Spring premiered. This uproar didn't seem displeasing to Diaghilev.

In 1913 the Ballets Russes toured South America. Diaghilev did not make this journey. Free from supervision, Nijinsky became acquainted with Romola de Pulszky, a Hungarian countess. An ardent fan of Nijinsky, she took up ballet and used her family connections to get close to him. Despite her efforts to attract him, Nijinsky initially appeared unaware of her interest. They married while overseas, which infuriated Diaghilev. When the company returned to Europe, Diaghilev is reported to have flown into a rage, culminating in Nijinsky's dismissal.

During World War I, Nijinsky was interned in Hungary. Diaghilev succeeded in getting him out for a North American tour in 1916. However, it was around this time in his life that signs of his schizophrenia were becoming apparent to members of the company...

More Information: 

Nijinsky

A Musical by Jürg Burth

Dialogues and lyrics by Lida Winiewicz

Musik by Borodin, Debussy, Fauré, Glière, Hahn, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Ravel, Satie, Schumann, Strawinsky, Tschaikowsky, C.M. von Weber
Zusätzliche Kompositionen von André Bellmont

Arrangement for two pianos by Stephen Gross