Nijinsky biography. Vaclav Nezhinsky - "god of dance". The girl and the boy cried, and the cheerful booth closed

Nijinsky Vaslav Fomich (1889-1950), an outstanding Russian dancer and choreographer.

Born on February 28 (March 12), 1889 in Kyiv in the family famous dancers Thomas (Tomas) Lavrentievich Nijinsky and Eleonora Nikolaevna Bereda, who owned their own ballet troupe. The troupe toured different cities: in Paris, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Minsk, Tiflis, Odessa.

All three Nijinsky children were gifted musically and plastically, had good external characteristics and were involved in dance from an early age. They received their first choreography lessons from their mother. My father also tried his hand as a choreographer. For six-year-old Vaclav, his older brother, and younger sister Bronislava, a famous future ballerina and choreographer, he composed a pas de trois - this was the first “performance” of the future genius. After the divorce, the mother settled in St. Petersburg with her three children.

In 1900-1908 he studied at the St. Petersburg Theater School, where he studied under the guidance of N.G. Legat, M.K. Obukhov and E. Cecchetti. Once on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, he quickly became a soloist. He belonged to the galaxy of young dancers who shared the innovative ideas of M. M. Fokin. He danced in Fokine's ballets The White Slave (N.N. Cherepnin's Armida Pavilion, 1907), The Youth (Chopiniana, 1908), The Ebony Slave (Egyptian Nights by A.S. Arensky, 1907), Albert (Giselle Adana, 1910).

Almost immediately after graduating from college, Nijinsky was invited by S.P. Diaghilev to participate in the 1909 ballet season, where he gained enormous success. For his ability to jump high and elevate for a long time, he was called the bird-man, the second Vestris. Nijinsky became Diaghilev's discovery, the first dancer, and then the choreographer of the troupe (1909-1913, 1916).

In Paris, the dance repertoire tested on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater was performed (Pavilion Armida, 1907; Chopinian or La Sylphide, 1907; Egyptian Nights or Cleopatra 1909; Giselle, 1910; Swan Lake, 1911), as well as the divertissement Feast to the music of Russian composers, 1909; and roles in Fokine's new ballets Schumann's Carnival, 1910; Scheherazade by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, 1910; Orientals A. Glazunov, 1910; Vision of a Rose by K. M. Weber, 1911, in which he amazed the Parisian public with a fantastic jump through a window; Parsley by I.F. Stravinsky, 1911; Blue God R. Ghana, 1912; Daphnis and Chloe M. Ravel, 1912.

Encouraged by Diaghilev, Nijinsky tried his hand as a choreographer and, secretly from Fokine, rehearsed his first ballet - Afternoon rest Faun to music by C. Debussy (1912). He based his choreography on profile poses borrowed from ancient Greek vase painting. Like Diaghilev, Nijinsky was fascinated by the rhythmoplastics and eurythmics of Dalcroze, in whose aesthetics he staged his next and most significant ballet, The Rite of Spring, in 1913. The Rite of Spring, written by Stravinsky in an atonal system and choreographically built on complex combinations of rhythms, became one of the first expressionist ballets. The ballet was not immediately accepted, and its premiere ended in scandal, as did Afternoon of a Faun, which shocked the audience with its finale. erotic scene. In the same year he performed the plotless ballet Plays by Debussy. These productions by Nijinsky were characterized by anti-romanticism and opposition to conventional grace. classic style.

The Parisian public was captivated by the artist's undoubted dramatic talent and his exotic appearance. Nijinsky turned out to be a brave and original-minded choreographer, who opened new paths in plastic arts, returning male dance to its former priority and virtuosity. Nijinsky also owed his successes to Diaghilev, who believed and supported him in daring experiments. The break with Diaghilev due to Nijinsky's marriage to the unprofessional dancer Romola Pulskaya led to Nijinsky's departure from the troupe and, in fact, to the end of his short, dizzying career.

The repertoire consisted of productions by Nijinsky and, in part, by Fokine (The Phantom of the Rose, Carnival, La Sylphides, which Nijinsky remade again). However, the tour was not successful and ended in financial ruin, which led to a nervous breakdown and the onset of mental illness for the artist. Failures followed him. The First World War of 1914 found the couple returning to St. Petersburg with their newborn daughter in Budapest, where they were interned until the beginning of 1916. Nijinsky was painfully worried about both his arrest and his forced creative inactivity. Meanwhile, Diaghilev renewed the contract with the artist for the Russian Ballet tour in Northern and South America. On April 12, 1916, he danced his signature roles in Petrushka and Vision of a Rose on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera.

In the same year, on October 23, the premiere of Nijinsky’s last ballet, Till Eulenspiegel by R. Strauss, was shown at the Manhattan Opera in New York, in which he performed main party. The performance, created in feverish haste, despite a number of interesting discoveries, failed. The unrest that he experienced greatly traumatized Nijinsky’s weak psyche. A fatal role in his fate was played by his passion for Tolstoyism, popular in the emigrant circles of the Russian artistic intelligentsia. Members of Diaghilev's troupe, the Tolstoyans Nemchinova, Kostrovsky and Zverev, instilled in Nijinsky the sinfulness of the acting profession, which aggravated his illness. In 1917, Nijinsky finally left the stage and settled in Switzerland with his family.

Here he felt better, he thought about a new system for recording dance, dreamed of his own school, and in 1918 he wrote the book Nijinsky's Diary (published in Paris in 1953). However, he was soon placed in a mental hospital, where he spent the rest of his life. He died on April 11, 1950 in London. In 1953, his body was transported to Paris and buried in the Sacre Coeur cemetery next to the graves of the legendary dancer G. Vestris and playwright T. Gautier, one of the creators of romantic ballet.

Nijinsky made a bold breakthrough into the future of ballet art, discovering the later established style of expressionism and fundamentally new possibilities of plastic arts. His creative life was short (only 10 years!), but intense. The famous ballet by M. Bejart, Nijinsky, God's Clown, to the music of P. Henri and P. Tchaikovsky, 1971, is dedicated to the personality of Nijinsky.

Nijinsky was an idol throughout Europe. His dance combined strength and lightness; he amazed the audience with his breathtaking jumps - to many it seemed that the dancer was “hovering” in the air. He had a remarkable gift of transformation and extraordinary facial abilities. On stage he radiated powerful magnetism, although everyday life he was timid and silent.

The biography of Vaslav Nijinsky should be well known to all fans of art, especially Russian ballet. This is one of the most famous and talented Russian dancers of the early 20th century, who became a true innovator of dance. Nijinsky was the main prima of Russian as a choreographer and staged “The Afternoon of a Faun”, “Till Eulenspiegel”, “The Rite of Spring”, “Games”. He said goodbye to Russia in 1913 and has lived in exile since then.

Biography of the dancer

Biography of Vaslav Nijinsky classic for creative person his time. He was born in 1889, on March 12, and was born in Kyiv. His parents were Polish ballet dancers, so he decided to follow in their footsteps. Vaslav Nijinsky's father's name was Tomas, his mother's name was Eleonora Bereda.

At the time of Vaclav’s birth, Eleonora was 33 years old, five years older than her husband. Vaclav was baptized in Catholic Warsaw, he was the second child in the family. Two years later, his parents gave birth to a daughter, who was named Bronislava.

From the very early childhood the father introduced all his children to dancing, this played a big role in the life of Vaslav Nijinsky, whose biography is the topic of our review. He himself first appeared on stage at the age of five, performing hopak as an entreprise on tour in Odessa Theater.

Nijinsky's parents performed in Joseph Setov's troupe; after his death in 1894, the troupe finally disbanded. Tomas tried to assemble his own team, but went bankrupt, the enterprise failed, and many years of wandering began, during which the family eked out odd jobs.

Researchers of the biography of Vaslav Nijinsky claim that in those years, the still young boy began to help his father, performing at holidays and fairs with small, but bright and spectacular numbers. For example, reliable information has been preserved about his performances in Nizhny Novgorod for Christmas.

In 1897, Vaclav's father left the family. During a tour in Finland, he fell in love with the young soloist Rumyantseva. The parents of the hero of our article are officially divorced. Eleanor and all three children went to St. Petersburg, where her youth friend Stanislav Gillert lived. This was a famous metropolitan Polish dancer, who himself taught at the St. Petersburg Ballet School and promised to help the Nijinsky family in any way he could.

Ballet education

Vaslav Nijinsky's older brother, whose name was Stanislav, and everyone at home called him Stasik, fell out of a window when he was a child. Since then, he began to have disorders, as they said, “he was not of this world.” Therefore, his parents did not send him anywhere to study, but the hero of our article, as soon as he got to St. Petersburg, his mother sent him to ballet class. The experience gained from my father helped, they accepted him quite easily.

Two years later, his sister Bronislava entered the same ballet school. It is worth noting that not only Stanislav, but also Vaclav was distinguished by strange behavior in the Nijinsky family. The first manifestations of mental disorders in the hero of our article were discovered when he was studying at a ballet school. He was even sent for examination to a mental health clinic, but everything turned out okay. Researchers and biographers suggest that some kind of hereditary disease was most likely to blame.

Everyone soon forgot about Vaslav Nijinsky’s problems; his talent was so undeniable that the ballet school decided to turn a blind eye to some of his oddities. As a result, Vaclav attracted the attention of the outstanding dancer Nikolai Legat in the recent past, whose views at that time were already considered somewhat outdated, but he was still valued and his opinion was taken into account.

In 1905, Nijinsky took part in an examination ballet, which was organized for students of his school. It was staged by an innovative teacher who was gaining popularity in those years. Moreover, this was his first production as a choreographer; he decided that he would stage “Acis and Galatea”. Vaclav got the role of Faun, although he was not yet a graduate, but in terms of talent and skill level he surpassed many who had already graduated from ballet school.

The demonstration performance took place at the Mariinsky Theater on April 10, 1905. 15-year-old Nijinsky first appeared on the main Russian stage. All newspapers published the next day unanimously noted the amazing talent young talent. Journalists and theater critics wrote that the young artist Nijinsky amazed and amazed everyone, but he still had to study at a ballet school for two more years, which means his skills will only be honed. Everyone noted his exceptional physical characteristics and talent. Beautiful and smooth movements, the ease with which he performed every element of the dance. The main thing that everyone wanted was for him not to stop developing, being remembered only as a brilliant child prodigy, but to grow into a real ballet star.

Performance at the Mariinsky Theater

Telling short biography Vaslav Nijinsky, it is necessary to mention the period of his work at the Mariinsky Theater. After his triumphant performance of the role of Faun, he was invited to perform permanently in 1906. Nijinsky's career in this theater was bright, but short-lived. Already in 1911 he was fired with a scandal. During the ballet "Giselle" he appeared on stage not in trousers, which were unusual for the public at that time, but in tight tights. Sketches for the costumes for the ballet were designed by Benois; Nijinsky liked this approach.

Among the spectators in the hall were members imperial family, they had a permanent box at the Mariinsky Theater, they attended almost all premieres. According to historians, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna was most outraged by the outfit of young Wenceslas. First of all, he seemed too frank to her; she insisted on accusing the artist of depraved behavior.

Later, when he began to play the role of Faun in a play that he staged himself, he was again accused of obscenity and excessive eroticism. His movements on stage seemed to some spectators to be similar to masturbation, especially when he ecstatically falls on the cape left on the shore by the Nymph.

Modern art connoisseurs claim that his performances were far ahead of their time, moreover, Tsarist Russia there was a strong influence of the prim Victorian era. But it is worth recognizing that the theme of sexuality played a huge role not only in the work of Vaslav Nijinsky, but also in his mental disorder.

Work with Diaghilev

Almost immediately after graduating from college, Sergei Diaghilev invited Vaclav to work with him so that the young man could take part in his ballet seasons. Already in 1909 he danced with Diaghilev. It was there that he received his nickname as the bird man for his ability to make incredibly high jumps.

Diaghilev took the troupe all over Europe, collecting huge halls. They performed in Paris from 1907 to 1911 on the main French stage they staged Chopiniana, or La Sylphide, Armida's Pavilion, Giselle, Egyptian Nights, or Cleopatra, and Swan Lake.

In addition to these productions, there was a successful divertissement called “The Feast” to the music of Russian composers, “Carnival” to the music of Schumann, “Petrushka” by Stravinsky, “Daphnis and Chloe” by Ravel, “Scheherazade” by Rimsky-Korsakov, “The Vision of a Rose” Weber. During the last ballet, Vaslav Nijinsky amazed everyone with his jump. He simply disappeared out the window. Describing what he saw, the French poet and playwright Jean Cocteau, who collaborated with Diaghilev, argued that it was a jump that denied the very laws of balance in the world, a high and curved flight that ended with Nijinsky simply disappearing through the window.

Own productions

The talent of Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky was always encouraged by his main mentor Diaghilev. He was the first to advise the hero of our article to try himself not only as a dancer, but also as a choreographer.

Secretly from Fokine, Nijinsky begins to rehearse his first ballet. His choice is the production of "The Afternoon of a Faun" to the music of Debussy. Vaclav builds his entire choreography exclusively on profile poses, which he borrows from the paintings of ancient Greek vases. Diaghilev infected Nijinsky with eurhythmics and rhythmoplasty, which the latter actively used in his productions.

"The Afternoon of a Faun" was published in 1912, the following year Nijinsky staged his second ballet, "The Rite of Spring" to the music of Stravinsky, using the same aesthetics. The composer writes a work using dissonance as freely as possible, while relying on tonality; his choreography is based on complex combinations of rhythms. This production becomes one of the first expressionist ballets in history.

Spectators and critics did not immediately accept The Rite of Spring; the premiere already turned into a scandal. The audience, again, as after the ballet “Afternoon of a Faun,” was outraged and shocked by the final erotic scene. Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky always paid great attention to the topic of sex.

In 1913, he staged another ballet - “Games” to the music of Debussy; its main distinguishing feature is the complete absence of a plot. In all his first productions, Nijinsky emphasized opposition to the elegance of the classical style and anti-romanticism, which was familiar to all ballet admirers of that time.

Vaslav Nijinsky's ballet literally captivated the French public. The community found the artist's dramatic talent to be a genius, as well as his unusual and even exotic appearance. As a choreographer, Nijinsky was always a courageous and non-trivially thinking director who opened up new paths and possibilities for ballet in the plastic arts, and returned to male dance the virtuosity and former priority that had been lost by that time. It is worth recognizing that Vaclav owes much of his success to Sergei Diaghilev, who always believed in him and supported him in the most daring and unexpected experiments.

Dancer's personal life

The biography and personal life of Vaslav Nijinsky have always been under the close attention of his fans. It is no longer a secret that Nijinsky was a homosexual. In his youth he had intimate relationships with Prince Pavel Dmitrievich Lvov, later Sergei Diaghilev became his lover.

At the same time, he was officially married. This happened when in 1913 the troupe went on tour to South America. On the ship he met his admirer, the Hungarian aristocrat Romola Pulskaya. Having reached their destination, they entered into an official marriage in one of the South American countries. This happened on September 10, 1913. Moreover, the marriage was secret; they did not even inform their relatives about it.

He learned about what happened from his servant Vasily, who was assigned to Nijinsky to keep an eye on him. Vaslav Nijinsky's personal life was under constant control. Diaghilev himself did not go on tour to South America. Vasily sent a telegram to his boss, who immediately flew into a rage, deciding to expel the dancer from the troupe. In fact, this episode put an end to his career, which began so dizzyingly.

The fact is that the relationship between Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky until that moment was built on complete trust. The dancer did not sign any contracts with his entrepreneur and did not receive an official salary, unlike other artists who worked for Diaghilev. For Nijinsky, Diaghilev simply paid for everything himself; the dancer did not think about money or his future. That is why he managed to get rid of his main star without any delays.

Personal life had a great influence on the biography of Vaslav Nijinsky. After the break with Diaghilev, he found himself without a livelihood and without work.

Author's enterprise

Now Vaslav Nijinsky, whose photo is presented in this article, was forced to look for options himself to earn money. He found himself in very difficult conditions. Being a ballet genius, he did not have the acumen of a producer and was never a calculating person. True, job offers appeared almost immediately. But he refused to head the Grand Opera ballet in Paris, deciding to create and promote his own enterprise. He managed to assemble a troupe, which included 17 people, among them was his sister Bronislava and her husband, who had previously danced with Diaghilev, but left the entrepreneur, supporting her brother.

Nijinsky managed to secure a contract with the Palace Theater in London. The repertoire includes several of his original productions, as well as Fokine’s ballets, which the hero of our article subjected to radical alterations. These were "Carnival", "The Phantom of the Rose" and "La Sylphides".

But the tour could not be considered successful; it did not pay off, ending in failure and complete financial collapse. These circumstances led to another nervous breakdown that Nijinsky had; his mental illness began to develop at an alarming rate. After the first failure, failures followed him one after another. You can learn more about them from books about Vaslav Nijinsky, which describe his fate and biography. For example, this is the work of Richard Burkle, which is called “Nijinsky,” the memoirs of his wife Romola Nijinsky about the legendary dancer.

Nijinsky's last premiere

In 1914, Nijinsky and his wife Romola had a daughter. When the First World War began, they were returning from St. Petersburg to Budapest. In Hungary, husband and wife were interned until 1916. Finding himself under arrest, Nijinsky was very worried, this further aggravated his mental state, he languished from creative idleness.

At this time, Diaghilev, despite the outbreak of the war, successfully continued his tours. He renewed his contract with Nijinsky in order to go with the Russian Ballet to performances in the South and North America. On April 12, 1916, the hero of our article returned to the stage of the Diaghilev Theater, performing his signature roles in the productions of “The Vision of a Rose” and “Petrushka”. He captivated the audience at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In the same year, the premiere of Nijinsky’s own ballet “Till Eulenspiegel” to the music of Strauss took place on the stage of the Manhattan Opera. This turned out to be the last premiere in his creative career, in which he was involved. Nijinsky traditionally performed the main role. The downside was that the play was created in a hurry, deadlines were pressing, the author had many interesting stage ideas, but the production still failed as a result.

Fatal disease

Worries and failures recent years traumatized Nijinsky’s already unstable psyche. It is believed that his passion for Tolstoyism, which was extremely popular at that time among the creative intelligentsia, played a special role. Members of Diaghilev's troupe, who adhered to these ideas, inspired Vaclav that the acting profession was sinful, which further aggravated his illness.

On September 26, 1917 he was in last time appeared on stage in the production of "The Vision of a Rose". After that he settled with his family in Switzerland. Here he found peace of mind, even started building again creative plans, developed a new dance recording system, planned to open his own school. In 1918, he outlined his main thoughts in a book called “The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky”, which was published in 1953 in Paris.

However, the enlightenment was short-lived. He was nevertheless sent for treatment to a mental health clinic. Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia. Until the end of his life, he remained in various psychiatric clinics, where he received help with varying degrees of success.

In 1945, journalists discovered him in post-war Vienna, dancing among Soviet soldiers. He was greatly impressed by the meeting with his compatriots. Nijinsky, who had not spoken for a long time, began to communicate with the Poles in his native language. Many attempts were made to bring him back to life. In 1928, Diaghilev came to his clinic, trying to revive his mind with dance. He took Nijinsky to the production of "Petrushka", but Vaclav remained indifferent to what he saw.

After Diaghilev's death in 1929, such attempts were made by the dancer's wife Romola. Once she even invited Serge Lifar to the hospital to dance in front of her husband. Lifar danced until he was completely exhausted for several hours, but all this time Nijinsky remained absolutely indifferent to what was happening. Suddenly, as if some force had grabbed him, he took off, hovered in the air in a jump, as he always knew how to do on stage, and then immediately fell into unconsciousness. This moment of momentary enlightenment was captured by photographer Jean Monzon. The photo is known as Vaslav Nijinsky's last leap.

Death of a Genius

Nijinsky died in London in 1950. It happened on April 11, he was 61 years old. In 1953, his body was transported to Paris, where it was reburied in the Montmartre cemetery. Nearby was the grave of another legendary dancer Gaetano Vestris, who performed in the 18th century, playwright Théophile Gautier, who is considered one of the founders of romantic ballet. On the tombstone of Nijinsky's grave, which is made of gray stone, sits a sad bronze jester with a bowed head.

The significance of Nijinsky’s personality in the history of Russian and world ballet is difficult to underestimate. Critics called it "the eighth wonder of the world." His stage partners, among whom were the first-rate star Matilda Kshesinskaya, Olga Spesivtseva, Anna Pavlova, claimed that when he hung on the stage in his unique fantastic jump, it seemed that the person was able to defeat the laws of gravity, mastering the state of weightlessness.

As the audience who came to his performances noted, Nijinsky managed to achieve absolute internal and external transformation on stage. This was a real breakthrough in the art of ballet; he was the first to discover the expressionist style, which was established only many years later. Presented to the audience fundamentally new possibilities of plastic surgery. And all this during an incredibly short creative life, which lasted only about ten years.

In 1971, Maurice Béjart dedicated his ballet to Nijinsky. The production, entitled “Nijinsky, God’s Clown,” was performed to the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Nijinsky was the main idol of his generation, a dancer who managed to combine lightness and strength on stage, amazing the audience with jumps that took everyone’s breath away. On stage he emanated powerful magnetism, while in ordinary everyday life he was a silent and timid person.

In 2011 in the foyer Bolshoi Theater was installed in Warsaw bronze sculpture brother and sister - Vaslav and Bronislava Nijinsky in their famous images of Faun and Nymph in the famous production of "The Afternoon of a Faun".

In 1907, eighteen-year-old Vaslav Nijinsky was accepted into the Mariinsky Theater troupe. Short, only 160 cm, with overly muscular legs and the face of a faun, he walked onto the stage, and very quickly it became clear that there was a new premiere in the theater. Nijinsky had a perfect sense of style and masterfully transformed himself. He was exquisitely graceful.

He was a man half a century ahead of his time; his life was an erotic spectacle - deeply narcissistic, intuitive, spontaneous; his work captured the rhythm of life of a generation gradually drawn into the ominous carnival of the First World War.

Andrew O'Hagan, Sr. "Nijinsky's Diary"

His partners were Kshesinskaya, Preobrazhenskaya, Karsavina. Nijinsky danced the main roles in M. Fokine’s ballets “Armida’s Pavilion” (White Slave), “Egyptian Nights” (Slave), “Chopiniana” (Youth).

Once, when Giselle was being staged, Vaclav voluntarily put on a costume created according to a sketch by A. Benois. It was a reconstruction of a German costume from the 14th century. Before that, wide trousers were worn in men's ballet. Seeing a male body indecently covered in tights, the empress laughed (later they would write: “... this caused confusion in the royal box.” Presumably, this was the case: her husband was sitting next to the empress), and Wenceslas was expelled. A Tsar's ballet dancer should not cause laughter. The word “lust” was not spoken.

“Carnival”, “Scheherazade”, “Parsley”, “Narcissus”, “Daphnis and Chloe”, “Firebird”... and after “The Rite of Spring” Russia “became in great fashion”. In the big one. Costumes, trinkets “a la russe” and all that. English dancers Patrick Healy-Kay, Alice Marks and Hilda Munnings took Russian pseudonyms - Anton Dolin, Alicia Markova and Lydia Sokolova, under which they performed in Diaghilev's troupe. And even the wife of King George VI of Great Britain got married in a Russian dress. Bakst, Roerich and Benois worked on the sets and costumes for the productions.

“The Russian season, like a gust of fresh wind, swept over the French stage with its outdated conventions,” Karsavina would later write. – I sometimes ask myself whether Diaghilev was proud of himself in his happy hours - after all, he managed to unite a whole constellation of talents - Chaliapin himself, Benois (the master), Bakst (Ie bateau de la saison russe, the ship of the Russian season), whose name everyone had on his lips, his dandyish primness, punctuality and unfailing good nature contrasted sharply with the furious chaos of our rehearsals. Fokin screamed until he was hoarse, tore out his hair and performed miracles. Pavlova flashed among us with a fleeting vision and left, performing in a couple of performances; Muse of Parnassus - that's what Jean Louis Vaudoyer called her. The most virtuoso of all modern ballerinas, Geltser, was also among us; she was admired by admirers of academic art. The spirit of the exotic found its highest embodiment in Ida Rubinstein and her unforgettable Cleopatra. The enumeration may seem boring; and yet I must add the name Nijinsky - whole volumes of books cannot say more than this one name.”

“I have never seen such beauty,” Proust wrote to his friend Reynoldo Hahn. When the Russian ballet brought Giselle on its next tour, it became a real sensation. This has never happened in Paris before: the splendor of the scenery beyond all measure, the brightest, exotic costumes, exciting music, the almost superhuman skill of the artists, and at the center of it all is Nijinsky, who jumped so high that it seemed he would never come back. He electrified the air with his searing, absolutely modern expression, completely erasing traditional stage manners and learning to squeeze everything out of nothing. Even Fokine (choreographer in Diaghilev’s troupe and a brilliant dancer himself) thought that Nijinsky was too much in his minimalism: “You just stand there and do nothing!” – he exclaimed once. “I play with my eyes alone,” replied Nijinsky” ( Andrew O'Hagan, Nijinsky's Diary).

At one time, another great dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky (whose follower Nureyev was often called), came to Mariinsky Theater at the invitation of Matilda Kshesinskaya, who invited him to become her partner. Nuriev received a similar offer from Natalia Dudinskaya.

“Like Isadora Duncan ten years earlier and Martha Graham a quarter century later, Nijinsky was forced to throw away everything he knew and find his own way of expressing artistic truth. He moved along the same path that Picasso followed three years before him, creating his first cubist paintings” (Fokine).

Paris applauded. A few more performances - and the whole world went crazy for Nijinsky. Moreover: the world lusted after Nijinsky - and also began to behave defiantly. Indecent, there are no words. But the world was not interested in decency then. Nijinsky was interested in the world. And Nijinsky was a Faun. He was interested in himself and what he did on stage.

Do you understand? Passion has no gender. Beauty doesn't have it either. Beauty, as we know, is in the eyes of the beholder, but passion is in the soul of the one who desires. Everyone who looked at Nijinsky saw the embodiment of their own passion. Is it strange, therefore, that the public came out in droves? The artist danced his dream - the main thing that burned his soul. People looked and saw their own souls. We have a hell of a lot in common. When someone manages to show this generality, he is declared a genius. But a genius creates for himself. Actually, the last genius who was not an egoist was called Jesus Christ.

Nijinsky's partners spoke with bitter resentment about the brilliant egocentrist: they created, lost their heads and died, without feeling any return or interaction on his part. He danced his roles for himself.

Paradox? An artist shouldn’t do that, and even more than that: such egocentrism acts in the most harmful way. Yes, that’s certainly true.”

But before we get to the tragedy, let's dwell on the tangible. Here are photographs of Nijinsky from 1911-1916.

Nijinsky was looking for something simple in dance. Contrary to popular belief about the aesthetics of sophistication, the dancer strived for the opposite. Once, having admired the figures on ancient Greek vases, he used the vase painting as the basis for a new dance. Dance of your own school. Yes, schools, no matter what anyone says.

Here, for example, is what Nijinsky’s first choreographic production, “The Afternoon of a Faun,” looked like. Its plot is simple: a faun, serenely basking in the spring sun, tries to catch one of the nymphs frolicking by the stream, and, having failed to do this, returns with the veil of one of them.

“...we still clearly sense,” O’Hagan notes in his article, describing attempts to reconstruct Nijinsky’s ballets, “a taste of sexual obscenity.<...>The audience at the present matinee performances at the Royal Opera House continues to divert children's attention from the scene when the faun crawls in pursuit of the shadow of his own desire, lasciviously entwined with an antique bedspread.

"Games"

Now famous throughout the world, Diaghilev had great faith in his prime minister, willingly inspired and supported his daring undertakings, but his own enterprise? No, it's impossible. Nijinsky belongs to Diaghilev. It was Diaghilev who suggested the idea for his second production, the ballet “Games”. It was Diaghilev who came up with the idea that the dance could be based on a tennis match! At least that's what he insisted on. The match in Bedford Square was watched together, and indeed, a new ballet soon premiered in which two women drag a man trying to pick up a dropped tennis ball into a dance on the edge of decency.

Here's what O'Hagan writes about it:

“This was the first time in the history of ballet that dancers danced in modern costumes.<...>Three actors - frozen examples of English park sculpture in the Art Nouveau style - come to life before the eyes of the audience, but their movements, reminiscent of playing tennis ("candles" and volleys), are quite unusual. It is worth recalling that Nijinsky, while working on this ballet, kept an open album with reproductions of Gauguin on the floor of his studio.”

We say "Gauguin", we mean...

Yes, it is impossible to deny Nijinsky’s defiant eroticism. More than one scandal was associated with his frank steps, and each time Diaghilev used all his influence to hush it up. But Diaghilev was an impresario. Moreover, he was an excellent impresario. He understood what he was betting on. But Fokin, who ultimately felt wounded in his creative ambitions, threw tantrums more than once or twice with threats to leave the troupe, and, in the end, insisted on his own. Like everyone else in such cases, he probably expected that he would be persuaded, but... Diaghilev let him go. Moreover, Nijinsky was not at the farewell banquet. Many years later, Nijinsky would write in his diary that Diaghilev asked him to do this, supposedly in order not to irritate the offended maestro. Until his last years, Fokin would not know that Nijinsky really wanted to go to this send-off, and Nijinsky - that Fokin waited until the last minute for him to leave the dressing room.

They became enemies.

Without fish

So, Nijinsky turned out to be the founder of a new school, this could not be denied. But even more so, it was impossible not to recognize the fact that yesterday’s like-minded people would have become competitors in this case, and the triumph of the Russian Ballets was one of a kind. The struggle would be fierce, the victory would be controversial, and it was impossible to allow a confrontation between two schools, which, moreover, were born in the same cradle. Open war was provoked by Nijinsky's marriage. He was left without a patron.

It cannot be said that the world has turned its back on him. No. Soon after leaving Diaghilev, many proposals followed. The most famous variety shows in the world wanted Nijinsky to direct their troupe. But Nijinsky did not want a variety show. He needed ballet. Your own, new ballet. He managed to assemble a small troupe (which included Nijinsky’s sister Bronislava and her husband and several other like-minded people who left Diaghilev’s troupe), implement several new ideas, and finally remake the old ones in his own way. But neither Bakst, nor Roerich, nor Benois agreed to work on Nijinsky’s performances: they knew how dangerous it was to quarrel with Diaghilev. So the young choreographer had almost nothing left.

Nijinsky got out as best he could. He was forced to invite an unknown artist. This man's last name was Picasso. Music (and music was very difficult: because of the war, both artists and the public boycotted German composers) was also written by a little-known composer. A certain Ravel.

But Diaghilev again used all his power, all his influence - this time to destroy Nijinsky. He launched lawsuits, challenged copyrights, and while they lasted, performance after performance was removed from the stage. Diaghilev cleverly chose the time for his next complaint - an hour before the performance. Thus, he deprived Nijinsky of the opportunity to maneuver, and he remained defenseless. Scandal followed scandal. The artists invited from Russia were forced to return home, and the salaries paid to them left the Nijinsky family without money.

The situation has become deplorable. The Nijinskys decided to return to St. Petersburg.

The same mother-in-law

However, before they had even reached Russia, the Nijinsky family with their newborn daughter found themselves in the position of prisoners of war. The first one has begun World War, and had to spend two long years in Budapest, in the house of his wife’s parents. Without a troupe, without a theater, without a stage, clenching his teeth: Nijinsky was Russian, they hated him. Well, as for European fame, it only fueled this hatred. Especially from the mother-in-law, Eleanor, who, although she was a famous artist, her fame did not extend beyond the borders of her homeland. She controlled the lives of the spouses. She interfered in the upbringing of little Kira. And the son-in-law was guilty of everything he did. And in everything that I didn’t do. It got to the point that Nijinsky was forbidden to take a bath and use hot water. Did it ever occur to Eleanor that she was making her daughter's life a nightmare? We don't know this. But we know that Romola was repeatedly offered to divorce Nijinsky, they even insisted - and she furiously refused.

In 1916, through the efforts of friends, the family was finally released. A tour in New York followed. Nijinsky was then staging the ballet Till Eulenspiegel. Only three weeks were allotted for preparation; the tense situation deprived Nijinsky of his peace of mind. During one of the rehearsals, he twisted his ankle and was forced to spend six weeks in bed. The contract with London Palace was terminated.

Diaghilev took advantage of this moment. The audience still wanted Nijinsky. He invited Nijinsky.

Now Pablo Picasso, Coco Chanel, Henri Matisse, Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev, Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky worked on the performances of the Russian Ballets. Nijinsky was accompanied by Rubinstein. If we brought here full list, it would take up half a page. But neither big names, nor success, nor the adoration of the public could hide Diaghilev’s hatred. Nijinsky's wife, Romola, notes in her memoirs endless series“coincidences” and “accidents,” each of which could have cost her husband his life. There were many such cases. But the most unfortunate thing was the friendship of her Wenceslas with two gentlemen who had long called themselves his friends and, unfortunately, aroused reciprocal affection.

Mr. Kostrov and another, who is designated “N.” in her notes, were Tolstoyans. Whether this was another intrigue of Diaghilev, seeking to cause discord between the spouses, or whether the seeds simply fell on fertile soil, we do not know. But Nijinsky, whom his wife describes in her memoirs as a cheerful person, changes before our eyes.

This place is worth stopping by. The fact is that they like to write about Nijinsky, that he was a lazy, dull student, that even at the Imperial Ballet School he only succeeded in basic subjects, but in his diary we read the opposite. Vaclav did not have time exactly until the moment when he was almost expelled one day. The students were on their way to the theater, Vaclav, who was known as a hooligan, fired a slingshot and hit the priest in the eye. Sent home, he saw that the family was begging, witnessed a humiliating scene of borrowing money - and, upon returning, suddenly turned into the pride of the teachers. Only French and the law of God were not given to him.

What's interesting is this. In Romola’s memoirs, this slingshot will later turn into “toy bows and arrows” that “the boys took with them to the theater.” Read it again and try to imagine: a dozen and a half boys, accompanied by a teacher, going to the theater and armed in this way... But Romola was a smart woman. It never occurred to her to embellish her own actions in her memoirs. In addition, no editor would find fault with such a touch as the slingshot. So, the anecdotal “censorship” appeared in the text, obeying someone else’s will? Who is this? Probably still the same mother who wants only the best.

In his diary, Nijinsky recalls, in particular, how, as a boy, he became interested in reading Dostoevsky. Agree, an unusual choice for a lazy and dull child. And Nijinsky’s favorite work was “The Idiot.” Now, we believe that the change in his behavior will not seem paradoxical to you. Most likely, it was from the image of Prince Myshkin that the words and thoughts about love and God endlessly repeated in his diary grew: “God is love. I want to love everyone. I am God." Moreover, there, in his memoirs, we find the beginning of the story.

Here is young Nijinsky - the only hope of a mother abandoned by her husband, who has a mentally ill eldest son in her arms. The family desperately needs money. Nijinsky gives in to wealthy patrons. This is his only way out. And if he writes about Prince Lvov with love, then the connection with Diaghilev was a forced connection, because of money. Very soon, Vaclav, barely out of adolescence, already seeks to break off this relationship, but it is too late. Diaghilev considered him his toy, and if Nijinsky ever thought that he had cut the strings of his puppeteer, then every time it turned out that this was an illusion.

First notebook. "Feeling"

By the age of thirty, Nijinsky considered himself a sinner. He was merciless to himself. Memories of Parisian cocottes, Diaghilev, thoughts about own desires disgust him. He tries to abstain. He gives up meat and wants his family to do the same. He writes with annoyance about Romola, who does not want to obey him.

“Crazy,” says the mother-in-law, and the father-in-law agrees with her. Everyone agrees with her. She belongs to that kind of mother-in-law, arguing with whom is a waste of time.

Meanwhile, imagine Vaclav. He strives to maintain ballet form. Sexual excesses have a bad effect on dancing. Finally, mommy’s ideas about healthy eating... easy to imagine, right? But Romola - former ballerina. But she is in such tension that no matter how wholeheartedly she believes her husband, she no longer has the strength. And if the described manifestations of Tolstoyanism are deeply healthy, then everything else quickly turned into oddities.

However, they are not yet very noticeable. So far, the Nijinsky family has just finished a tour in North and South America and intends to leave Diaghilev’s troupe to settle in Switzerland.

Romola is worried about her husband's mental state. He became secretive. Keeps a secret diary. He is prone to aggression and often goes for walks alone. One day she finds out that her husband is wandering through the villages with a huge cross on his chest and preaching the search for truth.

Meanwhile, in his secret diary, Vaclav describes thoughts, hallucinations, and fears. He saw blood on the road, and cannot understand what really happened: murder or is it God testing the strength of his faith? He is worried that his daughters “said something.” He remembers his mother-in-law. Eleanor and her husband have long decided to take their daughter’s fate into their own hands and that is why they are accompanied. He understands, of course. He endures. He tries to love everyone.

How many souls has this damned love for all things destroyed! A love that cannot exist. Love is false, fictitious, artificial. But Nijinsky would not have been Nijinsky if he had not strived for such love. He wanted to love everyone, and to be loved too. He wants to write poetry, play the piano and dance. He wants to forget about the war - and he cannot.

Several times Nijinsky rebels. He is even looking for a rented room somewhere in the village. But very soon he realizes that this is a dead end, and returns. He writes his diary in short, chopped phrases. He wants to be clear. Wants to see the truth. He is merciless to himself and people. He writes everything.

Romola has just returned home. Yesterday afternoon Vaclav disappeared again, and the doctor had just told her that he had seen him in the city.

What's happened? - she asks the servants. - Why do you have such strange faces?

Madam! - the stoker answers her. - Sorry, maybe I'm wrong. We love you both. Do you remember when I told you that at home in the village, as a child, I carried out orders for Mr. Nietzsche? I carried his backpack when he went to the Alps to work. Madam, before he got sick, he looked and behaved exactly like Monsieur Nijinsky now. Please forgive me.

What do you want to say?

The last notebook. "Death"

In 1919, when Nijinsky’s last performance took place in a Swiss hotel, he was not yet thirty. He was still a brilliant dancer. His famous jump-flight was still beautiful. But strange drawings began to appear in his diary: human eyes. Red or black, with an indescribable expression of madness, they were drawn with such pressure that the pencil tore the paper. Besides the eyes, there were also spiders. They had Diaghilev's face. Nijinsky tries to write poetry, but they are crazy. If at the beginning of the text they, even if quite primitive, are still meaningful, then the further you go, the more often words replace syllables. They don't make sense, but they have rhythm. The words “Feeling”, “love”, “God” gradually crowd out any thought and are written down on their own, in random order. In the midst of this chaos, memories suddenly break through: clear and distinct. Then darkness again.

On that last performance Nijinsky sat on a chair in front of the audience for half an hour and looked at it. Then he folded two rolls of fabric into a cross. “Now I will dance a war for you,” he said, “a war that you failed to prevent.”

Soon Vaclav met with Eric Bleuler, the man who first uttered the word “schizophrenia” out loud. In Nijinsky's diary, the entry about his intention to go to this meeting is the last. Very soon Vaclav was sent to Kreuzlingen, then to the Bellevue sanatorium. There he spent 30 years, completely withdrawing into himself.

"Nijinsky's Diary" was published in Paris in 1958.

The following were used in preparing the publication:

V. Nijinsky, “Feeling”.

R. Nijinska, "Vaclav Nijinsky".

T. Karsavina, “Theater Street”

Andrew O'Hagan, “Nijinsky's Diary.” (Article in London Review of Books, 2000. Translated by G. Markov.)

Illustrations from the archives of the New York Public Library.

", "The Afternoon of a Faun", "Games" and "Till Eulenspiegel".

Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky as Vayu in Nikolai Legat's updated production of the ballet Talisman by Marius Petipa, St. Petersburg, 1910
Birth name	Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky
Date of birth	March 12(1889-03-12 )
Place of birth	Kyiv, Russian Empire
Date of death	April 8(1950-04-08 ) (61 years old)
Place of death	London, UK
Citizenship	Russian Empire Russian Empire
Profession
Theater	Mariinsky Theater
Awards
IMDb	ID 1166661
Vaslav Nijinsky at Wikimedia Commons

Biography

Born in Kyiv, the second son in a family of Polish ballet dancers - the first number of Tomasz Nijinsky and soloist Eleonora Bereda. Eleanor was 33 and five years older than her husband. Vaclav was baptized into Catholicism in Warsaw. Two years later, their third child was born - daughter Bronislava. From 1882 to 1894, the parents toured as part of ballet troupe Josef Setov. The father introduced all the children to dancing from early childhood. Vaclav performed on stage for the first time when he was five years old, dancing the hopak as an entreprise at the Odessa Theater.

After Josef Setov's death in 1894, his troupe disbanded. Nijinsky the father tried to create his own troupe, but soon went bankrupt, and years of difficult wanderings and odd jobs began. Vaclav probably helped his father by performing small numbers at holidays. It is known that he performed in Nizhny Novgorod at Christmas. In 1897, during a tour in Finland, Nijinsky the father fell in love with another, the young soloist Rumyantseva. Parents divorced. Eleanor and her three children went to St. Petersburg, where a friend of her youth, Polish dancer Stanislav Gillert, was a teacher at the St. Petersburg Ballet School. Gillert promised to help her.

The Nijinskys' eldest son, Stanislav (Stasik), fell out of a window as a child and since then has been “a little out of this world,” and the gifted and well-prepared Vaclav was accepted into the ballet class quite easily. Two years later, his sister, Bronya, also entered the same school. At school, some oddities began to appear in Vaclav's character; once he even went to a mental health clinic for examination - apparently, some kind of hereditary disease was affecting him. However, his talent as a dancer was undeniable and quickly attracted the attention of his teacher, a once outstanding, but already slightly old-fashioned dancer, N. Legat.

Since March 1905, the school's innovative teacher, Mikhail Fokin, staged the important examination ballet for graduates. This was his first ballet as a choreographer - he chose Acis and Galatea. Fokine invited Nijinsky to play the role of the faun, although he was not a graduate. On Sunday, April 10, 1905, a demonstration performance took place at the Mariinsky Theater, reviews appeared in the newspapers, and they all noted the extraordinary talent of the young Nijinsky:

Graduate Nijinsky amazed everyone: the young artist is barely 15 years old and has two more years to spend at school. It is all the more pleasant to see such exceptional data. Lightness and elevation, together with remarkably smooth and beautiful movements- are amazing […] We can only wish that the 15-year-old artist does not remain a child prodigy, but continues to improve.

From 1906 to January 1911, Nijinsky performed at the Mariinsky Theater. He was fired from the Mariinsky Theater with a big scandal at the request of the imperial family, as he performed in the ballet “Giselle” in a costume that was considered indecent.

Almost immediately after graduating from college, Nijinsky was invited by S.P. Diaghilev to participate in the ballet season, where he gained enormous success. For his ability to jump high and elevate for a long time, he was called the bird-man, the second Vestris.

In Paris, the repertoire tested on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater was danced (“Pavilion of Armida”, 1907; “La Sylphides”, 1907; “Cleopatra”, 1909 (reworked from “Egyptian Nights" (1908)); “Giselle”, 1910; “Swan Lake ", 1911), as well as the divertissement "Feast" to the music of Russian composers, 1909; and parts in new ballets by Fokine, “Carnival” to the music of R. Schumann, 1910; “Scheherazade” by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, 1910; “Orientals” by A. Glazunov, 1910; The Vision of a Rose by C. M. Weber, 1911, which amazed Parisian audiences with a fantastic jump through a window; “Petrushka” by I. F. Stravinsky, 1911; “Blue (Blue) God” R. Ana, 1912; "Daphnis and Chloe" by M. Ravel, 1912.

Choreographer

Encouraged by Diaghilev, Nijinsky tried his hand as a choreographer and, secretly from Fokine, rehearsed his first ballet - “The Afternoon of a Faun” to the music of C. Debussy (1912). He based his choreography on profile poses borrowed from ancient Greek vase painting. Like Diaghilev, Nijinsky was fascinated by the rhythmoplastics and eurhythmics of Dalcroze, in the aesthetics of which he staged his next and most significant ballet, “The Rite of Spring” in 1913. The Rite of Spring, written by Stravinsky with a free use of dissonance, albeit relying on tonality, and choreographically built on complex combinations of rhythms, was one of the first expressionist ballets. The ballet was not immediately accepted, and its premiere ended in scandal, as did “The Afternoon of a Faun,” which shocked the public with its final erotic scene. In the same year, he performed the plotless ballet “Games” by C. Debussy. These productions by Nijinsky were characterized by anti-romanticism and opposition to the usual grace of the classical style.

Personal life

In his youth, Nijinsky had an intimate relationship with Prince Pavel Dmitrievich Lvov, and later with Diaghilev. In 1913, after the troupe left for a South American tour, he met a Hungarian aristocrat and his admirer on a ship Romola Pulskaya. Having gone ashore, on September 10, 1913, they got married secretly from everyone, including family members. Diaghilev, having learned about what had happened from a telegram from his servant Vasily, who was assigned to look after Nijinsky, flew into a rage and immediately expelled the dancer from the troupe - in fact, this put an end to his short, dizzying career. Being Diaghilev's favorite, Nijinsky did not sign any contracts with him and did not receive a salary, like other artists - Diaghilev simply paid all his expenses from his own pocket. It was this fact that allowed the impresario to get rid of the artist who had become objectionable without any delay.

Entreprise

After leaving Diaghilev, Nijinsky found himself in difficult conditions. It was necessary to earn a living. A dance genius, he did not have the ability to produce. He rejected the offer to head the Grand Opera ballet in Paris, deciding to create his own enterprise. It was possible to assemble a troupe of seventeen people (it included Bronislava’s sister and her husband, who also left Diaghilev) and concluded a contract with the London Palace Theater. The repertoire consisted of productions by Nijinsky and, in part, by M. Fokine (“The Phantom of the Rose,” “Carnival,” “La Sylphides,” which Nijinsky remade again). However, the tour was not successful and ended in financial ruin, which led to a nervous breakdown and the onset of mental illness for the artist. Failures followed him.

Last premiere

Reburial of ashes

In 1953, his body was transported to Paris and buried in the Montmartre cemetery next to the graves of the legendary dancer G. Vestris and playwright T. Gautier, one of the creators of romantic ballet. On his gray stone tombstone sits a sad bronze jester.

The significance of Nijinsky's personality

Critics [ Who?] called Nijinsky “the eighth wonder of the world,” highly appreciating his talent. His partners were Tamara Karsavina, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Anna Pavlova, Olga Spesivtseva. When he - the god of ballet - hovered in a jump above the stage, it seemed that a person was capable of becoming weightless.

He refuted all the laws of balance and turned them upside down, he resembles the one painted on the ceiling human figure, he feels at ease in the airspace...

Nijinsky had the rare ability of complete external and internal transformation:

I'm scared, I see the greatest actor in the world.

Caught on the edge of bliss, Uncompromising, like a poet, Nijinsky with an unfeminine strength Spun an aerial pirouette.
Giving birth to mountain peaks, He, in spite of the spirit of heaviness, either unclenched like a spring, or hung, raising his wing.
It’s as if the soul was fearlessly released into the wild with His unrestrained role, His magical entrechat.
He looked into other distances, Called to himself an unearthly light, And this somersault-immortale
Rotates the Earth for many years.

Nijinsky made a bold breakthrough into the future of ballet art, discovering the later established style of expressionism and fundamentally new possibilities of plastic arts. His creative life was short (only ten years), but intense. Maurice Bejart's famous 1971 ballet “Nijinsky, God's Clown” to the music of Pierre Henri and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is dedicated to the personality of Nijinsky.

Nijinsky was the idol of his time. His dance combined strength and lightness; he amazed the audience with his breathtaking jumps - many thought that the dancer was “hovering” in the air. He had a remarkable gift of transformation and extraordinary facial abilities. On stage he radiated powerful magnetism, although in everyday life he was timid and silent.

Awards

Memory

Image in art

At the theater

October 8 - “Nijinsky, God’s Clown”, ballet by Maurice Bejart based on the diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (“ 20th century ballet", Brussels, in the role of Nijinsky - Jorge Donne).
July 21 - “Vaclav”, a ballet by John Neumeier based on the script plan for an unrealized production by Vaslav Nijinsky using the music of J. S. Bach chosen by him ( Hamburg Ballet).
1993 - “Nijinsky” based on the play by Alexei Burykin (BOGIS Theater Agency, Oleg Menshikov in the role of Nijinsky).
1999 - “Nijinsky, God’s Crazy Clown”, a play based on the play by Glen Blumstein (1986,

IN atslav Fomich Nijinsky (1890–1950) - dancer with great and tragic fate. A native of Kyiv, he came from a hereditary ballet family - his mother and father were professional dancers, Nijinsky's sister, Bronislava, later also became a ballerina. Even as a child, Vaclav surprised everyone with his innate flexibility and desire for dance. He received his initial choreographic education from his father, and at the age of 10, when the family moved to the capital, he was accepted into the St. Petersburg Ballet School, in the class of Mikhail Obukhov.

Students of the School often took part in performances of the Mariinsky Theater - in the roles of imps, tin soldiers, and shepherdesses. Once, during the dance of the little fauns, they had to run and jump. When all the boys landed, it turned out that one was still flying - it was Nijinsky. The choreographer, whose name was Mikhail Fokin, immediately decided to choreograph a solo part for the phenomenal boy. In 1906, Nijinsky made a brilliant debut at the Mariinsky Theater in the ballet “The Awakening of Flora” by R. Drigo. This was the first meeting of the young dancer and Fokin.

Nijinsky also attracted the attention of the famous teacher of the School, Nikolai Legat, who began to study with Vaclav separately. In the sixth year of study, teacher Obukhov officially declared that he had nothing to teach his student - “he dances better than all his teachers.”

In 1907, after graduating from school, Nijinsky was enrolled in the imperial troupe. At the Mariinsky Theater he immediately took the place of leading soloist. His partners were such outstanding dancers as Matilda Kshesinskaya, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina.

Fokine created the main roles especially for Nijinsky: The White Slave in the ballet “Pavilion of Armida” to the music of N.N. Tcherepnina, Cleopatra's Slave in “Egyptian Nights” by composer A.S. Arensky and the Youth in “Chopinian” to the music of the Polish composer. The choreographer found a kindred spirit in the artist. He was close to the nature of the dancer’s natural plasticity, understanding of the aesthetics of the new dance, and his response to innovative ideas.

B. Anisfeld. Sketch of Cleopatra's slave costume
for the ballet "Egyptian Nights". 1913

With the appearance of Nijinsky on stage, it became clear that an artist had come who would transform the ballet world. The young dancer's capabilities were amazing - exceptional plastic expressiveness, phenomenal technique. For example, his “aerial” jump, which he could perform from a sitting position and at the same time seemed to hover in the air, became legendary. But even more striking were Nijinsky’s lightness and grace, his cat-like flexibility, refined plasticity and the unbridled element of dance. Tamara Karsavina noted that Nijinsky “seems to continue dancing even when the curtain has fallen.”

Vaclav discovered outstanding acting and facial talents. He possessed the rare ability of complete external and internal transformation. “His face, skin, even his height seemed different in each ballet,” wrote one of the memoirists. A.N. Benoit described Nijinsky as “half cat, half snake, devilishly flexible, effeminate.” They said about him: “the eighth wonder of the world”, “the most great dancer in the world."

On the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, Nijinsky performed in almost all productions: with M. Petipa and L. Ivanov - in the roles of Albert (Giselle by A. Adam), Siegfried (The Sleeping Beauty by P. I. Tchaikovsky), in productions by N. Legat - in the part of Hurricane (“Talisman” by R. Drigo)…

V. Nijinsky - Albert. Ballet "Giselle"

In 1909 S.P. Diaghilev invited Nijinsky to participate in the “Russian Seasons” he organized. It was the artist's finest hour. Until 1913, Nijinsky was the leading dancer of the Diaghilev troupe. He performed his most famous roles in productions by M. Fokine, the chief choreographer of the Russian Seasons: Carnival, The Vision of a Rose, Scheherazade, Daphnis and Chloe, and Parsley.

Scenes from the ballet "Scheherazade". 1910

Scenes from the ballet "Carnival". 1910

Costume sketches for the ballet “Carnival”:
Florestan, Harlequin, Estrella. 1910

"Diaghilev's Seasons" brought Nijinsky the fame of "the first dancer of the world." The sculptor Auguste Rodin, who saw him, said that Nijinsky “is one of the few who could express all the excitement in dance human soul" Marcel Proust wrote to a friend about Nijinsky: “I have never seen such beauty.” And the great Sarah Bernhardt, seeing Nijinsky in the role of Petrushka, exclaimed: “I’m scared, I see the greatest actor in the world!”

Reaching the heights of perfection, Nijinsky’s art began to inspire “genuine horror” (words of A.N. Benois). Many people have noted this. Perhaps it was numbness before beauty. The most surprising thing was that the dancer Nijinsky, this “graceful gazelle” (the words of one of the critics), became the herald and in many ways the founder of the modern art of dance. How Nijinsky's work caught the nerve of a generation drawn into the carnival of wars of the twentieth century is a mystery that cannot be solved. Eyewitnesses said that Nijinsky literally electrified the air with his energy and expression. He knew how to “squeeze everything out of nothing,” to play with his eyes alone, leaving the impression of a graceful plastic figure.

L. Bakst. Costume design for “Afternoon of a Faun.” 1912

In 1912, Nijinsky tried himself for the first time as a choreographer - Diaghilev insisted on this. In two years, he staged “The Afternoon of a Faun” and “Games” to the music of C. Debussy, “The Rite of Spring” to the music of I.F. Stravinsky and performed the main roles in them. In these productions, Nijinsky, unexpectedly for everyone, acted as a subverter of academic traditions, as well as many of Fokine’s achievements, denied the traditional techniques of his performing experience, moved away from their picturesqueness, resurrecting primitivist forms of dance, and literally erased staging techniques that had already become familiar.

Scene from the ballet "Apollo Musagete"
staged by J. Balanchine in 1928 and renewed
at the Mariinsky Theater in 1992

Nijinsky's productions caused heated controversy. Some argued that they were devoid of bright artistry, others saw in them a proclamation of the ballet technique of the future. Perhaps the latter were right. The later masters - George Balanchine, Roland Petit, Martha Graham, Maurice Bejart, John Neumeier - adopted much of what was discovered and anticipated by Nijinsky the dancer and Nijinsky the director.

M. Bejar and E. Maksimova.
Rehearsal of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet". G. Berlioz. 1978

Now his productions have been reconstructed, imbued with eroticism and dynamism; in them one can feel the “onslaught of the pagan elements,” as one of the critics wrote. This is primarily due to the ballet “The Afternoon of a Faun.” In “Games,” where the plot is based on a game of tennis, Nijinsky made sculptures come to life and play with living people. Many static scenes appeared in the ballets, which at that time was news, if not “wildness,” but this static “played.” Nijinsky dressed the characters in modern costumes - this was the first such experience in ballet. Nijinsky’s performances still produce a shocking impression, but at the same time both life-affirming and sad...

Despite his brilliant successes and quickly acquired fame, Nijinsky always remained a modest, albeit difficult, person to communicate with. He was very kind and very sensitive, withdrawn, silent and even timid, and also, apparently, experiencing a feeling of dissatisfaction with himself. Having already gained fame, he attended a ballet school opened in St. Petersburg by the famous Italian choreographer and teacher Enrique Cecchetti, and read a lot about ballet. He generally read a lot; watched the work of choreographers in the theater, obviously thinking about his own productions.

Nijinsky did not show any qualities of a “star”. On the contrary, his extreme sensitivity, modesty, and nervousness gave him many difficult moments. He suffered from a heightened nostalgic complex; from his youth, Russia, St. Petersburg, and the Mariinsky Theater were sacred and dear to him. Shining on the best stages of Europe in the Russian Seasons, he did not leave his native imperial troupe and, receiving, for example, 4,000 rubles a month from Diaghilev, after playing a season in Paris or London, he hurried to the Mariinsky Theater, where he was paid only 80 rubles.

In 1911, Nijinsky had a conflict with the Directorate of Imperial Theaters - in the role of Albert in Giselle, the artist did not want to appear in the old, boring suit with “flannel pants”, but preferred to appear in a new one, created according to the sketch of A.N. Benoit. For “arbitrariness,” Nijinsky was fired from the theater, and Vaclav cried, sitting on the steps of the foyer...

Over time, Diaghilev’s patronage and authority began to oppress him, and one day he decided to break with the entrepreneur. By the way, he got married in 1913. But the artist found himself out of work. For some time he performed in music halls. He could not return to St. Petersburg as a “person evading military service.”

With difficulty, the great artist managed, by agreement with the London Palace Theater, to organize his own troupe in 1914. But the troupe did not last long, and Nijinsky nevertheless decided to return to Russia, without which he was terribly bored. At that moment he and his wife found themselves in Austria-Hungary. Vaclav went to buy train tickets, it was August 1, 1914 - the day the First World War began.

Russia turned out to be a hostile power, and Nijinsky was arrested and sent to a prisoner of war camp. Friends secured his release and permission to leave - but, alas, not to Russia, but to America. Moreover, the artist had to promise that he would give up trying to move from America to his homeland. Nijinsky arrived in the USA in very difficult state of mind. According to his wife, he only “raved about Russia and the war.”

He was lonely, and he lacked the “steady hand” of a mentor, a leader - he lacked Diaghilev. In his notebooks, Nijinsky endlessly draws his profile...

Diaghilev came to the USA at this time on tour, planning a tour of North and South America, and for these tours Nijinsky staged the ballet Till Eulenspiegel to the music of Richard Strauss in 1916. The performance was given on the stage of the New York Manhattan Opera and was a failure. This completely broke the artist. "Ulenspiegel" was Nijinsky's last work as a choreographer.

Meanwhile, Nijinsky is showing more and more clearly signs of a serious mental illness. He falls into prolonged bouts of black melancholy. In 1919 he performed for the last time as a dancer. In 1918–1919 he writes “Diary”, stunning with its piercing sincerity and painful escapades. In the Diary he called himself “God’s clown”...

He no longer performs conscious actions, stops reacting to his surroundings and falls into silent contemplation. Attempts to bring him out of this state with the help of doctors over the course of many years did not give any results. From America, his wife transported Nijinsky to Paris, then with their two daughters they settled in Hungary, in the town of Odenburg. They came here in 1944 Soviet troops who liberated Hungary, and Nijinsky happily hurried to meet his compatriots. He cried with happiness, felt the fighters’ tunics - and for the first time after many years of silence he spoke...

This correspondence meeting with Russia partially brought Nijinsky back to life, his consciousness began to “come to life.” When, after the war, Soviet ballet dancers came on tour to Hungary, Nijinsky expressed a desire to attend the concert, although he had not appeared in public places for many years. After the concert, he asked through his wife to tell the Russian artists that he was amazed at how much Russian ballet had developed and grown compared to how he knew it before.

Nijinsky was again seized by the idea of returning to his homeland. He insisted that his friends and family take care of it. To arrange and complete affairs and formalities, it was necessary to go to London, and Nijinsky makes a trip there with his wife. But perhaps the body of the artist, exhausted by illness, could not withstand the move, perhaps the emotional shock was too strong, but upon arrival in London, Nijinsky dies. Thus, several years before him, Sergei Rachmaninov died, having already ordered a ticket on the ship to leave for Russia, but his body, as a result of the emotional shock before meeting his homeland, was unable to cope with the unexpected onset of the disease.

Nijinsky was a legend during his lifetime, but he became an even greater legend after his death. The mystery of his personality attracts artists, playwrights, novelists, film directors, and choreographers. Interest in his personality especially intensified after the publication of Nijinsky’s “Diary” in Paris in 1953. In 1971, Maurice Bejart staged the world-famous ballet “Nijinsky, God’s Clown,” and in 2000, John Neumeier created his own version, which he called “Nijinsky.” Documentaries have been published about the famous dancer. feature films. At the Malaya Bronnaya Theater in Moscow, the performance based on Glenn Blumstein's play “Nijinsky” was a success - this play went around many theaters around the world. But even more interesting is the mystery of his creative nature, the mystery of his creativity...