Danse nijinsky biography

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Born to Polish parents who worked as traveling performers, Vaslav Nijinsky was raised to be onstage. After training at the Imperial Ballet School in Russia, Nijinsky began performing and his undeniable skills amazed audiences. He also began choreographing, bringing new and sensational pieces such as The Rite of Spring to the stage. In this biography, Nijinsky's accomplishments on the stage are detailed, accompanied by paintings by the author and archival photographs. "Programs" for Nijinsky's performances, including facts and summaries of the ballets, separate the chapters. The biography focuses on more than just Nijinksy's art, delving into his personal life, including his relationships, sexuality, and his mental health. Curlee provides context for Nijinsky's life and introduces readers to the art scene of the time, including brief biographical sketches of other figures such as Fokine and Stravinsky. Appropriate for preliminary research, and sim

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Vaslav Nijinski Choreographer

Biography

Born in Kiev in 1889 to Polish and dancer parents, Vaslav Nijinsky joined in 1898 the Imperial Ballet School of St. Petersburg. Showing exceptional gifts for dance, he made his stage debut at only 15 in Acis and Galatée by Fokine (1904). He was hired by the Maryinsky Theatre two years later, where he quickly became a soloist. He created in 1907 Fokine’s Le Pavillon d’Armide with Anna Pavlova. He was trained by ballet master Enrico Cecchetti. Prima ballerina assoluta Mathilde Kschessinska chose him as her dance partner. Serge Diaghilev, who had just successfully staged Russian music concerts in Paris, an exhibition of Russian painters, and Boris Godunov (1908), was considering producing ballet shows. He borrowed their best performers from the Maryinsky: Fokine, Pavlova, Karsavina and Nijinsky. The first show staged at the Théâtre du Châtelet in May 1909 featured Le Pavillon d’Armide, Le Festin, Polovetsian Dances, Les Sylph

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The Great Nijinsky

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

The story of Vaslav Nijinsky's life—onstage and off, in all its glamour and tragedy—unfolds. Originally drawn to Nijinsky by photos of the ballet dancer in costume, Curlee (Trains, 2009, etc.) engaged in extensive research and details major events in Nijinsky's life, beginning with his birth to traveling Polish performers and continuing through to his eventual confinement in various asylums and death in 1950. While much of the content focuses on Nijinsky's art, both his dancing and choreography, time is also spent on his anställda life. The text includes short biographical sketches of important artists, such as Diaghilev and Stravinsky, with whom Nijinsky crossed paths as well as explorations of Nijinsky's romantic relationships and mental health. These discussions are frank, and though they never devolve into titillation, they do occasionally include questionable descriptions ("He was…what some would term kraftfull raving mad"