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| Scene from Nijinksy, representing The Afternoon of a Faun |
There was a standing ovation for the ballet Nijinsky,
an exciting début to this season’s impressive lineup of symphonies and dance
performances at theThéâtre des Champs-Elysées, The ballet follows the iconic
early 20th century dancer's rise as the muse and lover of Sergei Diaghilev of
the Ballets Russes, to his eventual tragic descent into mental illness.
It's a clever pastiche of his personal story,
hallucinations and flashbacks, as well as his most famous roles in a short but
spectacular career (Arlequin, Spectre de la rose, Scheherazade, Petrushka,
L'Oiseau du feu). Mixed in with these tableaux are
elements of dance history and costumes inspired by the originals. The
music comprises works by Chopin, Schumann, Rimski-Korsakov, and Shostakovich,
under the direction of David Briskin of the Orchestra Prométhée.
Vaslav Nijinsky (1889 to 1950) was the son of two
Polish dancers. He became wildly famous internationally for his
virtuosity, intensity and athleticism. He could dance en pointe, a
rare skill among male dancers, and was admired for his seemingly
gravity-defying leaps and androgynous body, with large thighs and
delicate arms. He joined the Ballets Russes in 1909,
becoming lovers with Diaghilev, 18 years his senior. An impresario,
Diaghilev conquered Europe and the world with his Ballets Russes, a
creative movement that drew together the greatest musical, theatrical and
artistic talents of the day.
A lead dancer, Nijinsky expanded his repertoire and experimented with choreography. One of his most famous works, L'Après-midi d’un faune (1912) was inspired by Greek vases and Egyptian frescoes. The ballet introduced new concepts of two-dimensionality, stylized postures and pauses, and even more shocking at the time, a sexual scene over a scarf. This dance's odd movements and steamy sensuality permeate the Ballet du Canada production as well. Contemporaries in the arts thought Nijinsky was strangely inarticulate and inept at teaching his dances, and perhaps even mad as well as a genius. They turned out to be right.
In 1913, Nijinsky married Hungarian Romola de Pulszky
while on tour in South America, with whom he had two daughters. The marriage
caused a break with Diaghilev, who angrily dismissed him from the Ballets
Russes, leaving Nijinsky deprived of opportunities to dance and under
mental strain. After being interned in Hungary during World War I,
he moved to Switzerland, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in
1919. He was in and out of asylums over the next 30 years, never dancing again;
but he remains a legend of ballet and source of fascination.
There are other exciting productions at theThéâtre des Champs-Elysées coming up this season, so
Post by Elizabeth Bouché
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