For the next 30 years, he was in and out of institutions, never dancing in public again. His mental condition deteriorated he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1919 and committed to a mental asylum. After a tour of South America in 1917, and due to travel difficulties imposed by the war, the family settled in St. Nijinsky became increasingly mentally unstable with the stresses of having to manage tours himself and deprived of opportunities to dance. After intervention by Diaghilev and several international leaders, he was allowed to go to New York for an American tour with the Ballets Russes. He was interned in Budapest, Hungary, during World War I, under house arrest until 1916. With no alternative employer available, Nijinsky tried to form his own company, but this was not a success. The couple had two daughters together, Kyra and Tamara Nijinska. The marriage caused a break with Diaghilev, who soon dismissed Nijinsky from the company. In 1913, Nijinsky married Hungarian Romola de Pulszky while on tour with the company in South America. Nijinsky originally conceived Jeux as a flirtatious interaction among three males, although Diaghilev insisted it be danced by one male and two females. At the premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps, fights broke out in the audience between those who loved and hated this startling new style of ballet and music. Faune, considered one of the first modern ballets, caused controversy because of its sexually suggestive final scene. In 1912, Nijinsky began choreographing original ballets, including L'après-midi d'un faune (1912) to music by Claude Debussy, Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) to music by Igor Stravinsky, Jeux (1913), and Till Eulenspiegel (1916). Diaghilev and Nijinsky became lovers the Ballets Russes gave Nijinsky the chance to expand his art and experiment with dance and choreography he created new directions for male dancers while becoming internationally famous. In ordinary life, he appeared unremarkable and was withdrawn in conversation. Nijinsky became the company's star male dancer, causing an enormous stir amongst audiences whenever he performed. The impresario took the Russian ballets to Paris, where high-quality productions such as those of the Imperial Ballet were not known. In 1909, he joined the Ballets Russes, a new ballet company started by Sergei Diaghilev. In 1907, he graduated and became a member of the Imperial Ballet, starting in the rank of coryphée instead of in the corps de ballet, and already taking starring roles. Petersburg, the pre-eminent ballet school in the world. His elder brother Stanislav and younger sister Bronislava "Bronia" Nijinska also became dancers Bronia also became a choreographer, working closely with him for much of his career.Īt age nine, Nijinsky was accepted at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Nijinsky was introduced to dance by his parents, who were senior dancers with the travelling Setov opera company, and his early childhood was spent touring with the company. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time, and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations. He is regarded as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, IPA: Polish: Wacław Niżyński, IPA: 12 March 1889 /1890 – 8 April 1950) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish ancestry.
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