Research Paper On Vaslav Nijinsky

From Ballet to Modern Dance
Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish decent of the 20th Century. He was born on March 12, 1889 and died on April 8, 1950. He is commonly known to be the best male ballet dancer of his time. He was introduced to dance early on by his parents, who were also dancers. His sister, Bronislava Nijinska was also a dancer and worked with Vaslav Nijinsky throughout his career. Although he began dancing at a very young age and often played the lead in various dance pieces, he was not very well known until he joined Serge Diaghilev’s dance company “Ballet Russes,” where his talent was shared throughout a variety of audiences. Vaslav was so fascinating because he portrayed ballet in a way that
was not widely accepted to the audience at the time. Although ballet was a very strict form of dance, Vaslav did not mind breaking the rules or doing things out of the ordinary. His dancing was very sexual compared to the mostly conservative ballets of the time. His choreography was very creative and although often times inappropriate, he caused people to think and analyze his dances which were definitely not traditional ballet pieces. Vaslav Nijinsky’s unique, exotic style of dance changed the way people viewed and danced ballet. This significantly made an impact in the development of modern dance.
A major way that Nijinsky became famous internationally was through dancing Michel Fokine’s choreography in the Ballet Russes. He was greatly praised for his ability to dance in ways that male dancers have not done before:
The audience gasped, she says, and well they might have, for they had never before seen a male dancer do such things. Though still flourishing in Russia, ballet had been in decline for half a century—and male ballet was all but dead—in Europe. To his Western audiences, Nijinsky was something utterly unforeseen, a miracle (Acocella). Vaslav began a new way of dancing ballet where the division between female and male dancers was not so apparent. He showed that men were also capable of performing ballet as women did. However, in terms of choreography, Nijinsky’s choreography drastically differed from that of Fokine’s. While Fokine’s style of ballet was very traditional, Nijinsky’s choreography completely disregarded ballet’s expected arm and leg movements as well as the use of turned-out feet.
The ballet L'après-midi d'un faune (The Afternoon of a Faun) was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinksy. It was based on Stephani Mallarme’s poem L'après-midi d'un faune. Compared to Michel Fokine, Nijinsky’s choreography was really unexpected and unusual. Nijinsky was chosen to choreograph this piece rather than Fokine because some began to think Fokine was losing his sense of originality: “Some of their colleagues, including Stravinsky, thought that Fokine, having to create so many ballets, was losing his originality” (Ostwald 55). The ballet is about a Faun, who is half human, half creature, who is interested by seven Nymphs. One of the women showed interest in the Faun, but later drops her scarf and runs away with the Nymphs. The Faun takes the scarf and uses it to masturbate (Oswald 57). The ballet was inspired by Greek vase paintings and Egyptian and Assyrian art. Nijinsky’s choreography was very different compared to the conventional style of ballet. Under Nijinsky’s direction, the dancers moved in profile, slicing the air like blades (Acocella). Although at first the response to this piece was fairly negative, there were many people who still enjoyed the ballet and admired Nijinsky’s portrayal of the Faun. His ability to portray both human and animal-like movements were praised
The piece Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky to music by Igor Stravinsky.
This is one of the most famous performances in history due to its cause of a huge riot at its opening night. This is due to the unexpected costumes, music, and choreography of the piece. For example, the choreography included untraditional, unexpected dance moves: they (the dancers) hunched over, hammering their feet into the floorboards (Acocella). The audience expected to watch a very graceful, smooth flowing performance. Rather than depicting a traditional ballet dance piece, unlike what was expected, The Rite of Spring contained harsh music, heavy costumes, and hard footsteps (Moore). These elements of the dance angered many audience members, while other audience members enjoyed it. Disagreement among the crowd led to a huge uproar and caused a riot. After this piece, Nijinsky and Stravinsky no longer collaborated. This event became one of the most historic moments in dance. “The premiere would pass into legend as one of the great moments of cultural history, but for each of the protagonists it was a personal turning point, too”
(Moore)
Although during Nijinsky’s time he was harshly criticized for his creative form of dance, his style of movement was extremely significant to modern dance. He created a style of dance that contradicted the traditional, restricting form of ballet. It is apparent that his era of dance was right before modern dance. Many people still expected to see graceful and smooth forms of ballet during his time, however, his contradictory and unconventional style of ballet began a movement where people appreciated his style and were inspired to do the same, breaking free from the restrictions of traditional ballet. His motive for his dancing was to express emotion and creativity through music and movement. Many believe his pieces reflected his life experiences and desires. Nijinsky went through many harships. Many found his emotional responses to his life situations very unusual, and found that he was only able to express his mood through dance. His sister, Bronoslava Nijinska, helped Nijinsky create movements in order to express how he was feeling.
Vaslav Nijinsky is one of the most widely known dancers of his time.
He created a dance style that caused people to feel a variety of emotion, from anger, to confusion, to even amazement. His skill was very unique and highly praised by many all over the world. He was very bold and created dances that were not typically expected to be performed in a traditional ballet piece. His dancing caused a stir among many audiences, causing people to question the art of ballet. Nijinsky began the pavement to the style of modern dance, contradicting the very strict and uniform movement of ballet. Although he had to undergo much criticism during many of his pieces, he continued to choreograph his dance pieces through his own style, instead of conforming to what the audience wanted to see. His legendary pieces and unique form of movement continue to influence various styles of dance
today.