Nijinsky: A Life of Genius and Madness

By Richard Buckle

Book Overview

The intoxicating story of one of the greatest dancers in the history of ballet and the paradox of his profound genius and descent into madness.

Vaslav Nijinsky stands alone as a dancer, interpretive artist, and choreographic pioneer. His breathtaking performances with the Ballet Russe took Western Europe by storm, and his avant-garde choreography for The Afternoon of the Faun and Rite of Spring caused riots in the streets. Both are now regarded as the foundation of modern dance. Through his liaison with the great impresario Diaghilev, he worked with the artistic elite of the time--Benois, Bakst, Debussy, Fokine, Karsavina, Pavlova, Stravinsky--and lived in an atmosphere of perpetual hysteria, glamour, and intrigue. When he married a Hungarian aristocrat, Diaghilev abruptly dismissed him from the Ballet Russe. Five years later, he was declared insane. The fabulous career of the greatest dancer who ever lived was over. Drawing on personal conversations with countless people who knew and worked with Nijinsky, including his sister and famed choreographer Bronislava Nijinska, Richard Buckle has written the definitive biography of Nijinsky, now back in print for the first time in more than forty years.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1605985147
• ISBN13: 9781605985145
• Release Date: October 2013
• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Length: 626 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful!

This book is not just about Nijinsky, it is about the whole cast of characters that surrounded and affected Nijinsky while he was dancing with Diagalev's Ballet Russe. Mr. Buckle paints some wonderful scenes of the interaction between Nijinsky and Diagalev, Diagalev and his patrons, Diagalev and all the movers and shakers he worked with (anyone who was anyone in theatre, art and music at that time), and the Ballet Russe in Paris between 1909 and 1929. (His description of the riots some of the dances caused were really fun!) I loved the anecdotes and stories, and the soap opera-ish back stage goings-on he describes. If you own only one book on this period of dance history, this would be the one to have