Nijinsky, Vaslav

Nijinsky, Vaslav (1890-1950), Russian ballet dancer.

Vaslav Nijinsky was the leading male dancer in a company taken to Paris in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev and his dancing soon made him famous all over the western world.

Diaghilev said 'he is so light that he looks like a butterfly on the ceiling' and people told stories about the length of time he could stay in the air during a leap.

His most famous leap was in the ballet La Spectre de la Rose. In this he disappeared out of a window. This was one of his most popular parts and people asked his dresser to sell them the rose petals off his costume.

The ballet Petrushka was written for Nijinsky.

During the First World War (1914-18), Nijinsky was in a prison camp in Hungary and afterwards became mentally ill. He never danced again.

See Peter Ostwald Vaslav Nijinsky: A Leap Into Madness