Nijinsky: A Life

by Lucy Moore

The first major biography for forty years tells the tragic story of ballet's great revolutionary, Nijinsky.

'He achieves the miraculous,'the sculptor Auguste Rodin wrote of Vaslav Nijinsky.'He embodies all the beauty of classical frescoes and statues'. Like so many since, Rodin recognised that in Nijinsky classical ballet had one of the greatest and most original artists of the twentieth century, in any genre. And his life is the stuff of legends: a story of great beauty and great tragedy.Immersed in the world of dance from his childhood, he found his natural home in the Imperial Theatre and the Ballets Russes, and a powerful sponsor in Sergei Diaghilev - until a dramatic and public failure ended his career and set him on a route to madness. As a dancer, he was acclaimed as godlikefor his extraordinary grace and elevation, but the opening of Stravinsky'sThe Rite of Springsaw furious brawls between admirers of his radically unballetic choreography and horrified traditionalists.Though 2013 marks theRite's centenary, Nijinsky's story has lost none of its power to shock, fascinate and move. Adored and reviled in his lifetime, his phenomenal talent was shadowed by schizophrenia and an intense but destructive relationship with his lover, Diaghilev.'I am alive'he wrote in his diary,'and so I suffer'. In the first biography for forty years, bestselling author ofMaharanisLucy Moore examines a career defined by two forces - inspired performance and an equally headline-grabbing talent for controversy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Contemporary, Art, Russia

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Lucy Moore was born in 1970 and educated in Britain and the United States before reading history at Edinburgh University. She is the editor of Con Men and Cutpurses: Scenes from the Hogarthian Underworld, and author of the critically acclaimed The Thieves Opera: The Remarkable Lives and Deaths of Jonathan Wild, Thief-Taker, and Jack Sheppard, House-Breaker (Viking 1996) as well as Amphibious Thing: the Life of a Georgian Rake (Viking 2000) and Maharanis: The Lives and Times of Three Generations of Indian Princesses (Viking 2004). Maharanis has been reprinted six times, was an Evening Standard bestseller, and the top selling non-fiction title in WH Smith on paperback publication in summer 2005.

Lucy is a regular book reviewer for the Observer and the Sunday Times. In April 2001, she was voted one of the 'Top Twenty Young Writers in Britain' by the Independent on Sunday and in the 'Writers' section of the New Statesman's 'Best of Young British' issue.

Television presenter work includes Nelson for Great Britons (BBC) and Kings in Waiting: Edward VII (BBC) plus a number of talking head appearances.

Reviews

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Nijinsky,’ writes Moore: ‘his name alone conjures up romance, exoticism, scandal and tragedy’. Acclaimed historian Lucy Moore, who has written the first full-length biography of Nijinsky for decades, believes that he ‘transformed the world of ballet… as the first male star of the modern era, with critics and audiences hailing him the God of the Dance’. She writes that he ‘had the same dramatic impact on ballet as the work of Picasso had on painting’.

Vaslav Nijinsky, born in 1889, is said by many to be the greatest dancer of the twentieth century, and was the shining star of the famous Ballets Russes. For the first time in the scope of Nijinsky’s biographers, Moore has been able to take into account his personal diaries to further enforce her information. She spans the course of his fascinating and incredibly sad life, until his death in 1950, and even touches upon the legacy which Nijinsky the dancer left behind. She is conscious of his tough climb to the top, and those problems which beset him with every step forward. When he began to train at the prestigious Tsar-owned ballet school at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, for example, he had trouble fitting in, despite his obvious talents. As a Polish boy ‘with a strong accent, and notably poorer than the others, he was despised by his peers, ignored in all the school games and made to feel inferior at every turn’.

Nijinsky, who excelled at his craft and found fame in the Ballets Russes at an early age, was born into the ballet; his parents were both ‘gifted professional dancers’, and his younger sister Bronia joined the same company as him. In his own diary, Nijinsky wrote that his parents ‘considered it as natural to teach me to dance as to walk and talk’. At the start of the book, Moore sets out the family history of the Nijinskys, which is fascinating in itself.

From the very beginning, Moore’s writing is beautiful. Her prologue is centered around the premiere of Nijinsky’s ballet ‘Le Sacre du printemps’, which was choreographed with two poets, and was first staged in Paris in 1913. ‘Le Sacre du printemps’, and other ballets choreographed at around the same time, writes Moore, created ‘a revolutionary, entirely modern form of ballet, stripped of the tinselled artifice of previous generations’. Amongst other elements – becoming the husband of a rather formidable woman named Romola, and the father to two doting daughters, for example – Moore wonderfully exemplifies the friction between Nijinsky and ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who schooled him in homosexual relationships. Throughout, Moore is conscious of the social constraints which Nijinsky and his family would have struggled against, and uses them as a backdrop to the biography at every turn. It is clear that she is so in control of her subject and in the information which she presents, and has used each one of her sources with clarity and consideration.

Photographs of Nijinsky and those who were close to him have been printed in glossy sections, and these are a lovely touch. Moore has also included a comprehensive notes section and far-reaching bibliography, which those who enjoy ballet, or even just non-fiction in general, are sure to find invaluable. Moore’s account of Nijinsky’s life has been called ‘mesmerising’, ‘captivating’, ‘timely’ and ‘hugely enjoyable’. It is all of these things, and more. Moore’s respect and admiration for Nijinsky shines through on each and every page, and one cannot help but think that she was perfect candidate to write such an enlightening biography of him.

[Jessica McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read this because I am going to see the ballet based on Nijinsky's life later this year, and wanted to have a deeper understanding of who he was as a person and dancer. I definitely recommend this book if you want to know more about him. I found that I could not put it down, and almost cried when I had finished it. Moore presents an unbiased view on Nijinsky's life and details both the negatives and positives of those involved. Thoroughly enjoyed it and wish I could go back and read it freshly again.

[Sharon Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people know two things about Nijinsky: he was often called the greatest ballet dancer of the twentieth century and he went mad.

I haven't read Buckle's biography, or the book by his wife, Romola, so I knew very little about him. Reading Moore's account of his life is, therefore, a bit of an eye-opener. It's a little eerie to read of his childhood and early ballet classes in view of his later descent into schizophrenia; he was a sensitive boy who had trouble being accepted and fitting in. In his first long relationship, the wealthy Prince Lvov cossetted and spoiled him, bringing out a certain dependency and childishness in his character. This makes his later quasi-enslavement to the dominating, overbearing Diaghilev almost inevitable, while at the same time providing the framework for Nijinsky's magnificent talent to flourish.

This relationship finally broke up after Nijinsky married Romola de Pulszky, daughter of a famous Hungarian actress, who used her connections to try to get close to him. She, in fact, pursued him like a stalker and finally got him! When this happened, Diaghilev was incandescent with rage and a sense of betrayal and completely rejected him, forcing him to find work on his own - a task for which he was ill-prepared and which added to the downward spiral he subsequently entered into.

Lucy Moore doesn't paint a very good picture of Romola, claiming she was materialistic, even mercenary, yet Nijinsky seemed happy with her and loved his little daughter, Kyra. He was, seemingly, bisexual; he was very involved with Lvov, although his relationship with Diaghilev was expedient rather than passionate. Yet he was also attracted to women.

All of this pales, however, beside the twin poles of his life: his soaring talent and his descent into madness. Actually, someone says he didn't "descend" so much as "leap in and out of [madness] with ferocity", at one stage physically attacking his daughter's nanny, who fled their service. He kept a diary, detailing his wild hallucinations and his thoughts about Diaghilev and others. Moore says she "trusts" what he writes in this diary - he might have been hallucinating, but she believes he is not fantasising. However, his mental breakdown put an end to his dancing career and he lived in institutions or under the care of others until his death in 1950.

I will probably read this biography again sometime, as it is so densely packed with details about the emergence of ballet as we now know it and the phenomenal Ballets Russes that I feel I've barely scraped the surface of it. The towering figure of Diaghilev is surrounded by the leading artistic lights of the day, including Jean Cocteau and the dancers Tamara Karsavina and Anna Pavlova. Diaghilev may have been an autocrat and a not very likeable figure, but he must be credited with outstanding achievement: ballet hasn't been the same since the Ballets Russes! We are the poorer for not being able to see them.

[Victoria Sigsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has taken me ages to finish this book but this is not because it wasn't good but because of lack of time. I would have actually given it 4 and a half stars but this doesn't seem doable. As a dance student, years ago, I read a lot of books on dance and dancers including Nijinsky. I saw this in Waterstones and it looked very readable which it turned out to be.I was pleased to read a different take on him and possibly think this is more accurate than some books I have read about him. It is also interesting as the author is a historian and writes on many different subjects which is probably why it is better. The only problem some readers may have is if they are not familiar with some of the French. I particularly enjoyed the section about the first performance of Le Sacre du Printemps. It really brought it to life for me.However, the last chapter was,to me, not necessary and rather turgid and should have concluded without this chapter . Divertissement would have been a better way to finish it and for this reason, can only give it 4.

[Carole Z · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this very hard to get into. I HATE biographies that are written "as if" the author was there at the time. "He was so nervous, his clothes were wet," and so forth. How does the biographer know about something that intimate that happened almost 100 years ago. Give me straight up facts with some style.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow-going in parts, but a very interesting read.
If you're interested in Nijinsky, I can recommend this podcast episode.

[Marta Komar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ballet, scandals, and homosexuality in tsarist Russia. These few words quite well describe what you can find in this book. And everything is based on a life story of the great, talented and very tragic figure - Wacław Niżyński (1889-1950).

Niżyński the god of the dance

Wacław Niżyński was one of the very few people with Polish ancestry, who gained entry to the prestigious Imperial Theatrical School in Petersburg. According to Lucy Moore, the author of this biography, there were a few thousand applicants for only several dozen spots in this school, so getting there was a big success already. Niżyński proved very quickly he is very talented and in classical dance (ballet) he is very exceptional, only one in his kind. His great abilities opened the door to a great career, but still, Niżyński had to work enormously hard and made a lot of sacrifices. And eventually, his career and life were way too short.

Moore decided she will tell the story about Niżyński’s youth with broad descriptions of social life at the edge of the XIX century so we can really vividly picture life in these times. The Niżyński’s parents were dancers too, but they were the part of the migrant dance troop which didn’t have a constant income. This uncertainty was the cause of sinusoids in their standard of living - once they were rich, and another scraped along. Niżyński’s mother was very eager to save his son from this uneven life and she decided to send him and his sister to this school in Petersburg.

From one side this place was at the finest level - tsar allowed a great amount of money for teaching the best of the bests, but there was a second, more dark side. This school was the reason for losing grip on reality and could be compared with staying in a monastery. And probably this was the main reason for Wacław’s problems. Later, after graduating, he couldn’t tackle his life.

I’m not able to use as sophisticated style as the author of this book so I won’t create a long tale. I’ll say only that the very important reason for Niżyński’s success (and tragedy at once) was Siergiej Diaghilev, the renowned Russian ballet impresario, coordinator of the famous Ballets Russes. He led Nizyński’s career in the finest ways: he enabled him to focus only on dance. Unfortunately being Diaghilev’s subordinate was related to being kind of submissive in a physical way also. Diaghilev was gay and from his subordinates required “total” dedication. Regarding the book’s author words Wacław didn’t have any objections. He treated this relation as a necessary sacrifice, which gave him the frictionless opportunity to make what he loved the most - dance. Later in his diary, Niżyński wrote he loved Diaghilev in some way, even he was rather heterosexual.

Based on Niżyński’s life book we can learn about Russian ballet from XIX and XX century and take a breath with a heavy air of a toxic art environment fulfilled with intrigues and jealousy. We can find out that the dancer profession was questionable in a moral way, and every dancer was some kind of property and had to do what his owner told. In addition, it’s good to know that in Russia after 1835 homosexuality was legally forbidden, but this wasn’t an obstacle for these kinds of relationships between dancers and wealthy protectors. More, it was tolerated.
Not so nice...

Niżyński thread is guided very well. It focuses on the most important points of his life, and it’s fulfilled with realistic historic details from the first decade of the XX century. But I need to say that I didn’t like Niżyński himself as a person, nevertheless, I really admire his talent and sympathize with him. But why I didn’t like him? The author quotes other dancers’ descriptions of him which vividly show he wasn’t a kind person. He was “weary”, “had rage attacks”, “was a poor coordinator”, “didn’t behave like a normal human”, “talked in monosyllables”...

Eventually, he conflicted with his promotor-lover Diaghilev and lost the possibility to dance. In the face of this situation, he got a mental disease and died in 1950.

My point of view

I need to say that Moore did a great job with this book. About 20% of all content is bibliography and glosses. Apart from the facts, we have a psychological analysis of Niżyński and his close environment. The uneven, toxic mood and falling Niżyński into the mental illness are so vivid I was anxious while reading too. Fortunately (or maybe not) reading so much influences me that I'm really affected by the mood for a long time. Usually, I need more time to read tough texts, but here the story was so absorbing I was genuinely interested in the plot and read this book in only a few days. I think if there is someone who is only in a minimal way interested in ballet, or history, or art in general, this is the book for him.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading, and transcribing, family letters recently and noticed references to Nijinski (sic) in October and November 1935. The first was about Ballet Russe performing in Indianapolis in December. The letter writer had read a book, probably the one by Romola Nijinsky published in 1934 - ' I wouldn't miss that for anything in the world, especially after reading “Nijinski”. Have you read it? You must. It's the most fascinating reading I have run across for a long time.' The second was about a play "Faun" -'The Civic Theater opens the 23rd, with the original play “Faun” written by Charles Milholland, a local youth who wrote “Twentieth Century”. He also plays the lead. This play is based on the life of my adored “Nijinsky” the very famous Russian dancer who lost his mind.' The title of the play is also part of the title of a Nijinski ballet. Both of these letters were from the same person to my great uncle, a playwright, director and actor, who had friends in theater locally and in NYC.

Anyway, I have a slight interest in ballet, at least in Indiana and IU in Bloomington or the Indy Ballet company, and maybe soon in Cincinnati since I live near there these days. This particular book was available as an ebook (I don't like dealing with physical books, especially storage, these days).

The book was a little dry in some ways, but I was fascinated to learn that ballet, even in France, had fallen out of favor by the end of the 19th century. The Ballet Russe seemed to have revitalized ballet in Paris and London, and maybe brought professional ballet to America. Nijinsky, both as dancer and choreographer, was a major reason for the resurgence of ballet as a form of theater art. There was some slight mention of George Balanchine, whose method is popular in ballet today, at least in Indiana.

The intrigues of the ballet world during Nijinsky's involvement in the 1910s, and in St Petersburg before that time were presented in an interesting way, for me. In fact, characters from other art formats were also mentioned in their relationship to the period and innovation. These mentions included Picasso and Stravinsky, in particular, both artist I admire.

The parts about Nijinsky's mental state and diagnosis had me thinking about other things, genius in particular. For example, Bobby Fischer mental problems in later life after becoming the first American world chess champion (defeating a Russian, coincidentally). There are many other such examples. Well these thoughts went further off track into the issue of individuality versus society, and consciousness itself (another couple of my interests). Needless to say, I enjoyed the book, even if my enjoyment was not completely related to the content.

[Conor]

A lovely book, which I was stop-start with only because of school and travelling, not because of its quality. I knew little to nothing about Nijinsky or Diaghilev before reading this, and while there are still many names that flew by me, the main players—those two, Bronia, Romola, Stravinsky, Fokine, Benois, Bakst, Cocteau, Grigoriev, Pavlova, Duncan, Massine, the Sitwells—have stayed with me as strange, vibrant characters that played a role in forging early European modernism. Moore writes unpretentiously, but manages to sustain a nimbleness, not to mention a sense of genuine wonder, that keeps the reader curious and engaged. The book was, graciously, less than three hundred pages, moving along before the backstabbing and gossiping got tiresome. Nijinsky was preoccupied with myth, and given his being often unobserved by his admirers, quickly, Moore's point I think, attained mythic status, funnily enough at a time that professed to question and shatter grand narratives. It leaves open the question of ballet's social and political position: while I am a complete rube on the field, it strikes me that dance has a difficult relationship with irony, slow to change, reflect, or revise its being the art form perhaps most closely associated with the upper class. At times Moore stresses how Nijinsky's choreographic iconoclasm posed a challenge to contemporary establishment, and we feel this, but in a muffled way. Le Sacre du printemps is an archetypal case of the avant-garde turned completely canonical, which makes it hard to observe without the whine of presentism in the wings. That said, Nijinsky's madness, I could be convinced, was a type of protest against the imposed commercialism, the insane contracts, and the mercenary culture Diaghilev staunchly promoted. A self-immolation of course—an ugly one—but one Moore depicts sensitively without dwelling or gawking. This is a well-written biography about a truly unique individual: read it.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I plowed through this book in two days. It isn't very long, and I did skim a few parts that were very technical and overly detailed. My rating is average, but I would like to commend the author's scope and depth of research. This is a good quality biography, but it is not "fair and balanced" and I actually found the prose rather turgid in places.

Lucy Moore clearly has her favorites from this varied cast of strange characters. Towards the beginning I felt she was glossing over Diaghilev's slimier traits and unscrupulous actions, although this seems to be more the result of her flowery writing style (she introduces him as a "grand homosexual" among other things?). Compare this to her depiction of Nijinsky's wife Romola, calling her greedy, a fetishist, deluded, etc, with obvious contempt and dismissal. I get that Romola is typically portrayed as the Yoko Ono of ballet anyway, but it's just tired and lame. Moore also sprinkles in obnoxious interjections from Cocteau's memoirs throughout; he seems to be among her favorite sources for this biography, but I found his comments unnecessary at best, loathsome at worst. I don't know all the details of his relationship to the Ballet Russes (and I'm not sure I want to know) but he seems to have been a hanger-on or parasite, if not every inch the "groupie" Romola was. For instance, when he mocked the struggling, unemployed Nijinsky over having chosen to marry and produce a child instead of another ballet ("How ugly is birth.") I wanted to reach through time and slap the shit out of him, not congratulate him for his "insight".

My empathy for Nijinsky (whom I have only just discovered) is very high after having read this, but I really should have just stuck with reading his diary. I did actually purchase a copy at around the same time as this, though I'm having problems with the seller - but that's another story. I'm afraid I just don't care for all this gossip magazine stuff that goes into these sorts of bios. I know historians focus on that in order to sell the book, promising juicy secrets and a private glimpse into the worlds of the famous and the fascinating. But I don't want to hear the author's opinion either, and that's what sinks this book for me. Lucy Moore uses the first person on a few occasions, offering up her interpretation about half as often as she prints a direct quote. I didn't find her observations all that thought-provoking, but then I wasn't fazed by her nauseating descriptions or her (misplaced, imo) affection for the debauched cast either.

If you are looking for a bio that won't bore you to tears, this is probably your first and best choice. I just wanted some answers to the questions Nijinsky's Wikipedia page left me with. I'll be reading his unexpurgated diary at the soonest opportunity.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. I haven't read a biography in a while and this was so lyrical and enchanting and tragic, I absolutely knew I would be smitten within the first 50 pages. Nijinsky's story is a marvel and an inspiration, reminding us that what the rest of the world demands of us, is not what our soul wants and needs, and to live as authentically as possible, when possible. I'm absolutely dying to read his diaries now!
The only small critique I have for this book is the constant back and forth (despite it being miniscule) between the years and chapters, once minute I'm reading about a ballet being performed in 1913 and then we rewind a bit to talk more about another person the year before. Just a tad bit disruptive when reading.

[Do_81 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writer inserts her opinion throughout the book while not always making it clear where other voices start and end. Many pages are devoted to who in the Ballet Russes was hating on whom without giving any of those "characters" a memorable personality first. Nijinsky himself remains elusive as well. Lastly I didn't like the script for a play/ballet in the middle and the fact that a disproportionate chunk of the book was devoted to what happened after his death.
I liked that it was a relatively easy read.

[Pia Neruda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I switched from high level competitive gymnastics and hip hop to intensive ballet school because gawd I just fell in love with it - the structure! the discipline! the strength! But the history... was never ever taught as excitingly and relatably as in this book. I might have become a dance historian myself if I had known earlier about books like this one. Nijinsky is such a captivating celebrity of their time and beyond. His life is an epic drama. Loved this read.

[Noah W · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a sensitive and affectionately written biography that paints a detailed and informed portrait of vaslav, and sets him clearly within the world he inhabited. moore gives a wonderful level of detail to vaslav’s world and the people in it — as much as a biography of nijinsky moore traps in amber the inner circle of the ballets russes & their ridiculous world.

[Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book not just on the life of the famous Ballet Dancer but also about the whole caravanserrai of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, populated by extraordinary characters, sex, love of luxury, hypocrisy, hunger for excellence, art and fame ! Highly recommended.

[zuza · Rating 4 out of 5]

wybitny człowiek

[Robert Więckowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, the book is a 4.5-star read.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read this book having watched Plushenko's "Tribute to Nijinsky" long program which was dedicated (obviously) to Nijinksy and hearing some of the commentators mentioning the effect he had on the world of ballet and the difficulties of his life.

This biography was told in an interesting style, and though there were quite a few quotes from contemporaries of Nijinsky they didn't interfer with the flow of the story. The only downside was none of the French phrases were translated and while I could get the jist of them from the context it would have be nice to actually know what was said.

Nijinksy lived an extremely interesting and tragic life, he was highly creative and talented, but also suffered from mental illness, which ended his career and it's interesting and unfortunate that he was unable to do all he could have artistically.

I feel the biographer Lucy Moore really got into period and understood - as much as possible - Nijinsky's mental issues and how he saw the world. It also explained a lot about Russian ballet in the early 20th century.

[Dobiasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK biografia, chociaż jak dla mnie trochę za mało w niej faktografii muzykologicznej i teatrologicznej — jakiegoś szerszego tła, jak te spektakle były przyjmowane przez ówczesną krytykę, resztę środowiska baletowego, czy współczesnych kompozytorów. Nawet opinie Strawińskiego o inscenizacji własnego, rewolucyjnego opus magnum, są przytoczone w szczątkowej postaci. Trochę niedosyt.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bardzo dobra biografia człowieka, który odmienił oblicze klasycznego baletu. Stworzył własne choreografie i ściśle współpracował z własną siostrą. Jednak choroba psychiczna rozwijająca się przez lata, kiedy osoby cierpiące na schizofrenię i inne podobne choroby były skazane na ostracyzm.

[Eva Stachniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read many biographies of Nijinsky, I have found this one extremely interesting and fresh in its portrayal of this extraordinary dancer and his times.