Nijinsky

About the Ballet

Few figures tower over – indeed, haunt – the history of ballet as does that of Vaslav Nijinsky.

His passion, legendary physicality, daring and virtuosity – not to mention the adoration he received from audiences – created the model for male dancing throughout the early 20th century, even if few performers ever matched his greatness. His highly theatrical, outsized life is the perfect subject for John Neumeier, whose works always foreground the intensely theatrical nature of ballet, its inherent sense of drama and emotion.

Part memory-ballet and part biographical narrative, Nijinsky uses a vast array of characters to probe both the complexities of its subject’s mind and spirit and the world that shaped him and against which he continually struggled in his efforts to assert the art for which he became so revered. A moving and unforgettable evocation of the borderland between genius and madness, Nijinsky is a brilliant homage to the man once known as “Le Dieu de la Danse,” and a masterwork by one of today’s greatest ballet artists.