ABSTRACT

Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950) is a key figure in the reintroduction of the male ballet dancer to the stages of European theatres at the beginning of the twentieth century, and for initiating and developing representations of masculinity that have dominated ballet and even, to some extent, modern dance throughout the century. From reminiscences of the first performance of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris in 1909, it is clear that Nijinsky became a star over night, and he went on to become probably the most famous dancer of the twentieth century. Nijinsky was the first international superstar of the globalised media, and then became the first superstar to find the pressures so unbearable that he suffered a breakdown. He was the first male dancer to challenge conservative nineteenth-century gender ideologies, becoming retrospectively a gay icon. For the twentyfirst-century reader, Nijinsky indeed has become what Marcia Siegel calls ‘an unknowable, infinitely manipulable presence in the dance universe’ (2002: 3). This chapter considers the legacy which has come down to us in the name of ‘Nijinsky’. Nijinsky the man and dance artist played the key role in transforming ideas about the male dancer, but it is also necessary to acknowledge the parts that other individuals, organisations, audiences, and writers have played in this transformation.