ABSTRACT

Partly by chance and partly by intention we have worked on the reconstruction of three ballets each by Vaslav Nijinsky (1888/9-1950), George Balanchine (1904-1983) and Jean Börlin (1893-1930). The first two choreographers, launched by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, are now regarded as master builders of the modern repertoire. Börlin, whose career was even shorter than Nijinsky’s, has remained an unknown quantity since his sudden death at the age of 37 in 1930. His large output for Rolf de Maré’s Ballets Suédois was characterized by extremes of innovation and conventionality. For that reason his oeuvre may never demand full restoration. But the more radical of his ballets did alter the course of avant-garde dance. Thus we feel they deserve the same detailed attention we give to the lost works of Nijinsky and Balanchine.