CULTURE

Homage to Nijinsky

On the International Day of Dance, the Stanisław Moniuszko Teatr Wielki (Grand Theatre) in Poznań put on a special commemorative show for the 50th anniversary of the death of the most celebrated Polish dancer - Vaclav Nijinsky.

Under the musical direction of Karl Sollah, from Vienna, four works were presented, none of which (interestingly) was originally composed for ballet: "Les Sylphides" (Chopin), "L'Aprčs-midi d'un Faune" (Debussy), "Le Spectre de la Rose" (Weber) and "Scheherazade" (Rimsky-Korsakov).

Vaclav Nijinsky was the most outstanding ballet phenomenon of the XX Century. It should be stressed that he was Polish (not Russian), the child of Eleonora née Bereda and Tomasz Niżyński. Both parents were dancers with the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. In 1900, Vaclav (in Polish, Wacław) was accepted at the Imperial Theatre School in St. Petersburg.

On completing his training there, he became a member of the Mariinsky Theatre (1907-1911). He later joined Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes", and performed in France, Great Britain, Monaco, South America and the USA.

Through his dance interpretation, Nijinsky significantly raised the level of choreography. He performed a famous, brilliant leap (hanging in the air for what seemed like an eternity), during which the female section of the audience would faint. His final performance took place in 1919 in St. Moritz.

He died in London in 1950. His ashes were lain in the Polish Cemetery in Montmartre.

Roman Chojnacki