Do yourself a favor. Crack open this book to pages 256-57 and read:
"The London season ended on Saturday, 9 December 1911, with Karsavina and Nijinsky dancing 'Carnival', 'Les Sylphides', 'Le Spectre de la rose' and 'Scheherazade' -- some evening!
"After the first three ballets, there had been 'thunderous applause', but on this electric evening the drama of 'Scheherazade' almost overwhelmed the spectators . . .
"There was a pause, then came the roar from the gallery like a boom of a distant gun . . .
"The audience from the front row of the stalls to the dark mass of enthusiasts standing at the back of the gallery applauded, cheered, and waved handkerchiefs for fully twenty minutes."
Of course, there's more to the story. Much more. Indeed, the whole book is worth reading -- cover to cover -- every single page. But first! I wanted to show you the view from the top of Mount Nijinsky @ pp. 256-57.
This book will take you up that mountain -- hover -- then gently bring you back home.
Your guide -- your Sherpa -- is the best in the business : Richard Buckle.
PS: Did I misplace the true summit of Mount Nijinsky? Was the true summit really in London on 9 December 1911, as described above (pp. 256-57)? Or was the true summit actually in Paris on 29 May 1913, at the premiere of 'Le Sacre du pretemps' (pp. 346-63)?
In a flash the answer comes to me. The wisdom of King Solomon! Two women claimed the same baby. Which one was the true mother? King Solomon offered to give each woman half a baby. The woman who said, "No! Give the whole baby to the other woman," was the true mother.
Here, the question is which of two mountaintops is the true summit of Mount Nijinsky? The answer to that question depends on who is the true Nijinsky: Nijinsky the dancer? or Nijinsky the choreographer?
I'm no King Solomon, but my gut tells me that the true Nijinsky was a dancer -- not a choreographer.
Choreography be damned! Choreography came into Nijinsky's mind as an adult. But dancing was in his blood from the very beginning of his life. He was born to dance. Lived to dance. Loved to dance -- leaping high in the air, pausing up there, disappearing, leaving us gasping, wondering, dreaming . . . to this very day.
So, yes, indeed, Nijinsky's summit AS A CHOREOGRAPHER may very well have been the premiere of 'Le Sacre du pretemps' in Paris on 29 May 1913 (pp. 346-63). But! more important!! -- much more important!!! -- was Nijinsky's summit AS A DANCER in his performance with Tamara Karsavina in London on 9 December 1911 (pp. 256-57).
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Top reviews from other countries
Gerardo Valencia
Interesante biografía de uno de los mejores bailarines de ballet
Reviewed in Mexico on April 11, 2021
