Talk:Vaslav Nijinsky

discussion of the article

Nijinsky was forced to be gay with Diaghlev or else he would have ended Nijinsky's career, i hope someone verifies that and make changes soon

As i am currently studying dance at Burton colluge i have been asked to write an essay about a male dancer, as part of an assignment. Therfore i choose Vaslav Nijinsky. I find him most facinating what he did with his life, and the huge effect he has on dancing nowadays. AS i am researching more into hoim i find him more interestiing every minute.

Nijinsky was NOT forced to be gay.....I dont know who put that statement up there but it is so far gone with ignorance its sick. Its almost funny. Accept it, the man WAS GAY! Mrlopez2681 05:34, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

The claim that he was forced to be Diaghilev's lover is made in the memoirs of Nijinsky's wife Romola. Whether she was correct (or should be trusted) is another matter, but the statement is not "so far gone with ignorance it's sick." In his diaries Nijinsky describes many encounters with female prostitutes in detail, but does not explicitly discuss male lovers. David Sneek 17:46, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

This article seems extremely biased in its tone and lacks any reference to substantiate its statements. A good thorough rewrite is called for here, one with greater objectivity. Markhh (talk) 05:43, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Strange and Unsubstantiated Claim

his major failing was that, being himself unable to form a satisfactory partnership with a woman, he was unsuccessful where such a relationship was important on-stage (in, say, Giselle).

This connection between Nijinsky's art and personality is so strange that it should have a citation. It is also less than superficially homophobic. Janko

Nijinsky was probably not gay--or, to be completely accurate, he was a bisexual who preferred women. His biographer Richard Buckle (who WAS gay) describes a cultural system in the early 19th century whereby homosexual Russian aristocrats felt entitled to help themselves to young male dancers. Of course, all the power was on the side of the aristocrats. Buckle describes what happened to the idealistic young Nijinsky by saying he was "passed around." As for Nijinsky's true feelings, his sister Bronislava Nijinsky has described in her memoir how as a youth he fell passionately in love with girls. He visited female prostitutes. He appears to have freely and deliberately chosen his wife Romola, taking advantage of an ocean voyage during which he was out from under Diaghilev's thumb. They had a full and complete sexual life--Romola even recollecting later that she "felt she was with a god."

It would not be accurate to say he and Diaghilev were "lovers." They had a homosexual affair, which Nijinsky felt he had been pressured into. His diaries reveal that he regarded Diaghilev as physically repulsive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Younggoldchip (talk • contribs) 21:23, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Birth date and place

Hi all,

I've seen Nijinsky's tombstone in the cemetery in Paris and on it, it says that he was born in Kiev on December 28, 1889 (although this could be old style) and died on April 8, 1950 in London. The photo of the tombstone can be found here:

http://photos10.flickr.com/13625804_7000399d07_b.jpg

Max

Interesting. It certainly isn't an old style/new style problem, since the old style equivalent of 12 March 1890 is 28 February 1890. And the new style equivalent of 28 December 1889 is 9 January 1890. It just seems to be a mistake (although it's possible that 28 December 1889 is both the wrong date and in the old style). I must do some research on this. Of course, this isn't the only case where a tombstone lists the wrong date/s for the person inside. Karol Szymanowski's sarcophagus shows the wrong death date (out by one day). JackofOz 01:45, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

[1] says that Nijinsky was born on the night of 27-28 February 1889 (= 12 March new style). Fifteen months later his mother became pregnant again, and his sister Bronislava was born 27 December 1890 (= 8 January 1891 new style). Even if the fifteen months is not accurate, it would be highly unlikely (although possible) for a mother to give birth to one child in March and another in the following January. The footnote on the page says:

• The birthdates of the Nijinsky children have been a subject of confusion in most biographies. The earliest, by Romola Nijinsky, has Vaslav born in 1890 while Richard Buckle’s Nijinsky erroneously gives Vaslav’s year of birth as 1888 in an attempt to correct previous inaccuracies. However, Vera Krassovskaya, the Soviet ballet historian, has the dates correct in her recent Nijinsky (1979).

On the basis of this document, it would seem to me more than likely that:

• Nijinsky was born on 12 March, but in 1889, not 1890, and
• the date 28 December on his tombstone is a confusion about his sister Bronislava's (old style) birth date of 27 December. JackofOz 02:08, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for following up on this. I am not too surprised with these issues, as dates can be hard to track down, especially across such frontiers and time frames. And it further depends on who placed the tombstone. mno 16:08, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Ballets Russes categories vs. non-existent Ballets Polish categories

The Ballets Russes was a ballet company based in Paris (later Monte Carlo) of which Nijinsky was a member; please do not change this to "Ballets Polish"! Robert Greer (talk) 16:38, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Did his brother suffer from a mental illness?

Judging by a quote (in Wikiquotes), his brother was mentally ill when Vaslav was just 18. Would be interesting to add more about this to the article. --CopperKettle (talk) 01:32, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

The exact mental ailment from which Stanislas Nijinsky suffered may never be known. He suffered a severe fall, with a head injury, in childhood. Later, according to his sister Bronislava Nijinsky, he was placed for months with caregivers whom his mother thought were conscientious, but it turned out they were neglecting and abusing him. According to biographer Richard Buckle, Stanislas's mother also wondered if he had been affected in utero by a tragic incident that happened when she was pregnant with him: she and her husband were traveling in a remote section of Russia when their hotel was attacked by bandits. There was some violent incident which deeply shocked and traumatized the pregnant woman. She wondered if Stanislas's mental disabilities somehow arose from that.

                                          Younggoldchip (talk) 20:53, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Was Vaslav Nijinsky Accurately Diagnosed As A Schizophrenic?

It would be interesting for someone with broad medical knowledge of schizophrenia to discuss this question. The reason I raise the matter is because, as I understand it, schizophrenics usually begin to manifest symptoms when they're nineteen or twenty. All through his twenties Nijinsky was a highly functional and creative dancer, husband, father, and friend. He was thirty before he had a massive breakdown.Also, this happened after years of great frustration when he was essentially separated from the broader dance world by his dispute with Diaghilev. I have wondered if his breakdown was in part situational, and not because he was inherently unbalanced.

           Younggoldchip (talk) 21:07, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

According to Judith Mackrell's The Bloomsbury Ballerina published in 2008, Nijinsky was already experiencing periods of seclusion and mental distress by the time of the 1913 South American tour, when he was in his early twenties. Perhaps I should add this into the body of the article? (LaurenA1 (talk) 12:45, 13 January 2009 (UTC))