The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky

About the Book

In his prime, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950) was the most celebrated male dancer in Western ballet--a virtuoso who left European and American audiences spellbound. After triumphs in the Ballet Russes’ The Specter of the Rose and Petrushka, Nijinsky in 1912 choreographed the radical The Rite of Spring and modernist Afternoon of a Faun to great controversy and success. But Nijinsky’s fragile mental health deteriorated over seven years of personal and professional turmoil. In early 1919, the dancer kept a painfully frank diary of his descent into illness. Some entries expressed hope, others despair, still others sexual obsession or grief over World War I. Not long afterward, pioneering psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler diagnosed Nijinsky with schizophrenia.

A heavily bowdlerized edition of the diary appeared in 1936. This new translation by Kyril FitzLyon restores the complete text. An introduction by longtime New Yorker dance writer Joan Acocella tells Nijinsky’s life story and places the dancer and his work within the artistic context of his times.