Bronislava not a fan of Eunice but of Pavlova and Nijinsky Finds A New Partner

 

Photo Credit: Vaslav Nijinsky & Anna Pavlova in the ballet Carnival, 1911, London, England

Bronislava Nijinska talks about although she was a fan of Fokine's ballets, she didn't like his ballet, Eunice. She recounts this memory in her own words.

"I did not like the sets, which were obviously borrowed from the staged like an old ballet with many mises en scene, while much of the choreography was a la Duncan, in a pseudo- Greek style. I was  disappointed  and during the intermission, despite my devotion to Fokine, I had to admit that I did not like Eunice. A "battle" ensued as I was attacked by Fokine's own students, all of whom admired the ballet, But to me Eunice lacked artistic taste, it was like the scenes pictured on the top of chocolate boxes."

It is clear Nijinsky rubbed off on his sister Bronislava because she had a different opinion than everyone else and was not afraid to speak her mind  just like her brother which the majority might not have shared.

Nijinska speaks about how mesmerized she was by Anna Pavlova's dancing and was her favorite part of the ballet that night. She talks about this in her own words.

"But the memory that fills my mind is of Anna Pavlova as she danced in the scene "Moonlight Vision" with Mikhail Oboukhov. Her costume was designed by Leon Bakst after an 1840 lithograph of Marie Taglioni in the ballet La Sylphide. Oboukhov wore a black velvet costume with a white flowing bow at his neck, also designed by Bakst, through two years earlier."

"In the short scene Pavlova, light and ethereal, seemed to float in the air. When I left the Theatre, all I could see was the image of Anna Pavlova."- Quote from Bronislava Nijinska on watching Anna Pavlova's performance.

You can read the excitement Nijinska had for watching Anna Pavlova dance and how magical it was, from how detailed her memories of the costume to Pavlova's dancing, which she described as her floating in the air. You can picture what she saw just from all the detail.

Bronislava always worried about her brother. This was another time she was worried about her brother because the dancer he always partnered with could not because she had missed so much school and rehearsals. She explains all of this in her own words. 

"Fokine started to prepare for the Annual Student Performance. He had already begun work on a new ballet,  Le Pavilon d' Armide, using music by a young Russian composer- Nikolai Nikolaevitch Tcherepnine, a pupil of Rimsky- Korakov.  For the Student Performance of 1907, Tcherepnine agreed to let Fokine mount one tableau from the new ballet under the title L' Animation des Gobelins."

 

"Since there were not enough students in his own advanced class for this ballet, Fokine used several students from Kulichevskaya's class, and I was one of them. I was so thrilled to be working with Fokine, who had been my teacher in the Lower Division, and also to have the opportunity of seeing Vaslav working with Fokine."

"Vaslav had already told me that he liked dancing with my friend Zina Puyman, who had been promoted to Class V and was one of the strongest students in Fokine's graduating class. In the adagio class taught by Nikolai Legat I could see for myself that they looked well together, and I hoped that Zina would be chosen to dance a pas de deux with Vaslav in the Student Performance."

"I remember how distressed I was to find out that because Zina had been absent from the School during February and March, and had missed many rehearsals, she had been dropped from participation in the Annual Student Performance."

"Her absence was due to a family illness. I can't remember whether it was her father or mother who was critically ill and died that spring. By April Zina was back in the School, but she did not dance in the Student Performance. However, because of her good grades, and as she had taken all the required examinations, she was allowed to graduate in that year, 1907."

"Without Zina I was worried. Who would dance with Vaslav in his graduation performance? It was important that he be able to show to advantage his skill in partnering. The pas de deux in the Student Performance was specifically designed to define the artistic capabilities of the graduating students for their future work in the ballet of the Maryinsky Theatre. I could not see among the other graduating students anyone who was outstanding in classical dancing unlike the year before when Vaslav had partnered the graduating students Smirnova and Schollar, both of whom were now promising young Artists of the Imperial Theatres. "

"And indeed  for his ballet,  L'Animation des Gobelins, Fokine choose any of his graduating students for the role of Armida, but rather one of the day pupils of the School who was still a year away from graduation- Yelizaveta Gerdt. She was not a resident student, but being the daughter of Pavel Gerdt, she lived at home. She was in the same class as I fro Academic Subjects, Class IV, and we also studied together in the pantomime and adagio class taught by Nikolai Legat. At home she was taught by her father, and in the School she had already received her white dress."

"In our earlier rehearsals with Fokine, Yelizaveta had appeared to me a little too tall among the other students when dancing with us in the "Grand Pas d'Action" and the "Petit Galop," and I was concerned how she would look beside Vaslav in a pas de deux. But when I saw her dancing with Vaslav in the rehearsal, they looked well together. Yelizaveta has assimilated the noble style of her illustrious father." Quote from Bronislava Nijinska on her brother's dancer partner change

I think she could see how much Nijinska supports her brother; she worries about his future and wants him to be seen as others for the artist he is. She also wants him to dance at the Maryinsky Theatre. Being an Artist of the Maryinsky is a goal for her.  She and her brother share this, but I almost think she wants him to be part of the Maryinsky, maybe even more than himself. She also worries how he will look to others if his dance partner isn't suited to him, which is why she was panicked when her friend, who had been dancing with her brother for a while, suddenly was pulled out. Nijinska was worried about how her brother would look in the performance without the partner he had been dancing with. She also was concerned about what that change would do to his dancing. She wants the best for her brother and worries herself sick because of it, but she changes her mind when she sees his new partner dancing well with Nijinsky. Her fears are cast away.