An Unwanted House Guest

Photo Credit: Vaslav Nijinsky in Afternoon Of The Fawn ballet in 1912

 

Now that Vaslav Nijinsky is graduated from the Imperial Ballet Theatrical School, Bronislava Nijinska recounts her brother no longer a student and dancing at Krasnoe Selo and attending ballet classes for Artists in the summer of 1907 in her own words.

"Our dacha was on top of a hill overlooking Dudergoth. A narrow winding path led down to an unpaved road that went alongside the railroad tracks to Dudergoth Station. Every morning Vaslav would go either to St. Petersburg or to Krasnoe Selo, and as I sat finishing my breakfast by the window I could see him running down the hill, then walking briskly to the station."

"Whenever it was rainy and the road became muddy, he walked carefully on the rails so as to keep his shoes out of the mud. If he was late or afraid that he might miss the train, he would jump from one railroad tie to the next with great agility and ease. I often watched him until he disappeared from view."- Quote from Bronislava Nijinsky on her brother commuting.

You can see here how impressed Nijinska is of her brother's agility I think for her it must have seemed like she was witnessing something magical her brother could do.  Previously she went in a very detailed observation of her brother's dancing almost talking about it like it was magic.

"Vaslav was going to St. Petersburg three mornings a week to attend the ballet classes for Artists in the rehearsal hall of the Imperial Theatrical School. The classes were taught by the leading dancers of the Imperial Theatre; that year I believe they were taught by Nikolai Legat. From St. Petersburg Vaslav would go directly to Krasnoe Selo for the afternoon rehearsal and stay there for the evening performance. Other days he went to Krasnoe Selo first thing in the morning to practice on his own, and usually he remained there all day."

"The small theatre at Krasnoe Selo was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Theatres, and the stage, though not large, was adequate for a ballet performance by a small troupe of dancers. The auditorium consisted simply of parterre with a few semicircular loges at the side."

"The audience was drawn mainly from the elite community of Krasnoe Selo, the officers of the Imperial Guards, who had come for the summer maneuvers, and their families. Tsar Nicholas was often present at these maneuvers and would come to the theatre in Krasnoe Selo. Several titled families and some of the balletomanes and critics from St. Petersburg also attended the performances."

"Vaslav was dancing at the Krasnoe Selo with Julia Sedova, a premiere danseuse who had danced leading roles in the Imperial Ballet both in Moscow and in St. Petersburg since her graduation in 1903. She had an exceptional classical ballet technique, with great elevation, but to my mind she was not very feminine in appearance, and she was too tall for Vaslav."

"From Vaslav, however, I heard that they had great success with the Krasnoe Selo audience. Vaslav, too, enjoyed his own personal success, and many admirers would invite him to supper after the performances to the Pavillion Restaurant, next to the theatre."

"The food was prepared by one of the best chefs in St. Petersburg and everyone would gather there the officers, the critics, the balletmanes, the artists and the performers. Sometimes Vaslav would dine with Julia Sedova and her husband, Schedlovsky, who was a ballet critic for a small St. Petersburg newspaper. His reviews of the Krasnoe Selo season, signed Vidi, were always favorable and praised the artistic qualities of Sedova and her partner Nijinsky."- Quote from Bronislava Nijinska on her brother Nijinsky being admired.

This memory you can clearly see Nijinsky is enjoying himself he is happy to be performing and also the audiences reaction to his and Sedova's dancing, but more importantly he was taking in people admiring him for his dancing so much  they even invited him to dinner after the performance.  This type of recognition for his talent was what he always was wanting and now he was getting it.

"One day when Vaslav had gone to St. Petersburg for a rehearsal, suddenly, without having been invited, Anatole Bourman arrived at our dacha. He expressed a wish to wait for Vaslav and to spend a few days with us. Mama and I were surprised; we were not accustomed to having my or Vaslav's friends from the School come to visit our home. We wondered why Bourman, also an Artist of the Imperial Theatres, had  come to Dudergoth on his own and had not tried to meet Vaslav in St. Petersburg."

"In his early years in the School Vaslav had sometimes gone to Bourman's house but not to visit, only to play ball in the courtyard. Then, once they were no longer in the same class, Vaslav did not consider Bourman one of his friends. Recently, however, he had taken up with him again, and had asked him to play the piano for the dancing lessons he gave. But this was only occasionally when either of his regular accompanists, Leni Gontcharov on the piano or Kolya Issaev on the violin, was not available."

"Bourman stayed a whole week, sharing Vaslav's room. He accompanied Vaslav everywhere trying to establish new contacts for himself among Vaslav's admirers in Krasnoe Selo. Mama did not like Bourman. She felt he could be a bad influence for Vaslav, for he liked to frequent fast company in restaurants and nightclubs. He was also a gambler, especially in card games. Mother considered card games a vice, and they were taboo in our home."

"At last Bourman left, and Mama sighed with relief. Vaslav too. He had been bored with Bourman; they had nothing in common. Vaslav did not like Bourman's behavior in the ballet company, where he was always borrowing money to cover his gambling and card game losses, or to pay for extravagant restaurants that he could not afford on his salary of fifty rubles a month."- Quote from Bronislava Nijinska when Bourman stayed at her home for the summer.

This had to be quite uncomfortable and awkward for Nijinsky, his classmate from his graduation class appearing at his home and not just any classmate but the one who caused him hardships the whole time he attended school. Talk about a thorn in your side. It seemed to me like Bourman knew how talented Nijinsky was and how well he was doing that he only was using Nijinsky to get to his connections by mere association to Nijinsky. 

I'm very surprised Nijinsky tolerated Bourman for the summer and even more Nijinsky used his own money he earned to get Bourman out of trouble or was it more so that Bourman would leave if he got what he wanted because once he did he did leave. 

I do wonder though if Bourman was lonely and spending time with Nijinsky and his family helped fill that void of family, but I am certain though he was there mainly to profit from Nijinsky's connections especially how he was acting.

Interesting enough in Bourman's own book he wrote that he had a delightful time spending with Nijinsky's family over the summer but from Nijinska's account that proves to be false. Bourman was instead an unwanted guest at the Nijinsky household especially by Nijinsky's mother.